<Begin Segment 15>

LT: So thinking about your experiences during World War II, what happened to Japanese Americans being uprooted from your home and placed in camps, you mentioned that your mother had strong feelings about that. Can you talk about how she felt and what she said?

JH: She thought that it was for our own good to be in camp, because that way we'll be safe. We never know, our neighbors were fine, but you might, when you're out shopping, or when you might run into some people that really had a grudge against the Japanese people, you just don't know what would happen. So she says, "I think it was for our own good that they did put us in camp."

LT: And your mother also felt strongly about remaining in the United States rather than going to Japan. Can you talk about that?

JH: Yeah, she mentioned that my dad said, "Well, we should go back to Japan," and Mom says, "No, the kids were," they weren't little babies, so she says, "They were raised here, and they know their American culture, and we shouldn't take them back. We shouldn't go back to Nihon just because we're from Japan. They're here." So my dad said, "Well, okay." Because some families did go back to Japan. I know Uyenos were one of them, and I think they were the only ones. But like Hiratas, they moved to California.

LT: Yes, so some families from Parkdale went to Japan. Some chose not to return to Hood River, and your family stayed in the United States and went back to your farm in Hood River, Parkdale.

JH: I don't think the Satos came back to Parkdale, either. I remember, I don't know where they went. Oh, I know, I think they went to California, too. That's right.

LT: There was one Sato family --

JH: And Kawaharas went to California.

LT: So your mother felt strongly about Japanese Americans being safer in camp. How did you feel? And if I can ask, you were taken from your school to camp, how did you feel about all that?

JH: You know, it just didn't seem to bother me at all. I guess being still young and not knowing too much about it, I guess I just thought, well, that's fine. It's for our own good that they are sending us to camp, where we will be protected.

LT: Since the war, Japanese Americans have been able to gain redress. There have been reparations for those who were in camp, and the government had apologized, saying this was a mistake, especially to put citizens behind barbed wire. Knowing how you felt and how your mother felt, what do you think about the recent developments?

JH: I know I just haven't given much thought about it.

LT: Some Japanese Americans are speaking out, and they're recognizing the Executive Order 9066 that placed Issei and Nisei in camps. And some of those events have been sponsored by the JACL, Japanese American Citizens League. Any thoughts about recent programs that we've had?

JH: Not really. I haven't normally paid that much attention to it, I guess. I did read about it in the JACL newspaper, but other than that, I just...

LT: Well, and that's okay that you may not have attended or may not have paid attention. I'm just wondering, now that it's seventy years afterward, how you think about people speaking up.

JH: I think that it is good that they are speaking out to express their thoughts on how they felt about all the things that went on after war broke out.

LT: Can you talk about that a little bit more?

JH: No, other than that I'm happy that they are coming out and mentioning to 'em that it was not the right thing to do.

LT: Okay. Thinking about you as an American citizen, your parents as Issei were aliens, as my grandparents were. You were born in this country, an American citizen, and you were placed in camp, you lost your rights, you were behind barbed wire, and eventually after four years were finally able to return home. How do you think World War II affected your sense of who you are as a Japanese American?

JH: It never entered my mind at all. I guess I figured that my folks were Isseis, and this is not really their country, I mean, this is not where they really should be, they should be in Nihon. And so I figured, well, I think they did the right thing.

LT: They?

JH: By putting us in camp and all that. But other than that I never... 'cause I was treated fine.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.