<Begin Segment 7>

VY: Okay. All right, so now I think we're getting close to the war, aren't we? So what happened? So when Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, and your parents have been married for maybe a year?

JF: Uh-huh.

VY: And so what happens to them? What do they have to do?

JF: Well, my grandparents, it seems, because they were aliens, they had to leave Alameda before my parents did. So they went to Oakland to stay with friends, Alameda being... Alameda had to leave almost immediately because of the naval base that was there in Alameda, and strategically they just didn't, they just needed Japanese Americans or Japanese to leave. But my parents did go, they left Alameda. They sold their things just as every other family, they had to leave things. They left their belongings at the church, and they were looked over a pastor that was assigned there, a Caucasian pastor during the war. So they left Alameda and went to stay with friends in Oakland, and then from there they went to Tanforan in San Bruno, which was the assembly center prior to going to, they didn't know where, but eventually to Topaz.

VY: Eventually to Topaz. And then, okay, so now we're at Topaz, and your parents arrive with your mom's parents.

JF: Yes.

VY: And your mom is pregnant?

JF: Yes.

VY: So I know that you probably don't have any memories of that time in Topaz, but can you tell me what you know of that time, if you've heard other family members talk about it or any research you've done?

JF: Uh-huh. You know, it's the same story, how harsh the weather was, just the environment was so different, well, of course, from Alameda. They didn't know what to expect, so they weren't prepared. Clothing, they could only... you hear this all the time, you could only take what you could carry. And it was just my grandparents and my parents, and my mother became a block manager, we were in Block 13. And again, I think it's because of her love of people and just her way of being social. So she took that job, earned a little bit of money. My dad, he knew that my grandparents did not like the food being served to them, so he would leave. He left camp and went to Delta, which is a nearby town near Topaz. And he found a job working in the sugar beet fields, so he would stay there weeks on end and come home, but always bringing food that he knew that my grandparents would enjoy. So yeah, he worked hard, too, just to kind of, I guess he was just being a really good son-in-law. [Laughs] It must have been very difficult for Issei folks, you know, the harshness of it and all of that. And again, in Block 13, there were some friends from Alameda, so that, I'm sure that provided some comfort to them, knowing that they were really not alone or amongst strangers.

We had an opportunity several years ago to go to Topaz. You know, being born there, of course, I had no memory, just what my parents would say, and they didn't talk a lot about it. But when we went, and this was... one of my grandsons organized a pilgrimage to Topaz. And so when we went, we had the pleasure, the wonderful experience, of meeting Jane Beckwith, who is... she's just a fabulous, wonderful woman, who has built up the Topaz Museum. And the pilgrimage, there was a lot of communication, so she knew about our family and what we were really interested in doing. So she took the time to take us to where we lived, to Block 13. And, Virginia, you know, something just, something familiar. I don't know what it was, but I just felt... I know where I am. I know I was here. And she pointed out so many things that were personal to our family, showed us exactly where our front door to the barrack might have been, the rock garden that my grandfather, my dad created. You know, she warned us, everybody gets warned, we're not allowed to pick up anything and take it home, right? And I was so temped to stoop down and pick a rock up, that I felt maybe my dad touched, or my grandfather laid down, in a beautiful pattern, it's still there, it's still there untouched. But I thought better of it, I said, no, I don't want to do this. Jane said no, we can't do this, so I didn't. But the feeling that I had, the feeling that I had was... I knew this was a home for me. This was where I lived. It was a very special time. We were able to go with our grandchildren and other friends, too, so it was nice. It was nice.

I do have one claim to fame, and that is there was a new hospital built in Topaz, and a friend of ours, I just found out that he was the last one born in the old hospital at the end of December, almost Christmas, he was a Christmas baby. And I was born two days after Christmas in the new hospital, the first baby born there, claim to fame. [Laughs]

VY: That's great, you christened the hospital. Well, that sounds like it must have been an incredibly moving experience to go there. Because I was curious, because I know you were quite young when you left camp, two or three?

JF: Yes, exactly, three.

VY: Still, those experiences are there inside of you, right? Before you're able to really put words to it, it's part of you, so it's just so interesting to hear you talk about that sort of visceral response you had to being there.

JF: Yeah, it was a special time.

VY: Thank you for talking about that.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.