<Begin Segment 11>

SS: What happened after that?

EW: Then when the decree came out that we were to be evacuated, then we just went about getting our things together. And our dog, we had a dog and had to leave him with friends, and our car. And, of course, people didn't want to buy anything. Our laundry, my father just left it. The machinery in there, he took the loss. And the house, just, we had to leave that.

SS: What was your reaction to that decree? Do you remember? Did you come home from school and did your parents break the news to you?

EW: Oh no, we heard it, we read it in the paper and we heard in on the radio. So we kept busy trying to get our furniture stored and taken care of. And our dog, and our car, whoever we could leave them with. Not knowing when we would -- when and if ever we would return.

SS: How much time did you actually have to make preparations?

EW: Let's see, we didn't have that long, maybe one month if that long.

SS: Must have been an agonizing, heartbreaking month.

EW: It was.

SS: What was the hardest part of all of that?

EW: I think saying, "Good-bye" to our friends. You know, and not knowing if you would ever see them again.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 1996 Densho. All Rights Reserved.