<Begin Segment 14>

TI: So we, the first hour, left it at the Puyallup Assembly Center. And so let's, let's now move on to Minidoka, and so what were your first impressions of Minidoka when you got there?

JS: Well, I don't have any clear recollection of Minidoka, except that I know that it was a camp, and the conditions were what they were. But, and frankly, I was not bitter about being there. We just kind of accepted it. We knew that it wasn't totally right, of course, but there was an attitude of, "Well, what can we do?" And while we were in, the first winter there -- I was only there that one winter -- we worked on the coal crew. And of course, that was a dirty job, you'd get all sooty and so forth, but it was enjoyable because all the other young guys were on the coal crew, too, friends of ours, that is. And so we kind of had a camaraderie about being on the coal crew. And I think that, as I recall, we did this work at night. Went to the railhead and loaded the trucks with coal, and then drove the trucks back and unloaded them in camp.

TI: And so when you say "unload," what would that entail? What would you have to do with the crew?

JS: Well, it's just shoveling coal, and transferring it from the rail car to the truck.

TI: So this was heavy manual labor. You're just, you're just shoveling.

JS: Shoveling coal.

TI: And then into the truck, then you go back to camp, and then you would then shovel that...

JS: That's right.

TI: ...into big piles, or would you have to go from --

JS: Well, no, they're, each block had an area where they had a coal bin, and you'd dump them into those coal bins so the people could use it for their, for heating and warmth.

TI: Now, you mentioned you did a lot of this at night. Why would you do this at night?

JS: I don't really know, but it was always at night that we worked.

TI: So it wasn't like early morning, that you'd wake up early? It was more at the end of the day you would do this?

JS: My recollection that it was always at night, yes. But there was a perk along with that. So after the shift, you'd get a meal, and usually the, it was better than what we had, the rest of the camp had as a, as a meal. So I think we had, from time to time, steak or whatever, which was a treat.

TI: So was this just at a, one of the mess halls that you would go to, and someone would have the extra supplies, and they would cook something for you guys. That's, oh, that's sounds great. And so then you slept in every morning?

JS: I presume we did. [Laughs]

TI: And so other than the coal job, what other activities do you remember doing?

JS: Well, you know, the guys, they played cards, poker or whatever, and they got to know other people, but that was it. And I think we were at that particular age where we, we were attracted to girls, and so the first girlfriend I ever had was in camp, and that was exciting, too.

TI: So was this someone you knew before camp?

JS: No, met in camp, yes.

TI: And so this woman was, like, from a different town, neighborhood?

JS: No, she was from Seattle, actually, but we had never met. She went to a different high school. I think she went to Maryknoll, she was of the Catholic faith, so we had never had a chance to meet until we got to camp.

TI: And so for social activities, to meet girls, how would you do that? What kind of activities or...

JS: Well, there were dances, and they would clear the mess hall or whatever, and then they would have dances in, in the mess hall.

TI: So describe that for me. I've asked this question of women, and they talk about the dancing and all that. What was it like for the guys? What would you guys do?

JS: Well, you know, it was really exciting and a new experience. We had never dated before, and so it's, I guess it would be part of growing up, but nonetheless, it was a different setting. And there was something that was unique about it also, and that is, it wasn't a mixed society, it was all Japanese Americans. So whoever you dated was gonna be a Japanese American. And so it was nice to get into that part of life, just getting to know a girl and so forth.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.