Densho Digital Archive - Taeko Joanne Iritani Interview (denshovh-itaeko-01-0016)

<Begin Segment 16>

KP: In 1988, there was the redress. How did you, how did that affect you?

TI: Oh, that was another thing about Frank. He was, I don't think it was when he was retired yet, because the thing was signed in '88, right, and he was probably retired in '86. And we went all over our congressional district, because he wanted to get people to sign his petitions. I was the one that was in camp, but I wasn't the one pushing, it was Frank. And so we went over to, the eastern part was in Lancaster. You know gerrymandered a section could be, congressional district. And so we went to Lancaster and met their people over there. I knew some of them because there were some Lancaster people in our block in camp. And we got them together and actually, I think that they were helped by our being there to start a chapter of the JACL there. And the west side, it was not quite to Santa Maria, but in that area, whether it was in Santa Maria County or Monterey County or what, I'm not sure. San Luis Obispo County, perhaps. But there were some people we visited over there. And we went all over Bakersfield not just talking to the Nisei, but to the Caucasian people, too, to the ministers. And he was the one who was focused.

KP: How did Frank avoid camp? Where was he from?

TI: Because he was born in Denver. He lived in Denver, and he... actually, anyone outside of California and the western half of Washington and Oregon, and the southern part of Arizona, everyone else were not to be evacuated. So his family were in Denver, he was born and raised there, and actually, he tells about how he was drafted, and it was after the war began. Not a lot of Nisei had been drafted prewar, and were in the army at the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. And some of them were jailed in the brigs, some of them were discharged, some of them were treated beautifully by their COs. Each one was different. In fact, there's a famous photo that shows a young man from Florin coming back to, during the time of evacuation, and his mother is picking strawberries. So they were all treated differently. There was not a single way to treat these young men. And Frank says he had his draft notice, went over to selective service, and he was told, "No, we're not going to draft you because you are now 4-C." I think that was the number, letter given. But anyway, he was considered "enemy alien" at that point.

KP: So this would have been early '42 or something like that that he was drafted?

TI: Probably in '42. He was a student at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, and he was told he's not going to be drafted because of his changed status. And then, later on, of course, they wanted the men to join because the 442 was now losing so many men and they had to get some more in. And so he, I believe he volunteered, and he joined -- his sister had joined the WACs. And from what I've read, she's one of the first Nisei to go into the WACs, his sister Frances.

KP: Was it the Auxiliary Air Corps?

TI: What?

KP: The Women's Auxiliary...

TI: Women's Army Corps.

KP: Army Corps, okay.

TI: Yeah. And then so Frank went into the MIS, Military Intelligence Service, and he was at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. And he was sent to the Philippines for a short time, and then to occupation in Japan. So all that was after the war.