<Begin Segment 24>

AI: Well, so then, speaking of Minidoka, what happened next? You took the train?

MK: Train. Lot of this is just a blur. Yes, we were herded onto a train. And I remember we had everything tagged. And I still remember the MPs lined, they were low-ranked GIs but, nevertheless, they were there with rifles. And we just did what we were told to do. And now that I see it, I mean, gee, that was so dumb. I mean, I'm sure, this day and age, I mean, there would have been much more violence or people would fight that. But we just went along with it. And I didn't see anybody misbehaving, out of line.

AI: What, what went through your mind when you saw these MPs with their guns?

MK: It was frightening, so that, more so, it kept you in line to do exactly what you're told to do.

AI: Well, then --

MK: It's very passive, isn't it?

AI: Well, I think when you see the guards with the guns right there, I can understand that it would be very frightening.

MK: Yes, it is.

AI: Then, after the train ride, you arrived at Minidoka. And what, what did you see?

MK: The barrenness was the -- you know, Seattle was not built up and we didn't have a whole lot of skyscraper, but, as you approached Minidoka, (absolutely) no trees, (...) and, here from the Northwest we were surrounded by these green forests. And so, it was really another, completely another world. We weren't talking about another planet in those days, but, I mean, it was definitely dry, flat, especially Minidoka. And now that I've visited seven of the ten camps, Minidoka, of all places, they had not even a mountain or a rock to look at. [Laughs] So, again, we just had to accept it. And then when you look at the gates, sure, they were barbed wires, guard towers. We sure stuck together with the family.

AI: What kind of, again, what kind of condition did you have here in Minidoka, with your family?

MK: Okay, we were assigned one of the larger, which was next to the two person, and we had one next to it that was for up to anywhere from four to six people. So we were lucky that way. And we were (given), it was army cots, and I remember, the day-by-day. I mean, we would hear what others were doing to break up the rooms within so if we had any extra sheets or blankets we would use that as partitions. And we had no covering for the window, so we used extra pillowcase or whatever, towel or whatever to... otherwise, you know, it's not only protecting ourselves from people seeing you from the outside, but the sun glaring in, the hot sun coming in during the daytime. That was something else, too. And then the dust, I mean, people talk about it today, but, dust was just something. It just really gathered. I mean, you can dust and then feel it every day, every hour. And then, you think that you were breathing this, breathing this.

AI: Sounds miserable.

MK: So, it was. I mean, and then, our family had experienced camping in the San Juan Islands and it's far, far different. [Laughs]

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.