<Begin Segment 6>

MA: So tell me about hearing the news that you were going to be removed to Santa Anita, right, and leaving San Pedro and what that was like for your family.

YK: Well, I remember on that date, it was in April, I think, about April 1st or 2nd. All people of Japanese ancestry were supposed to meet at a certain corner, it was, I don't know, Seventh and near Pacific, which was the main drag. We all went down there, and I think all the Japanese were surprised that there were so many of us. I mean, we didn't know there were that many Japanese in San Pedro proper, but there were, which was interesting. And I don't know, the one thing that worried me was we all had to be there at a certain time, so I think they said that if someone in the family can drive, they could take the car. So my brother drove us down there. And I was so worried about, I don't know what happened to our dog. I loved that dog, it was a collie dog, a real nice dog. And I didn't get to say goodbye to him. And I wonder what was gonna happen to him. We can't, we couldn't tell him, "We have to go away," and I wondered who was going to take care of him. But anyway, I mean, it bothered me. After every, all the Japanese Americans seemed to have gotten to the point of departure, then all the cars lined up and we left for, we didn't know where we were going, but we ended up in Santa Anita.

MA: And how, what were your thoughts when you arrived at Santa Anita? Do you remember what you were thinking when you saw, basically, where your family was going to be imprisoned, I guess, for the next...

YK: Yeah. Well, when we were all lined up, all the cars were all going in the same direction, it was interesting. There were some people on the street who had signs saying, "We're sorry to see you go," you know, "you Japanese go." But there were also people who had signs that said, "Get out Japs," you know. I mean, that was interesting that there were two different feelings of us. I thought it was even surprising that they would come out on the street with signs. And it was good to know that there were some people, I guess, that felt bad we were leaving. Of course, most people probably were glad to get rid of Japanese 'cause they didn't trust Japanese. And the hysteria of war was really high. And so then we ended up in Santa Anita.

MA: And at that time it was your mother and your two brothers and yourself, so the four of you?

YK: My brother, well, both my brothers volunteered, but my older brother had asthma so he wasn't taken. But my twin brother had immediately gone into service, yeah. And he went, well, he first had to take his basic training, and then after that he went into, so many Japanese went into MIS, Military Intelligence Service there. And we were in Santa Anita for about seven months before being transferred to Jerome.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.