Interviews
Undergraduate studies interrupted following Pearl Harbor
It was the most devastating feeling that I ever had. I was at the University of Oregon dorm and called at the dorm called Sherry Ross Dormitory. All my friends or, you know, classmates just didn’t know what to say to me. It was just dead silence. When I walked in downstairs, you see, and listened to the radio – of course that’s all we had, we didn’t have television in those days. It was a terrible experience but two of my friends, you know, or so…came up and hugged me and said, “Sam, we know that you’re not the enemy or anything like that.” And broke the silence.
So comes 1942, talking about the University of Oregon. I was one more active person saying that, you know, we didn’t want to…we wanted to finish our Spring term. Spring term. We were on a spring basis. Not semester. And went to the president and asked him to ask…that was General DeWitt that was in charge – to allow us to finish our Spring term. And that president…which I never…that’s why I don’t support the University of Oregon anymore. The president says, “No. That would be a very unpatriotic thing to do.” So that was really devastating. So we didn’t finish our Spring term.
Date: December 8, 2005
Location: Oregon, US
Interviewer: Akemi Kikumura Yano
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.
Explore More Videos
Challenges of finding a summer job
Judge, only Japanese American to serve on CWRIC.
Traumatic experiences before camp
(1913-2013) Doctor specializing in obstetrics in Southern California
“Everybody went in like sheep”
(1913-2013) Doctor specializing in obstetrics in Southern California
Discrimination for Nisei doctors
(1928–2016) Daughter of an Issei doctor
Reception of Hamako by family
(1916 - 2013) Member of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service
Memories of Poston
(b. 1930) Half Japanese and grew up in both Japan and the United States.
Arriving at Poston
(b. 1930) Half Japanese and grew up in both Japan and the United States.
Writing a novel on the 442nd
Jewish Japanese American journalist
Meeting Hamako in Japan
(1916 - 2013) Member of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service
Meeting Mr. Amano
(1916 - 2013) Member of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service