The following interview was recorded on August 4, 2024 in Tucson, AZ. The interviewer is Arlene Watkins. In his interview, Harley is receiving his questions in writing due to impaired hearing.

Tsugiuo “Harley” Fujimoto was born on a farm in Loveland, Colorado in 1922. He passed in Tucson, AZ, in 2025. Harley was the son of sharecroppers and his family moved between farms in the summer, and his father worked in the Wyoming coal mines in the winter for extra income. 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 Fort 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 discharge 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. A longer version of Harley’s life story is preserved in a three-part oral history on the Japanese American Military History Collective website.