(somber music)
[JOHNNY GOGO] The Japanese American families
that were incarcerated during World War II,
that was mass incarceration without due process of law.
The more I thought about that,
the more I realized how wrong that was.
And I needed to do
what I could to help educate future generations
so that we don't ever do that to any of our citizens
or minority members of our community ever again.
Each and every person that signs the flag has
their own unique story that's very important
and needs to be remembered.
♪♪
(bell rings)
-Hello.
-We're here to see Krista for the flag signing event.
-Yes, please come in.
-We're at the Lakeshore.
We're going to meet the World War II, MIS Veteran
Junks Ikeda,
along with probably about ten other camp survivors.
Hey, Junks, it's good to see you again.
This is flag number eight.
The 48-star flag was the flag of the United States
during World War II,
and it was the flag inside the camps.
And I wanted to honor those that are still surviving
that were in the camps back then.
I thought it would be a nice tribute
to you and your families to have you put your name on
this 48-star flag and then donate this flag to museum.
♪♪
-Do you remember which camp you were at?
-Tule Lake. -Tule Lake.
-All right. Just Pinedale.
-Okay. Pinedale. Yes, the assembly center.
Minidoka. Okay.
-I was just a little kid when I was in camp,
but there's so many good memories of my childhood.
But then I also know about the pain and suffering
of the older folks.
-Junks Can I have you come up?
You served in the MIS, yes? -Yeah.
-Can I put my family?
-Yes, please do.
Thank you so much, Mary.
-This is very different from what it was like 80 years ago.
It was bad.
It's a proud moment
because we were so spit upon and despised.
-Print your name and then print the Camp Minidoka...
Okay?
-(muttered speaking) -Yes, when you were single.
-There are not enough people
that remember what it was like in the old days.
Recognition is late, but yes...
Oh, it makes a vast difference.
-Oh, God, I feel so good.
It's really an honor
and I hope people remember.
-Thank you so much. Thank you for signing.
Good to see you.
-One, two, three, cheese!
-This is a labor of love.
That's what keeps me going.
I'm a judge and superior court of California,
Santa Clara County, San Jose.
About eight or nine years ago, through my participation
in the lecture series about Fred Korematsu Day,
I learned more
about the Japanese American incarceration
and wanted to do more to help honor their family's legacy
and their loyalty to the United States.
Hi, shig! Good to see you again.
-Good to see you.
-That's when I came up
with the creative project
of obtaining a 48-star American flag.
So you’ll write Shig Otani,
Tule and Heart Mountain.
That first flag filled up very quickly.
And so while
I had set an artificial time limit for my involvement
in the flag signing project, it just has continued.
We're now on flag number nine.
-I'm glad this is happening now because he wouldn't
talk about it in the beginning when we were growing up.
-You know, of all the bad things that happened,
some good things do happen.
And these things, that's life, you know.
-Alright, Shig. Always good to see you.
The first flag that I started,
I knew that there was a large Japanese American population
here in Seattle and in Washington.
And it was during that process that I met Dale.
-Having Johnny, who is not
Japanese American take this on to me, is amazing.
-Can you grab that end?
-I don’t know if
it closes old wounds
because I think you have to be able
to recognize the injustice of that time.
That was a big black mark in American history.
And I say American history because it's really part of
American history.
It's not just Japanese American history.
-Mayor? -Yes?
-Hey, Johnny Gogo.
-Yes, Johnny.
-Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you too.
-My mother was interned with her
brothers and sisters in Minidoka
Signing the flag is very emotional.
It affects my lens on how I lead as a mayor,
because that's one of the pain points
that we have as we move forward in our
commitment to all communities that there's been some pain.
And so out of the pain comes joy and hope.
-Appreciate it.
I'm going to have Kim sign this flag, too, now,
because this flag is going to remain here in Seattle.
And this flag right now, I'm donating to the NVC.
-Oh, that's.
Thank you so much for,
you know, the efforts that you're making on,
you know, on your own dime and on your own time
to recognize
so many of these people who need to be remembered.
You know, my mother,
her favorite line was “okagesama de.”
Sometimes it can't be helped, but we endure.
We move on.
-It’s the living stories that are really important.
It's about pride and honor.
For so long, it was buried in history.
-(muttering)
Oh, that's quite a quite a deal.
-It has certainly been an incredible journey.
It'll end when folks stop donating flags to me.
Thank you so much.
You know, that'll be the natural process.
♪♪