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TI: And how about, like, day to day life at Jerome? So it's three boys and your mother, and can you describe the room that you lived in?

JN: Yeah. I remember walking into the room we had within Block... and how they segregated one room from the other, I don't know, within the barrack. But within that room, we then segregated into rooms by hanging sheets, I think, between rooms, is what I recall. And then we had these bunker beds that was issued out, so we had beds issued and then we had rooms built, I mean, hung up with sheets, I think. And, of course, the center of the room was the stove. The stove was the thing that kept us warm.

TI: And what would be a typical day at Jerome? I mean, when you wake up, what would be one of the first things you would do and what would they be like?

JN: Okay, I get up in the morning, I think, and I'm not sure if it's because my mother is so introverted or not, but I remember going to the cafeteria in the morning and picking up food. And we, somebody built a wooden box with a opening on the top to put the drinks, so the drinks would stick up from there. It's so clear in my mind. And then we put food in there, and I would bring it home. And I think, I think it's just my mother and myself ate that, because I think the boys went to the cafeteria and did their thing and they just, I never saw them. I don't recall too much other than them coming home to sleep, I guess, but they weren't home that much. Bert was off, I'm sure, in trouble someplace.

TI: So it's interesting, so you never really ate in the big mess hall very frequently, you usually ate at home with your mother.

JN: Yeah, the only time I recall going, eating at the cafeteria would be on special occasions, Christmas or -- not Christmas, probably, I'm not sure. And they had performances and people would sing and that kind of stuff. That's the only time I recall going to a cafeteria to eat. But I remember bringing it home most of the time.

TI: And after you would eat and get the food, eat, and then what would you do during the day?

JN: Let's see. In the block, of course, it was all people from Hawaii. I remember there was a picture of them, the Kimura family was right next door to us. And they had sisters and brothers, and there was a boy my age, I think, so I played with him, too. When we first came back, I played with the doctor's son, because he was taking care of me and then the boy, I think the boy got the mumps, too, I think. That's right, he got the mumps. [Laughs] So I was the only boy who could play with him because I had already, I was over with my mumps, so I was the only boy who could play with the doctor's son. And then, of course, it was, as I said, the family I remember most was the Kimura family, they were next door. I'm sure there were others, but I just probably called... what we did, I don't recall exactly, but I remember pictures, I think. And that's what is in my mind, is the, there was a basketball court. So we must have played basketball, but I don't recall exactly. My brother played football because I see pictures of him, both of them playing football. And what else we did, I don't, I don't really recall.

TI: Well, you're now in Arkansas, you're more in the South. Did you have any memories or recollections of, like, African Americans, blacks, in the South? Did you ever see them when you were down there?

JN: You know, I have one, again, specific memory of somehow, of this black guy was delivering goods at the cafeteria. Why I was standing around that guy, I have no idea why. But my memory of that was -- and the reason I guess it stuck in my mind was I had food or something. The guy was delivering, I think, food to the cafeteria, or he was taking, maybe, garbage out from the cafeteria. And he looked different to me, right, he was black and everything. What I recall doing was giving him food, and he was so happy to get it. I'm not sure if this is, I made it up in my mind or what, but that's what I seem to recall. Why I would do it, I have no idea. But I seem to recall I gave him food, and he seemed to be very happy that he got it. And that's the, my memory of... it's a strange memory I have of that.

TI: When you think about that memory, was it a sense that he needed the food, that you actually had more than he had?

JN: Yes, yeah. That kind of struck me, I think, more than anything else, saying here's this adult, and he has a funny-colored skin, and I have to give him food. That somehow didn't sit with me, I think, it bothered me. That's probably the reason I remember.

TI: Oh, interesting.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright ©2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.