"Skip" in 1944
"Skip" in 1944
Growing up, Skip was best friends with Ray Takahashi's son Billy, and was with them when they received the notice that they would be interned. He visited them on Ray's request, and when Billy died in combat he sent them Billy's last letter. He was then shipped out to the Pacific Theater.
Sadly, his time in the Pacific Theater later caused him to develop a hatred for Japanese people. When Ray approached him, asking if Billy could recieve a distinguished combat medal, Skip coldly told him "those medals are for American heroes". They got into an argument, culminating in Ray telling him "my boy was more of an American than you will ever be." Skip punched him in a fit of rage, and Ray fell down the stairs breaking his neck.
Years passed, and while Skip did develop some degree of remorse, he clung to his hatred purely to deal with his guilt.
When Skip was interviewed he tried to pin it on Shinji Nakamura, a Japanese inmate Ray had clashed with, and who had been shipped off to Toulee Lake. However, when they learned that Ray sought a medal, and that Skip would have been the one to ask, they brought him in. Stillman compared his own experiences in Vietnam, and Skip finally began to drop the mask. When Stillman suggested that he saw Ray and Billy's faces, he cracked and tried to justify the camps because of that. After he confessed he was led to his cell.