In response to “Survivor of WWII Japanese internment camps feels déjà vu” article, published Feb. 2.
Your touching article inspired me to reflect upon my life, and to honor four Japanese-American scientists, mentors, collaborators and friends who played key roles in my development and maturation as a scientist. I owe a debt of gratitude to these special people, who were there for me at key stages of my life and career.
Robin Okinishi taught me electronics and amateur radio in the early ‘60s and hired me as an engineer upon entering college — my first job in advanced technology. Robin and I remain cherished friends. Shortly after the U.S. entered WWII, Robin’s family was displaced from his childhood home in Kauai to a Japanese internment camp in Arkansas, some 4,000 miles away.
The late Dr. Doug Tanimoto hired me as a physicist in the laser department at Hughes Aircraft during my graduate years at Caltech, and supported me as a Hughes Masters Fellow. Doug was instrumental in my transition from Hughes Aircraft in Culver City to Hughes Research Laboratories (HRL) in Malibu. During WWII, his family was sent to a Japanese internment camp.
The late Dr. Charles Asawa was my first boss and mentor at HRL He also supported my being hired at HRL in the laser department, and me as a Hughes Doctoral Fellow at Caltech. Charles played a key role in my maturation as a laser physicist. Unfortunately, shortly after the presidential executive order of February 1942, Charles’ family was displaced from their Los Angeles home and transferred to a Japanese Internment camp in Rohwer, Ark.
Dr. David Sumida was my lab collaborator, co-author and co-inventor on various photonics programs at HRL. After the start of WWII, David’s father and paternal grandparents lost several hotels they ran in Portland, Ore., and were sent to a Japanese internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho.
As an offspring of holocaust survivors, I can relate to, and appreciate, the inhumane sacrifices that Robin, Doug, Charles, David and their respective families were forced to make, even as proud U.S. citizens. I am thankful to my Japanese-American friends and colleagues, who have supported me, in so many ways, over 50 years of my life as a scientist.
David Pepper