<Begin Segment 17>

MA: As the war went on, how much did you hear about what was going on in Seattle and the other coastal areas with the evacuation of the Japanese Americans? I mean, were you well aware of what was going on?

GY: Oh yes, oh yeah. Yeah, it, the horse racing places in California and Puyallup, horse race stalls in Tacoma area, oh yeah. We were very much aware what was going on in Seattle.

MA: So at this point you are eighteen, nineteen, is that right?

GY: '23, '33, '43. I was, '43 I would have been twenty years old.

MA: So you had graduated from high school.

GY: Yeah. But actually, I would have been nineteen years old, being born in November.

MA: And you were working on the, on the railroad with your, you dad?

GY: Yes.

MA: Do you remember seeing, I mean, you were working right where all the trains were going by. Did you ever see any Japanese Americans, I mean, being transported inland?

GY: Yeah. At that time, there were, I don't know how many of us were working at Great Northern in 1942. A lot of Niseis had volunteered for the military, lot of 'em were drafted into the military, and I was working on the rail with other Niseis. And since I was the oldest seniority holder at that time, I worked the trains. And in servicing these trains, I serviced one that came through with two guards, army guards on each end of the coaches, train. They were Mexicans; every one of 'em were Mexicans. I couldn't understand that, but they had a fifty-five-gallon barrel of water sitting on the floor, and I remember back swimmers swimming in the water. And we had to fill the water, and when I took the cover off, naturally I could see these, what they would call back swimmers with legs on, swimming in the water. That went to tell you that that water was old, and they filled it from a creek or something. And then that was supposed to be hush-hush. And then one time -- this was very hush-hush -- but a train stopped late one afternoon. I presume it came from the coast somewhere, and I serviced it with water, ice, and there was a guard on each end with the shades all drawn. I had to go inside to service the water. When I went in, that's all I saw: Japanese. All Isseis and Niseis, and I don't know about Sanseis, but all Japanese. I thought, holy crow, holy mackerel. Then it dawned on me, I inquired. They weren't supposed to talk, they weren't supposed to show their face, I wasn't supposed to do anything, but they were headed for Heart Mountain. And I says, "Oh." I serviced them, and that was the last I saw of them; they went to Heart Mountain, Wyoming. And at a different time, another train came through during my shift that had nothing but evacuees on it, going to Heart Mountain.

MA: What, especially when you went into the train and saw the Japanese Americans, what did you think? What went through your mind?

GY: Well, it was, the hysteria of that era, that time, what could we do? You felt bad, you didn't think any more positive or less of that situation I was in about not being evacuated. The hysteria was all still there, and I just felt bad for the Japanese. I can't tell you how, other than feeling bad. Seeing your own kind being transported in a car all the way to Wyoming, it must have been a good two or three day ride from there to Wyoming. I guess only those that were on that train, and those involved in servicing those trains felt the need at that point, at that time. Yeah.

MA: When you stepped on, into the train car, what was the atmosphere like? I mean, among the passengers, what was going on?

GY: I think they looked at us with some surprise, I'm sure. I looked at them with some surprise, oh man, Japanese. How did I know? They may, they may have been speaking Japanese for all I know, the Isseis. But immediately I knew they were Japanese. Once I found out they were Japanese, I asked, "Where are you going?" The guards didn't shoot us, or shoot me, but Heart Mountain, you didn't have to hit my, hit me with a rock to tell me where that was. Everybody knew these various relocation centers at that time. Tule Lake was the most notorious at that point, Manzanar was the second most notorious, for our way of thinking.

MA: How long did you work for the railroad during that time?

GY: Oh, just about a year and a half, couple years. The military called up, and I left that position but I never went back to it after I returned two years later.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.