The rememberences of Walter Ozawa, Deputy Administrator, The Judiciary, State of Hawai'i:
On the evening of December 7, 1941, my father was arrested in the little plantation camp of Wahiawa, Kauai. He was separated from his wife and their family of three sons and one daughter. Later, in 1942, my mother and her children were moved to Oahu and then shortly thereafter transported to Jerome, Arkansas. Then, as the war gradually came to an end, my mother and her family were moved to Tule Lake in California. Eventually, in 1945, the family was able to return to Hawai`i.
In 1989, President George Bush signed a bill authorizing payments to be paid out for a period of eight years. Along with the monetary compensation, surviving internees were also sent a letter of apology.
My mother received such a letter. Because she still primarily speaks Japanese, I sat her down, along with my wife and our youngest son at her side, and translated the letter into Japanese:
A monetary sum and words alone cannot restore lost years or erase painful memories; neither can they fully convey our Nation's resolve to recitify injustice and to uphold the rights of wrongs of the past. But we can take a clear stand for justice and recognize that serious injustices were done to Japanese Americans during World War II.
In enacting a law calling for restitution and offering a sincere apology, your fellow Americans have, in a real sense, renewed their traditional commitment to the ideals of freedom, equality, and justice. You and your family have our best wishes for the future.
Sincerely,
George Bush
As I read the letter, my mother sat quietly, hands folded in her lap, and silently cried, tears falling from her face and onto her hands. When I finished, she sat quietly for a long while, and I was worried that the letter had brought back bitter memories of pain and fear. Then, she spoke in a small voice, "Yappari...Yappari...after all, America is a great country. That the most powerful country and the most powerful person would write such a letter to a nobody like me. This is a great country after all..."
And so, my dear friends, thank you, for you honor her, and our nation, by helping Americans to remember what America should be, and can be. The Nisei Project touched many people in many ways. You now know how you touched me.
See one article here and the Nisei Project site here.
Aloha!
