<Begin Segment 8>

AL: So we were also talking a little bit earlier about when you proposed and you told Kimi that if you ever had a chance to come back to the United States that you could make a living.

AO: Yes.

AL: So when did you actually decide to come back to the States and what did your parents have to say about that?

AO: When I was reinstated I think I mentioned before that Thomas Ainsworth, the U.S. vice consulate, submitted my request for reinstatement.

AL: And you did talk about that in your 2004 interview about the guy working with Wayne Collins and getting your citizenship back.

AO: Yes, there were some talks going around and he wanted 400 dollars retainer so I didn't have any 400 dollars and I thought well, his case will take a long long time and what they said is you pay your 400 dollars and with that he will be able to have you permitted to come to the United States for the trial. And I thought well that probably wouldn't be possible anyways in my case.

AL: Why wouldn't it be possible? Because of the money or because of --

AO: The time.

AL: The time.

AO: See, why would they send hundreds of applicants just to come to the United States to stand trial? And I thought the government wouldn't do that. There are some that did come to the United States and so I just withdrew myself. But 1952, fall of 1952, Colonel Duryea gave me the opportunity to meet Thomas Ainsworth and so I said there was nothing to lose. And so through Thomas Ainsworth I was almost immediately reinstated. But I had no correspondence to that but it was a telephone call from Thomas Ainsworth to Colonel Duryea.

AL: And who was Thomas Ainsworth?

AO: Thomas Ainsworth was the Vice Consular in Fukuoka.

AL: Okay.

AO: And later I went to visit him on one of my vacations to Japan and so I called U.S. embassy and asked if they knew if Thomas Ainsworth had been reassigned somewhere in Japan. And the gentleman that answered the phone said that well, he's here. I said I'd like to visit him, but Thomas Ainsworth was on vacation. So on my return to the United States I called and Thomas Ainsworth was there in his office and so I went to visit him. And at the time he was the first secretary to the ambassador.

AL: You were very fortunate to have someone take up your case like that.

AO: Yes. So he took it on his own accord because requested through Colonel Duryea.

AL: How do you spell the colonel's name?

AO: Colonel Duryea is D-U-R-Y-E-A, Duryea. And he kept with us until he passed away. And one year I think about 1956 or '57 we drove to Roswell, New Mexico, where he was retired and was living in Roswell, New Mexico. And at that time he was a public health officer and so we spent I think about three days visiting. That's how much we were... how tight our friendship was.

AL: That's amazing. So before we talk about your coming back to the States, did you marry in Japan?

AO: Yes. And since I was pretty close to the... working at the military hospital we were married in the hospital chapel. And Chaplain Wyatt was the one that officiated our marriage and so he prepared a military marriage certificate for us.

AL: So did you have a... if it was a military chaplain was it a Buddhist ceremony or a Christian ceremony?

AO: No, it was Christian, Protestant.

AL: Protestant.

AO: And he was real happy to do that and the witness was Colonel Duryea and also former Count Taichibana. And the reason why we used the former Count Taichibana, is that Colonel Duryea wanted me to go to Count Taichibana's residence to ask his permission for the hospital personnel to go visit his residence. And so I didn't know how to approach a noble person like former Count Taichibana so I asked a well-educated lady working in the hospital library, Miss Tokunaga, and she and I went and so she did all the arrangements to ask Mr. Taichibana for his permission to bring the hospital personnel, and he was very happy to grant the permission.

AL: That's great. When did you get married? What is your --

AO: We got married November 18, 1950. It was during the quiet period of the Korean War, there was a slight slack and that's why we married at that time.

AL: Did you serve in the Korean War?

AO: No.

AL: 'Cause you were not reinstated by that time.

AO: No.

AL: Yeah, okay.

AO: See, the Korean War, the major forces was the 24th Division and General Dean was the commanding general of the 24th Division. Incidentally he was killed during that time, yes, I think his jeep overturned and that caused his death.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright &copy; 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.