Studs Terkel Response #6

     The first story was of Peter Ota, a Nisei who was put in an internment camp during World War 2. The night of Pearl Harbor, Peter's father was put in jail after a wedding and the shame he brought to Peter's mother was so devastating, that she was put in a sanitarium. The rest of the family was moved to an internment camp without resisting. He talks of the Japanese word gaman which means "preserve". Ota says that Japanese "preserve. Take what's coming, don't react". The Japanese Americans complied with orders. Life for Ota after the war was much different. He was so discouraged with Japanese culture that he hid it. He also says that if he were to be forced to another internment camp today he would resist. In hindsight, of course, everyone would resist to try and prevent the suffering. I see a connection between Peter Ota's story and stories of families going to concentration camps in Germany. They were unaware of what was coming next and complied. Would Americans today recognize the injustices of internment camps if another attack was to occur?

     Betty Bayes Hutchinson was a nurse during World War 2. She immediately had the thought to become a nurse after hearing of Pearl Harbor. She thought it would be the quickest way to help war efforts. I was shocked to find that after all she had seen and experienced, she was still fairly stable. She said that the more wounded soldiers she saw in the hospital the more she became accustomed. Hutchinson said that she "was beginning to anesthetize myself". She had to become numb to the horrors of war she saw to remain functioning. She began to question the validity of the war. Betty was reassured at the thought that "it must have been okay if President Roosevelt said it was okay". This quote shows just how much trust the nation had in FDR. This is very similar to when 9/11 occured and the nation trusted President Bush's decision to invade Iraq. This trust was fueled by a common hatred towards the terrorists much like the common hatred toward the Japanese during WW2.