Peter Ota was a Japanese American in the war, with a family being held in an internment camp. He expressed how he was so ashamed to be Japanese and that all the customs he practiced disappeared. He and his family didn't fight back when they were forced into the camp. They took away their business and everything they had. When Peter went to war, his mother became sick and while waiting to get permission to visit, she passed away. Peter was upset he wasn't able to be there, but he picked up her remains. Peter and his family, when together, would celebrate holidays and never talk about what had happened. No one was able to talk about what had happened. They were ashamed and angry. He stated, "My children were denied a lot of the history of what happened. If you think of all those forty years of silence, I think this stems from another Japanese characteristic: when shame is put on you, you try to hide it. We were put into camp, we became victims, it was our fault. We hide it" (209). His daughter wanted to write about the war and tried to talk to people about it, but many refused. Peter though accepted it and even cried while telling his story, feeling better after. But she couldn't understand why they didn't fight back. He explained how times were different back then and if it were now, his family and other Japanese Americans would fight back. They would stand up for what they believed in. They would be brave enough to do so.
Hutchinson was a nurse in the war and felt as if it were her duty to do so. Hutchinson was an official of the nurses and saw some of the worst cases. Some came in without limbs, with burns, with faces torn apart. She describes her first few days being a nurse as brutal, she threw up after seeing injured men. However, she soon became accustomed to the environment and was glad to help in the war. At the hospital, many men joked about their wounds, making it less serious, but did not talk about the war itself. They called one man "The Nose" because he lost his nose and ears. She acted as a plastic surgeon as well. One man constantly pointed to a picture of him in the war saying that he would not leave until he looked like that again, had his face back. However, this man acted weak and Hutchinson wondered, "Why isn't he quiet? Why can't he be brave when they're changing his dressing? What does he think we are, miracle workers?" (215). They had been brave in the war and acted as if the hospital was worse than that. She did not understand that the hospital made this man emotional because it brought everything together and all he was able to do was reflect upon the war. Why did he fight? What did he fight for?
The war was unpleasant, every aspect. At the homefront, people were being forced into camps and prejudice was apparent. On the battlefront, many lives were lost along with innocence and morals. Off the battlefront, in hospitals, many were recovering mentally and physically from the brutal war and tried to get their lives back. Hutchinson expressed angrily her disappointment for war, believing it did not really help. She stated, "We did it for what? Korea? Vietnam? We're still at war. Looking back, it didn't work" (217). So, was the war effective? I disagree to some extent with Hutchinson because the war resolved problems between nations making it beneficial. Despite all the losses and aftermath of the war, it also may be looked upon as a lesson to learn from. After the Japanese were released from the camps, Reagan declared that actions towards the Japanese were wrong and immoral. Generations today can learn from the war.
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