<Begin Segment 18>

LT: When you think about the war, how do you think the war affected your parents?

TT: I know that it slowed my dad down, 'cause like he said, it took six years out of his career. Who knows where he would have been? He had dreams far beyond what he was able to do, I'm sure, because of having that time taken away. For him, for my folks, I think it had to be demoralizing, no question, to be born as an American and to be treated as a "not." Luckily I didn't see it hurt their self-concepts or anything, but I could imagine how that could happen. And maybe they would have been even more outgoing if that hadn't happened. So I find that to be... I'm so proud of them that they put up with, I would have not, and the way I am now wouldn't have been able to, but they just took it and then just moved forward. I think the harder ones would be my grandparents, the fact that they knew they were foreign, and then they come to a place where they believe that it's going to be better, and then they're treated like that. That had to be just, almost failure in their own head, you know. "I came here to raise my kids to give 'em a better life, and they end up in a concentration camp." I think those things would be extremely difficult. For us, depending on when we were born, I think that for my sister it was harder. She has a lot more angry feelings, my older sister. There's a group who were older who thought of it as great play time. But I remember when George Katagiri said that sitting there at the assembly center looking through the barbed wire and seeing his high school friends drive by and wave at him, just absolutely got him. So for those people, I think that the impact was huge also. For me it's just the aftermath. I think it was great my father didn't bring us back here, 'cause I didn't have any of the negativity or feel it. I had a rich, rich few years after the war, of course, and, man, I was carried around for three years when I was a baby, that I think for me it wasn't necessarily as devastating. I do think about it a lot, because I can't imagine people treating other people like that. Obviously we haven't learned very well. I know after 9/11 the first thing I heard people say is to "round 'em up and put 'em away." So human nature is as human nature seems to be, not as supportive, but I guess all we do is keep trying.

LT: And that was my next question: what lessons should we learn?

TT: And I think we just have to keep trying, knowing that a lot of people don't think about it. And apparently there are some meanies out in the world. I think we look at the young, and that's where we try to give them as much of the benefit. And I get so angry when I see us voting down taxes for libraries and things, because that's our future. And we can give them a future that's negative, 'cause we throw 'em out on the street with nothing to do, or we can nurture them the way my parents nurtured me. And so, for me, I say we need to look to the future with our kids, and we need to be as best as we can be. I know I'm not, man, I've made a lot of errors, but I do try to be better than I was the day before, and enjoy every day, of course. But we all need to give back. We need to figure out a way to, when we see someone who's down on their luck or something, maybe to help, we just need to extend.

LT: The United States government apologized for the incarceration of Japanese Americans, and also provided redress. Your thoughts?

TT: I've always told kids when they, they'll fight or be really mean and they apologize, that, you know, apologies are pretty, are easy to say, and it depends on how much you mean it. The apology came from a group of people who weren't the people who did those terrible things, and so it's kind of, like, empty. And I do believe what my dad says, that the redress was important because the only the Americans seem to understand is money. And so the fact that they gave us, whether it be a dollar or ten dollars, it doesn't matter. The fact that they did that probably has more value, but there is nothing they could ever do to replace what it was that was done. And we're still not doing it, that there's a million things we should be doing in schools and in communities. You see people all the time taking advantage, too, but most people, I don't believe, try to take advantage. But we are definitely not as supportive or compassionate as we need to be. So thank you, government, for the apology, but all we need to make sure is that it never happens again. And my fear is, knowing human nature as we've watched it, it will happen again. We just, humans just get panicky over stuff and if something's different, if someone is different, they seem to go crazy. And on the other hand, we try to be so compassionate that instead of helping a person up, we just throw money their way, that type of thing. So we've got a long ways to go, and each of us have to do it in our own way, and I think we all need to make sure that we reach out to someone, somebody, something.

LT: Last question: what's important in life?

TT: Oh, living. I think to be able to be the best you can be, to try everything you can possibly try without harming others, and as you can, bring them along with you. And so to share those things that you have, and I don't mean money or food, but I think the friendship, the friendships, and as they need it, to listen to them and to hear, and to not ever say no to the things that we should try. I would have never gone to Japan had it not been for Reverend Julie. And I learned right off the bat, I need to stop being so... I just need to try everything I can. So as I, especially as I reach this older age and get older, yeah, grab onto that brass ring, man, there's just so much stuff out there to do and to enjoy, and people. Enjoy people to the max.

LT: Thanks a lot.

TT: You're so welcome.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright &copy; 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.