Carolyn Hanano Skinner was born in 1940, the eldest of 3 children born to Rokuichi and Mitsuye (Mary). Rokuichi left his home on an island off Hiroshima as a teenager, traveling to Mexico and crossing the Rio Grande to enter Los Angles. He worked as a landscaper in San Diego and was introduce to Mary, a Nisei. In 1941, Carolyn and her mother were ordered to Santa Anita Assembly Center, and her father was scheduled for deportation to Japan. His customers intervened with letters of support, and he was able to join his family. They went to Heart Mountain Internment Camp, where Carolyn’s brother was born. Looking back, Carolyn recalls the shame her parents felt. Ashamed of Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor. Ashamed of being seen as the enemy and imprisoned. Carolyn and husband Donald, now deceased, initially faced disapproval from both families for their interracial relationship. The couple eloped and eventually settled in Tucson. For the past 15 years, Carolyn has volunteered for organizations providing humanitarian aid to migrants, including Casa Alitas and Tucson Samaritans, as well as the food bank and animal rescue groups. She feels a special connection with the migrants. She also feels the need to continue proving that Japanese Americans are good citizens.
Tsugiuo “Harley” Fujimoto, 2/13/1922 to 3/3/2025. Interviewed on 8/4/2024 at age 102. A Tucson resident since 1990, Harley was born on a farm in Loveland, Colorado. His family moved between farms in the summer, and his father worked in the Wyoming coal mines in the winter. In school, Harley excelled in science, agriculture, and kendo, a Japanese martial art. His plans for college were interrupted with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when he was drafted and sent to Ft. Logan in Denver and assigned to the 100th Infantry Battalion of the 442 Regimental Combat Team. He then went to Military Intelligence Language School. Upon discharged in 1947, he married his fiancée, and they moved to Denver to look for work. Facing discrimination, he held jobs in produce packing and shipping before landing a job with a grocery store chain, where he worked as produce manager for nine years. Aware of the importance of workers’ rights, he left to join Local #7, recruiting and representing union members for 25 years. In 1987, he received the Hubert Humphrey Colorado Labor Person of the Year award. His story is one of resilience, hard work, and a belief in fighting for justice and improving the situation for all.
Note: Harley is being given the questions in writing due to his impaired hearing. A longer version of Harley’s life story is preserved in a three-part oral history on the Japanese American Military History Collective website: https://ndajams.omeka.net/
Trista Tamura is a fourth-generation Japanese American. She has traced her family history from Japan to the United States. She grew up in Hood River, Oregon, where she and her brother were the only Japanese Americans in her elementary school. Her experience helped shape her career as an art teacher in a Tucson public elementary school.
Note: Trista is wearing glasses during the interview as a result of cancer treatment she underwent.