<Begin Segment 15>

TI: At any point -- because in your book you talk about the thousand days in Siberia, and there's so much there that we're not going to be able to cover during this interview. But one thing that, as I read the book, and what I wondered, if... the war is over. If you ever considered letting people know that you were born in America, and if that would have changed anything in terms of getting you out faster, or getting the Americans involved in any way. Did you ever think of that?

IS: No. When something like that, the first time it comes up is when I, in Siberia. And then we have to fill out a paper, I mean, it's not a form or anything, they give you a piece of paper and said, "Write your personal history, where you were born, when you were born, where you lived, what happened, and then what happened in the military." Just to write those things down. And I, to this day I wonder what made this sergeant say that, but I was on the bunk underneath getting ready to ride out, and that guy yelled at me and said, "Hey, Suzuki," he says, "don't write that you were born in America." He said, "Just write it like you were born in Japan, then went to school wherever you did, write the rest of it, only change that part." And I don't know what made that guy say that. And so I did that, and I didn't even question it. I said, "Well, he said that, I'll do that." Not, "why," or anything. I just did what he told me. And then things happened there, people, other people know that I was a little different --

TI: But going back to that sergeant doing that, now thinking back, why, why do you think he did that? Was it to protect you?

IS: Yeah. I think... I don't know what kind of training he had or why, what made him do that, because I heard... here's what the, many years later, when I was trying to come back to the United States -- I don't know if I mentioned that in my book -- but the Nisei who interrogates me, after I signed a lot of papers to come back to the United States and I write down people they can interview to see who I am, and U.S. citizens. I write their name down and they interview these people. And it took a long time, many months, and finally I get called in. And this Nisei who then questions me, he says, "When did the Russians find out that you were a Nisei?" And I said, "I don't understand what you mean." He said, "I think what happened was" -- and then he said, "Well, here's what happened." He says, and he said, "You came back early." I said, "Yeah, I had malaria so they sent me back." But he said, "Well, here's what happened: the Russians found out you were American-born, so they pulled you out and said, 'Look. You were born in the United States, so you probably know English.'" This is the Russians would say that. And then, "So they said, 'Look here's what we'll do: we'll send you back to Japan, and when you go back to Japan, because you know English, we want you to go work for the occupation. And when they, when the occupation go to democratize the Japanese, said, just here and there, slip in some negative things about the United States, and that really the Soviet Union system is better. Now, that's the bargain. If you're willing to do that, we'll send you back.'"

TI: So that's what the Nisei thought.

IS: That's what he... yes.

TI: So that he was trying to get you to say that.

IS: Yeah, to say.

TI: Or he was kind of interrogating you, "Okay, so this is," so he was trying to, or trying to infer that because you got back sooner, you made some bargain with the Soviets.

IS: Yes. And that was a bargain. And he said, "And the Soviets said, 'Look. We're watching you. We got people in Japan who are, who will be watching you, and our bargain is we'll let you go back early. But if you don't carry your part of the bargain, then something bad can happen to you.'" Said, "That's what they told you, and you were willing to do that." I did come back early. 1948, I came back, and '49, '50 is when the really big push happened. Most of 'em came back then, and of course there was other, maybe ten years later or something, where some people got stuck.

TI: But what did you think? So this Nisei is questioning you, and he says, okay, so this is what he thinks. What was your reaction to that?

IS: So I said, "No, nothing like that ever happened," I said. I said, "I tried to hide it at one time," but I said, "many people later knew about me." I said, and then I write about the people who knew, who were in headquarters and knew about that. And he said, "Well, just like you, there was another Nisei from Texas who came back early. And he kept denying that that was what happened," but he says he finally made him take a, whatever you call it, the lie detector test. And he said, "He failed every time," but he says, "he wanted to go back to the United States," and he said, "Just based on that, we could not keep him here. But what's happening now is we let him go back to the United States, but he has an FBI watching him all the time." He said, "If you don't come clean, that's what's going to happen to you." He said, "We can't keep you here, but when you get back to the United States, you're gonna be watched, so you might as well come clean now."

TI: And so what did you think when you heard all this?

IS: I said, "I'm willing to take the test now if you want to test me." I said, I'm willing to take a test," and it dropped at that.

TI: And I'm curious, the interrogation with the Nisei, was it conducted in Japanese or English?

IS: English. And then, well, it's a real coincidence, maybe, but he says, "Oh, you're from Brawley. Who do you know from Brawley?" he said. "Do you remember any friends from Brawley?" I said, "Gosh, I was born and raised there," so I said, "maybe you can mention some names. Are you from Brawley or Imperial Valley?" He said, "No, I'm from L.A." But he says, "Yeah, I know, I used to go duck hunting in Salton Sea." And he said it was the Shiomichi family. And I said, "Oh, yeah, I know the Shiomichi family." I said, "They used to farm right next to my father." And I said, "There was Tok and Joe and Edna." And he said, "Oh, you know them?" And he said, "You know what happened? Joe was killed in Italy," and that's the first time I heard that. But then this guy, so we did have a common friend. [Laughs] If that made any difference or not, I don't know. After coming back, I met this Tok in Los Angeles, and I met Edna, too, and I know Joe died. But there was that coincidence.

TI: And what was the reaction of the Nisei or other Niseis when they found out that you were a Nisei but served in the Japanese army and then Siberia? When they found that out, what kind of reaction did you see?

IS: Where?

TI: Like in Japan. Like say the first person who interrogated you, was he surprised that you were a Nisei?

IS: Oh, no. That's the only time I ever had any check like that. There were other people who, when they landed at Maizuru from Siberia, all the officers were pulled out, four more officers, Japanese, and then some sergeants, and then some soldiers, too, were pulled out to be questioned. But I wasn't pulled out. So I never had that experience, and that's the only time, when I tried to come back to the United States, I was questioned. And so, yeah, while I was working for the occupation, I had, there were some Niseis who were occupation personnel, civilians, they called them DACs, Department of Army Civilians. There were some like that working. And yes, I never, I didn't particularly broadcast it or try to hide it, but yeah, that I was in Siberia. Some knew about it. Like my bosses all knew that, the hakujins knew that.

TI: But it just seemed, it's kind of like... and maybe by then, the Nisei, he had heard of others, but the fact that he grew up in L.A., you were Brawley, you knew the same person, and yet you fought for the Japanese, he fought for the Americans, just how kind of ironic or happenstance that it could be that you would sort of grow up in a fairly similar way, and yet fight on different sides.

IS: I don't know. I never experienced that, or I never heard anything like that, especially if I or some other, if a Nisei found out that, oh, here's another Japanese American who stayed in Japan and fought us in the Pacific, I don't know. I don't think... I don't think, I can't think of it creating... of course, today, more and more, I can see something, it's not an issue. Because sixty years ago, seventy years ago. But even at that time, I never thought of that.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.