Interviews

1. A teenager's memories of how a local newspaper misrepresented Japanese Americans

2. Reaction of Japanese American community toward draft resistance stance

3. The role of the media in influencing people's opinions

4. Living conditions in prison while serving time for resisting the draft

5. Talking to children about decision to resist the draft during World War II

6. Deciding whether to answer "yes-yes" on the loyalty questionnaire in order to leave camp

7. Reflecting on Japanese Americans' response to incarceration

8. Speak out for your beliefs

Gene Akutsu

(b. 1925) Draft resister

Reaction of Japanese American community toward draft resistance stance

The treatment given to us, I think, severely by I think most means, is that they wanted to discourage any more resisters to come out of camp. That they wanted to make sure that we have a lot of people volunteering or entering the service to the JACL liking, or the administration's liking. And I think that's when they heard about us, they wound up with a name the “no-no boys,” also calling us the “draft dodgers” and “chicken” and anything, a “disloyal” and so on so forth. And this is one of the reasons why I thought I'd better speak up now to let the people know my reasons, my thoughts about why I had taken the stand that I did. Because all through these years, for some fifty years, nobody had asked me about why I've done it but they've all drawn their conclusion from what they read in the paper.

draft resisters resisters World War II

Date: July 25, 1997

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Larry Hashima, Stephen Fugita

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.