<Begin Segment 9>

DM: So what assembly center were you sent to?

BS: Tanforan racetrack.

DM: And how did you get there?

BS: By bus. The, I think we were all supposed to meet in a given area, and the bus took us to Tanforan racetrack.

DM: And what were your initial thoughts when you saw where you were going?

BS: Well, I think as, as a country person growing up in the country, it probably wasn't near as alarming as the young kids that grew up in the city to, to be going into the stables. I grew up with horses and understood what a stable was and so forth, so actually, I was aware of the aroma of a horse stable. So it wasn't near the difficult transition that I had to make as compared to all the city boys, city folks that were stationed in Tanforan. But I could still remember vividly when we got off the bus, we were allowed to just have one suitcase per person, and then we were given a duffel bag, and then we were directed to a, directed to a big pile of straw. And we filled our duffel bag with straw, 'cause that was going to be our mattress, and then were assigned a stall, a horse stall.

DM: Tanforan is a racetrack, so that's why there were all these horse stalls available.

BS: Yeah, all horse stalls. And you could actually see the horse manure in between the boards, and it was whitewashed, just whitewashed over it.

DM: So what was, what was daily life like for you and the family there in Tanforan? Were there, was there a school or were there organized activities?

BS: It was such a temporary, we were told that it was such a temporary thing before we were moved somewhere else, that I don't think that the leadership felt it was worth organizing really anything. So it was, it was sort of a lonely feeling, very lonely feeling.

DM: And were you still able to be in touch with the community people that you knew from Alameda?

BS: No.

DM: So you were kind of isolated from the rest of them.

BS: Yes. We were completely isolated. The only communication we had was people within the camp.

DM: And how long were you there in Tanforan, do you remember?

BS: I believe it was from February to April, about three months, I believe.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright ©2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.