Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1076/

Starting to get angry

After basic training or during basic training, I got a furlough and came to LA and there was talk of evacuations so I helped my mother pack and then I went to the Japanese school where we did our kendo and the boy scout meeting[s] and I see many people moving into the classrooms and I said,” what’s going on here?” I says. “These are people from Terminal Island, they were booted out of there. And had no place to go, so they’re here.” So I said, hey how come they were booted out?

You know, that’s when I started to think, hey something is wrong here and I think that was the first time my blood began to boil, I think. Even in the army before that I had no problem- basic training, it was all mixed group, I had a little ROTC and the boy scouts- we had close order drill, so even the sergeant knew that’s why he had me leading the whole platoon, as just a trainee, you know, leading the platoon and all. I didn’t feel any discrimination in the army, of course later on I applied for officer’s training, then I was told “you’re not eligible” so I went for a non-com class to become a non-commission officer but there was slight indication of that I says, I guess I am Japanese and all that, but I didn’t blame anybody, I says, well such is life, you know, but it was at the Terminal Island “expulsion” you might say that, that’s the first time I start to feel a…I was starting to get angry, you might say.


California discrimination interpersonal relations racism Terminal Island United States

Date: March 25, 2005

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Sojin Kim

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Cedrick Shimo was born in 1919 and grew up in the diverse neighborhood of Boyle Heights. He was active in the Boy Scouts, kendo and the Cougars, a Japanese American athletic club. He received his draft notice the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor while he was at graduate school in Cal Berkeley so he joined the army and signed up for the Military Intelligence Service Language School. However, when he was denied furlough to visit his mother in Manzanar, he became outraged and refused to fight overseas and was placed in the 1800th Engineering Battalion – a segregated group of German, Italian, and Japanese Americans who were considered suspect. Their role was to repair damages to roads, bridges and fences caused by combat troops during training maneuvers. He returned to Boyle Heights after being honorably discharged from the 1800th and went on to become vice-president of the export division for Honda.

On November 20, 2008, Japan awarded him The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays for his efforts in promoting Japan-U.S. trade during a time of trade friction between the two countries while he was at Honda.

He passed away in April 2020 at age 100. (April 2020)

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