7930 items
7930 items
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Floyd Shimomura Interview (ddr-densho-1000-466)
Sansei male. Born March 13, 1948, in Winters, California. Grew up in the Winters area where parents worked on a farm they had run before World War II, when they were incarcerated at the Amache concentration camp, Colorado. Graduated from UC Davis School of Law, and worked in various capacities for the State of California. Elected …
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Fred Shiosaki Interview (ddr-densho-1000-190)
Nisei male. Born August 23, 1924 in the area of Spokane, Washington, known as Hillyard. Grew up in a multi-ethnic Hillyard area where his parents owned the Hillyard Laundry. When World War II began, was a senior at Rogers High School. Went on to attend Gonzaga University and then volunteered for military service, joining the 442nd …
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Yoshihiro Uchida Interview (ddr-densho-1000-411)
Nisei male. Born April 1, 1920, in Calexico, California. Grew up in the Orange County area. Drafted into the army during World War II, while family was removed to the Poston concentration camp, Arizona. Father and brothers were all transferred to Department of Justice camps, and eventually went to Japan. After military service, Mr. Uchida returned …
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Lon Inaba Interview (ddr-densho-1000-537)
Sansei male. Born September 15, 1955, in Yakima, Washington. Grew up in the Yakima area, where several generations of family members had run a farm since before World War II. Prior to the war, since Japanese immigrants were barred from purchasing land, Lon's grandfather and great-grandfather had leased land from the Yakama Indian tribe. After they …
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Grant Hirabayashi Interview (ddr-densho-1000-183)
Kibei male. Born November 9, 1919, in Thomas, Washington. Went to Japan at age twelve, attended school, and returned to the U.S. as a high school student. Enlisted in the army just prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and was eventually recruited for the Military Intelligence Service. Selected as one of fourteen Japanese Americans to …
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Ehren Watada Interview (ddr-densho-1000-200)
Male of Japanese and Chinese American descent. Born 1978 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Graduated from Hawaii Pacific University in 2003, and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Received his officer's commission, and served in Korea in 2004 and 2005. While stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington, in 2006, asked for permission to resign his commission based on his understanding …
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Sadaichi Kubota Interview (ddr-densho-1000-40)
Nisei male. Born March, 1921 in Hilo, Hawaii. Was a lieutenant in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Instrumental in clearing the court-martial conviction of Shiro Kashino, a member of his unit.
(This interview was conducted at the 1998 Americans of Japanese Ancestry Veterans National Convention, held in Honolulu, Hawaii. Because of the full conference schedule, interviews …
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Mas Akiyama (ddr-densho-1000-188)
Nisei male. Born May 19, 1917, in Eastport, Idaho, and spent childhood in Spokane, Washington. In 1933 traveled to Japan with family where father became ill and died. Attended school in Japan for three years and then returned to Spokane in 1936 and worked on a farm. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, volunteered for military …
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Tosh Tokunaga Interview (ddr-densho-1000-241)
Nisei male. Born January 2, 1925, in Selleck, Washington. Grew up in the Selleck logging camp before moving with family to Seattle, Washington, for high school. During World War II, removed to the Puyallup Assembly Center, Washington, and Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho. Volunteered for the military as a paratrooper, and served in Europe. Eventually returned to …
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Roger Daniels Interview III (ddr-densho-1000-416)
Caucasian male. Born December 1, 1927, in New York City, New York. Charles Phelps Taft Professor Emeritus of History, University of Cincinnati. Served as a consultant to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians from 1981 to 1983. Has researched and written numerous books about the Japanese American experience, including Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese …
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Shiz Inaba Interview (ddr-densho-1000-538)
Nisei female. Born September 19, 1929, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Milwaukie, Oregon, where parents ran a farm. During World War II, removed to the Portland Assembly Center, Oregon, and the Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho. After leaving camp, returned to Oregon and parents ran a hotel business in Portland. Went to business school and worked …
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Henry Shimizu Interview (ddr-densho-1000-198)
Nisei male. Born November 26, 1928, in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. Grew up in Prince Rupert, and was removed with other Japanese Canadians to Hastings Park, Vancouver, Canada, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Moved to the New Denver incarceration camp and then resettled in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with his family. Studied and practiced medicine …
