<Begin Segment 15>

DH: And so do you have personal memories of returning? To the gardens, or to school, or any of those things at that time?

JH: Well, I, yes, I do. I remember going back to school in the first day in Pleasant Beach School. In late --

DH: Springtime, so it's the middle --

JH: The springtime, yeah.

DH: -- late school.

JH: It was almost, the season, yeah, the school year was almost over. And, I was introduced, and I remember there was tremendous tension in the air. Nobody actually came across and said, "Hi, I'm glad to see you here." There's basically silence. And, of course, that bothered me considerably.

[Interruption]

DH: Okay. We're talking about returning to Bainbridge after the war. So you went back to school the spring of that school year, you were in eighth grade, and did you -- so did you ever experience any racism, any...?

JH: No, I did not experience racism. As I said, I returned to school, and a lot of my former schoolmates were still there. And I was introduced as a returning student by the teacher, and basically there was very little emotion that I could pick up from any of the students. But, that ended quickly, and I think the first recess I was... picked up conversations with some of my ex-mates, and I didn't really know 'em that well, I think the closest friend I had was Ray DeGroot, and I think he remembers me. And after the first recess, I think everything went well. I didn't feel any racial hatred whatever.

DH: Were the Japanese from Bainbridge, who were in the camps, returning around the same time?

JH: There were -- yes, a lot of 'em even preceded us. Yeah.

DH: So some of them were already back.

JH: That's correct. That probably helped the situation a little.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.