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And he started to explain by saying
that the local officers of the battalion

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and the guard did everything they could
to try and stop what was going to happen.

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And what was going to happen was
that all of us who were

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of Japanese ancestry
was being discharged involuntarily.

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And the reason why, as he explained it,
was that the security of the island

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of O‘ahu came under the command
of an officer from somewheres

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out in the East.

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I think he said someplace like New York.

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And as he inspected the island
and made his tour, he saw all of these

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vital installations being guarded
by what he thought were Orientals.

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Upon further investigation,
he found out that the roster of the

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Hawai‘i Territorial Guard was made up
almost entirely of Japanese-Americans.

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And he just couldn't stand it,
and he just couldn't take it.

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He says no telling what will happen,
and made an order that all of us

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would be immediately discharged.

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And in spite of all
the efforts of our local--

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because like Johnny Naumu
was one of the officers,

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Tommy Kaulukukui was one
of the officers, Major Frazier

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was the deputy commander.

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My company commander was
Francis Aiwohi, the football coach,

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University of Hawai‘i, this and that.

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And they were all
our officers and whatnot.

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But in spite of that,
we were ordered discharged.

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And so, reluctantly and disappointedly,
all of us got discharged,

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and I went back to Maui.

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And when I got back to Maui,
I was told immediately by my friends

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that all what you had to have
was a hammer, saw, and square,

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and you were a carpenter helper.