Densho Digital Archive - Mitsuye May Yamada - Joe Yasutake - Tosh Yasutake Interview (denshovh-ymitsuye

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AI: Oh, excuse me, before we go to that point, had you mentioned earlier that some of your dad's work colleagues had come down to visit you in Puyallup? Or had you gotten some news of your father while you were in Puyallup still?

MY: Well, my mother claims, claims -- she, later in her life, was talking about that period, and none of us remember my dad coming to visit us in Puyallup. And we almost feel as though she had kind of fantasized about that, when she was, something that she really wanted.

TY: Yeah, Mother apparently thought that they, Mr. Bonham had arranged Dad to come and visit us in Puyallup, and that he in fact had. But none of us remember that.

MY: I think that, at that point, she was really depending on Mr. Bonham to, thought that he can do anything. That he can get my dad out, he could do this and that. And I think that that was maybe one of the things that she was hoping for, that he would be able to bring my dad to see her, but -- see us. But none of us -- it would have been a momentous occasion if we had, and none of us remember that. It wasn't until years later that she said that, so I hadn't really -- and then I, remember I -- I remember hearing her say that, and then I didn't really press her about it, but --

TY: Didn't you say that Mr. Spangler came and visited us?

MY: Yeah, he did. I think Mr. Schwandt did. Do you remember him?

TY: Schwandt. I don't even remember --

MY: He had a shock of white hair. He was a very nice person. But I don't remember --

TY: I remember Mr. Spangler visiting us, but I don't remember Mr. Schwandt.

MY: Oh, yeah?

TY: Yeah.

MY: They brought some things to camp. I remember seeing them in the visiting section, near the gate. They were brought in and then we -- but I don't think that Dad, there's just no way that Dad would have been able to come. But, and during that period when our father was in detention in Seattle, and then was moved to Missoula, probably very early, in the early period of 1942, we, we just heard through rumors, through Mr. Bonham, who kept us informed about his, his movements. But it wasn't until he got to Lordsburg, New Mexico, that we actually got letters directly from him.

AI: And that was some time later?

MY: That was later, yeah.

AI: So at this point, you still weren't sure.

MY: We had no... we had -- as I said, we were kind of aware of his movements, because we were informed through, through Dad's co-, former boss. But other than that, we didn't know, know anything.