The parents and others of that era rarely spoke of their experiences. Tthat silence resulted in many forgotten memories, like a rusty pump, and fragments would burst forth as connections were made.

This was the anti-thesis of the Jewish experience (writer seemed to be Jewish descent) where every adventure under German oppression was recounted in an oral history that the whole family knew and recounted every detail.

The interesting consequence for the japanese daugther was that the kids never really knew or felt the anguish of the parents and they led normal lives, fully integrated into American culture.

The Jewish writer felt that the remembrance of past wrongs in his family results in sense of urgency to overcome the victim mentality and had strong impact on their personal identities as a Jew.

What we remember and how we choose to remember it affects who we are. Its a choice as to how much effort we make to remember.