<Begin Segment 23>

AI: And that was April of 1942 that you arrived at Poston. And what was your first impression?

GY: Well, there was not much time to impress, I think, because it was so hot. Man, it was so hot, and the train ride was very tiresome. No air-conditioning, and the food was not very appetizing. We were tired. And to, I guess we got off the train at the station, and we were taken on the truck possibly through this desert country, or a bus. And here we were, and... row upon row of black barracks. No vegetation. And because of the fact that the ground had to be leveled for -- to build the barracks. So when the vegetation was, vegetation -- what little there was, originally was cleared, that left pure dust and sand. And so when the trucks would go by, the clouds of dust, other beat down Niseis greeted us at this reception center. We had to register again. And we were assigned our barracks. All the workers were Japanese already, and so we didn't feel too much -- too foreign, as a matter of fact.

And taken by truck to our new home, Block 36 -- I don't, I can't remember if, 36-A. I'm not sure what the barracks number was, but anyway, we were taken there. And the first thing we had to do was to unload the stuff and scatter them through the barracks room. Just one area, one room -- one barrack. And the coal stove in the center. No, I guess it must have been a, not a coal stove. Excuse me. Other barracks had, other camps had coal stoves, and we had -- no, I guess the oil-burning stove. And first thing we did was to be given some empty bags, rather, canvas bags which served as mattresses. We filled them with straw. There were metal cots, just the spring. So we filled the, the bags with straw, and they were sort of, sort of made a bed. And sat on our beds, well, here we are, sweating. And heard rumors about sickness, diarrhea, the food was, that the water was not pure.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2002 Densho. All Rights Reserved.