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MA: So going back a little bit to Santa Monica, what, so your grandparents at that point moved from northern to southern California.

NM: Right.

MA: What were they doing in Santa Monica? What type of work?

NM: Gardening. See, my uncle was there. My oldest aunt and uncle was there doing gardening work. And so, he did gardening. And then the rest of them worked in town at Vons Market and so forth.

MA: So in, when you were living in Sacramento, what grade school were you attending at that point?

NM: Let's see. I attended, one, two, three, three different grade school.

MA: Oh, wow.

NM: Plus, I went to the same one twice. So that would be four. Was called, let's see what was it called? Washington Elementary School.

MA: In Sacramento. Okay. And then when you moved to L.A., to Santa Monica, you started a new school.

NM: Uh-huh. And that was, I forgot the name of it.

MA: What were your memories of Santa Monica and arriving there, and your first impressions of southern California?

NM: I didn't have any memories of the place. We lived in town and we lived near our cousins and we went to the beach and so forth. In fact, all our relatives eventually moved to southern California.

MA: Were your grandparents pretty successful financially? Or how were they doing in Santa Monica?

NM: They were doing pretty well because their children were grown and they were working. And then they moved into a nice house and bought new furniture and then the war broke out and they had to leave all that behind. Didn't even have time to sell the place. I remember my aunt telling me that my grandfather was burning some papers in the backyard, in the incinerator, I guess. And the neighbors called the FBI and they arrested him because they said he was burning spy papers. But then his friends vouched for him, so he got to come back.

MA: And this was after Pearl Harbor?

NM: Yes, yes.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.