<Begin Segment 9>

BN: During the camp in Santa Fe -- it was all-male camp -- so really the younger boys were, really wanted to see the girls. [Laughs] Whenever anybody would see the girls -- sometime they'll come to visit somebody -- and we would just say, "Oh, what a lucky guy." And that was the atmosphere at that time with the younger people. And then we had the, not we, but there was a, equestrian trail near the camp, so whenever they start to climb the hill, we would set up a chair and just watch them pass by -- ladies, too, in their equestrian teams, see. So we, something, all that kind of a thing. But actually, the stay at Santa Fe was, we had, like I said, so many schools, I mean, so many things to learn, so it was really a, I think it wasn't, it was well-spent, the time well-spent at the center.

AI: Then, about how long did you, until when did you stay at Santa Fe?

BN: Oh, we stayed until a few months after the war. When I was there, the war ended.

AI: And how did you find out about it? What did you think when you first heard about that?

BN: Well, at that, right after the war was, war ended, the government said that we had the choice of option of either going to Japan or you can stay here. Now, that was unbelievable at that time because the government's always against us, and we, they didn't give us any chance at all. But now, the war ended, and then they would say that we had a choice of either going to Japan or, you know, "You may stay here." And they said, "The U.S. government isn't telling you to do anything. The decision is up to you." Now, the we, the repatriates, I mean, who were to be, who were to repatriate now had to think about this: "Now why is the government so, becoming so lenient to us after being so harsh up 'til now?" And we just thought it over, and then we thought, "Oh, Japan must have won because that's the only reason the U.S. became so lenient to us." So the people who went to Japan found out it was the opposite. And...

AI: Now, what about you, because...

BN: In my case...

AI: ...you had been planning to go to Japan.

BN: Yes, right.

AI: You had a...

BN: I was one of the ones who thought Japan had won at that time, yes. But in my case, my dad was sick, so we had to wait until the hospital ship arrived. And this seems like it never did arrive. I don't know. And it took so, so many months, it was after that. So we decided to -- excuse me -- so many weeks after that. So, well, we decided to change our mind. So I was sent to Crystal City, Texas.

AI: About when was that that you went to Crystal City?

BN: Yeah, it was about, oh, perhaps couple of months after the war ended. And at, when I, when we got to Crystal City, we were together with the Peruvians, and the Germans, and later on, the group from the Tule Lake arrived into Crystal City. And then...

AI: And did your parents join you there?

BN: No, no.

AI: I mean your father?

BN: Oh, my father, yes. My father was together, he was discharged (from the hospital) later on, so he was together with me. And then, in the meantime, the Germans were being sent to Ellis Island to be deported to Germany. And Peruvian childrens were, didn't have anything to do, so the -- or excuse me -- no, before that, the Seabrook Farm needed a helper. So...

AI: In New Jersey?

BN: In New Jersey, right. Seabrook Farm, New Jersey. So three quarters of the population, that is excluding the Peruvians, though, went to Seabrook, New Jersey.

AI: And what about you?

BN: And I stayed behind. I stayed at the Crystal City, and I helped out as a typist for the camp manager. And then in the meantime, the leftover boys start teaching English and other subjects to these Peruvian children. Actually, the public school was not operating after the war. So since I was typing, Mr. Fukuda -- he's a konkokyo minister -- asked me if I would teach these Peruvian children the typing. So I said, "Sure." And then the families start to ordering the typewriter from Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward's. And I don't know how long I taught, but anyway, the leftover people taught English, like I said, and I taught typing. And then in the meantime, my release notice came in, and that was in 1947 of June. I left the camp in, at that time to Visalia again, and worked on the same farm for about three years. And then...

AI: Excuse me. Did your father leave, also?

BN: No, my father was still in the camp.

AI: At Crystal City?

BN: Yes, right, at Crystal City.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.