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James Yamazaki Interview (ddr-densho-1000-175)
Nisei male. Born July 6, 1916. Grew up in the Los Angeles area, where father was a Buddhist minister. Attended medical school before World War II. During the war, served in the U.S. Army as a doctor with the 106th Infantry Division in Europe. Captured during the Battle of the Bulge and was held in several …
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Paul Yempuku Interview (ddr-densho-1000-247)
Kibei male. Born January 5, 1927, in Kahuku, Hawaii. Moved to Japan with family at age six, and attended school in Japan. Worked in a naval base in Japan during World War II, taking part in air raids and bombings by U.S. forces. Attended college in Japan before returning to Hawaii after the war. Worked for …
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Izumi Hirano Interview (ddr-densho-1000-317)
Kibei male. Born February 25, 1929, in Hilo, Hawaii. At the age of four, moved to Japan, where family operated a farm. Attended school in Japan during World War II. Was in school in Hiroshima when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945. Survived the bombing along with mother and brother. In 1949, returned …
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Atsumi Ozawa Interview (ddr-densho-1000-348)
Nisei female. Born May 25, 1928, in Huancayo, Peru. Grew up in Huancayo, where father ran a successful store. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, father went into hiding in an attempt to avoid being picked up by the Peruvian government. He was eventually found and picked up, and was reunited with family on the ship …
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Roger Daniels Interview II (ddr-densho-1000-415)
Caucasian male. Born December 1, 1927, in New York City, New York. Charles Phelps Taft Professor Emeritus of History, University of Cincinnati. Served as a consultant to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians from 1981 to 1983. Has researched and written numerous books about the Japanese American experience, including Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese …
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Yutaka Inokuchi Interview (ddr-densho-1000-320)
Nisei male. Born August 25, 1924, in Waipahu, Hawaii. Grew up on the Waipahu sugar plantation where parents worked. Was attending Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Father was picked up by the FBI and eventually interned in the Honouliuli POW camp. Mr. Inokuchi got a job in the …
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Frank Hiratsuka Interview (ddr-densho-1000-341)
Nisei male. Born July 16, 1926, in Alviso, California. Lived in various places in California as a child. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, family moved to Reedley, California, in an attempt to avoid incarceration, but were removed when the exclusion zone extended to Reedley. Sent to the Poston concentration camp, Arizona. …
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Bob Santos Interview II (ddr-densho-1000-340)
Male of Filipino and Native American descent. Born 1934 in Seattle, Washington. Grew up in the Chinatown/International District area of Seattle. In the 1950s, became involved in civil rights activist causes. Served as Executive Director of the International District Improvement Association (InterIm) from 1972 to 1989. In 1982, founded the Minority Executive Director's Coalition along with …
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Ronald Ikejiri Interview (ddr-densho-1000-461)
Sansei male. Born December 3, 1948, in Los Angeles, California. During World War II, parents had been incarcerated at the Tule Lake concentration camp, California. Father signed 'no-no' on the so-called 'loyalty questionnaire', renounced U.S. citizenship, and was sent to the Department of Justice camp at Bismarck, North Dakota. Family did not end up expatriating to …
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Bill Thompson Interview (ddr-densho-1000-90)
Nisei male of Japanese and Scottish descent. Born in Hilo, Hawaii, 1924. Volunteered and served in the all Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Headquarter's Company, Second Battalion's Anti-tank Platoon. Returned to Hawaii following the war where he attended the University of Hawaii, and later worked for the municipal government. Active in the 442nd Veterans Club …
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Toshio Moritsugu Interview (ddr-densho-1000-318)
Nisei male. Born April 2, 1925, in Heeia, Hawaii. Grew up in a village called Fish Camp, where father was a fisherman. Witnessed Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Father was picked up and detained by the FBI at the Sand Island internment camp, Hawaii. After the war, earned a PhD in chemistry …
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Ron Wakabayashi Interview (ddr-densho-1000-460)
Sansei male. Born November 13, 1944, in Reno, Nevada, where parents had resettled after leaving the concentration camps in Topaz, Utah, and Rohwer, Arkansas, during World War II. Grew up in East Los Angeles. Involved in a number of community social service organizations in Los Angeles, such as Oriental Concern and the Asian American Drug Abuse …
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Ken Yoshida Interview (ddr-densho-1000-428)
Nisei male. Born July 31, 1923, in Tacoma, Washington. Lived in Tacoma for a few years before moving with family to Redwood City, California, where family ran a flower nursery. During World War II, removed to the Tanforan Assembly Center, California, and the Topaz (Central Utah) concentration camp, Utah. While in Topaz, refused to obey the …