Licensing

Yuri with Twin Brother, Pete 1942

Born and raised in San Pedro, CA, Yuri really was that "all-American" girl who taught Sunday school at her local church, who volunteered her time to Girl Scouts and teaching children arts and crafts, photography, first aid, and tennis, and was a her high school’s sports journalist.

All this changed upon the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  In reflection, Yuri states: “Before the war, I was seeing America with American eyes.  What happened to Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor made me see the world and America with entirely new eyes- Japanese American eyes.  In many ways, this marked the beginning of my political awakening and development.”

This is a picture of Yuri with her twin brother, Pete.  Yuri was in the Women’s Ambulance and Defense Corps of America while Pete served in the U.S. Army and Military Intelligence Service during World War II.