<Begin Segment 9>

SS: Let me ask you a little bit about the war. Where were you when the war broke out? And what do you remember about learning about the war breaking out?

EW: Well, you know, we didn't think too much about the war. We were, at that time we were going to -- my sister and I were going to business college in Mt. Vernon, which was four miles south of Burlington. And we would ride the bus, Greyhound bus, and went to business college and then come home. But one day, Pearl Harbor day, I guess, let me see... that was on Sunday. Monday we went to school -- rode the bus. And then when we went to the bus station to come home, we were told that we couldn't ride the bus. That there was a rule or something that no Japanese were allowed to ride.

SS: What did you think at the time?

EW: Oh, we were... we burst into tears. We were so upset, and you know, getting out of school about five o'clock and then walking home at that time -- four miles. But we started out, and fortunately a good man that we knew and who knew us in Burlington picked us up and brought us home. And he was very indignant, too, that that was happening to us.

SS: Did you talk about it with your parents, the Pearl Harbor?

EW: Yes.

SS: What was the discussion like? What did you talk about?

EW: Why, why did this happen? How? And, course, their loyalty at that time was America, of course. But their attitude was, "It can't be helped," that they had nothing to do with it. And they didn't, either, because they had been away from Japan for so many years that they didn't know what was going on over there politically. And so it was hard for them, too.

SS: At that time, was there any inkling that you would indeed end up paying the price, that Japanese Americans would?

EW: No, no, nothing like that.

SS: What did you think would happen at that time?

EW: We didn't think anything would happen to us. After all, we had lived in the town for, how many years, twenty-five, thirty years. Everybody knew us and we knew everybody, and we had never done anything wrong. So that we didn't think that anything would happen to us in such a small town.

SS: At that time, what were your dreams? You were going to business school.

EW: Well, I wanted to be a secretary, something.

SS: Meet a nice guy and get married?

EW: Probably. I did go to the University of Washington for one year after high school. But I didn't like being away from home. So I went to business college which was closer.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 1996 Densho. All Rights Reserved.