Roku Yasui (1921?-1968?). As a child Roku was fascinated with mechanical things. At age 16, his father gave him a broken-down Model A Ford to repair, and he spent months restoring it piece by piece. As soon as the war broke out, Roku volunteered for the Army but was rejected on racial grounds. At college in the Midwest, Roku was not directly affected by the evacuation and relocation plans. He continued his mechanical engineering studies in Michigan and graduated in 1943, a year ahead of his class.

Roku applied again for military service, as a Japanese language specialist, and was assigned to the Far East. Serving with the Occupation Army in Japan, he was deeply affected by the devastation and the suffering caused by the atomic bomb blasts. Roku spent his off-duty hours helping starving and injured people, using his salary to buy food, clothing, and medications. He became a life-long advocate of peace and an activist against further development of nuclear weapons. After his tour of duty, he returned to the University of Michigan and completed his master's degree in engineering. He moved his family to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and started a doctorate in Far Eastern Studies, at Harvard. He suspended his studies when his wife became ill, and opened a successful machine-tool shop, where he developed several new tools. Roku came back to Oregon for treatment of pancreatic cancer. He died at the age of 47, and was buried next to his parents in Hood River.