<Begin Segment 16>

TI: So you go to Poston, and so it's your mother and the four sisters. And describe Poston to me. What was that like?

FK: That's hard to describe. It's just the middle of nowhere. Real nowhere. 'Cause we had to climb on these trucks to get delivered to Poston, and this was in July in the desert. I don't know, indescribable.

TI: So describe that first, sort of that first day when you were assigned your apartment. What was that like?

FK: Well, that's another story. Because since we were in Fresno, we didn't move with the Gardena people, we were with a totally new group of people from that location. And so rather than going to Poston I, we were taken to Poston II with people from Sanger, Fresno, I don't know where all they were from. So we were in Poston II at Block 227, I think it was 11-C. And we were there a couple of weeks. And meanwhile, my, I didn't know it, but my father was very busy corresponding with people. And he was corresponding with former patients who he knew from Poston I, from the Coachella Valley, Indio area. And he was told that if we, if Mother and the rest of us went to this area where the Indio Coachella people were, the men there would help us get settled. Because we were a family of females without a head of household. So little did he know that it wasn't going to improve our lot at all, but, "Hai, hai," you know. [Laughs] And so we were there in Poston II just a few days, I don't know, a short time. And somehow or another we were moved to Poston I, to Block 42, 42-11-C? No, what was it? Oh, that's really a shock. Well, it was Block 42, anyhow. I don't remember the barrack number.

TI: So this is, this is interesting how much influence your father had. He's in, essentially, another place writing letters, and he's able to manipulate the system in some ways to get you to move from one camp to another camp based on these correspondence.

FK: And the thing is, I never had the chance to complain to him before he died. [Laughs] "Why?"

TI: But, of course, he was trying to help.

FK: That's right.

TI: I mean, he was worried about you, he wanted to, in some ways, probably felt bad that he wasn't there.

FK: Right.

TI: And so he was trying to do whatever he could to make it easier for you, thinking that if he could just get you close to some people that he knew, they could help you.

FK: 'Cause everyone had their best thoughts in mind, but he wasn't there. We were there. But life goes on.

TI: And at any point during that did your mother or older sister say, "You know what, this isn't good. We shouldn't do what..."

FK: This is in the old days. You did what you were told. I don't... years later, I rebel, but not at that time. Age had to come up on me before I got mad at my dad.

TI: Okay, so Poston, what are some memories at Poston that you have? First, any fun memories? What are some fun memories of Poston?

FK: Oh, that's hard to create out of nowhere. [Laughs]

TI: Like dances or school memories? Anything that you can remember that was positive?

FK: Oh, it was zero. 'Cause I was four feet ten, weighed like eighty pounds, just skin and bones. No fun. Then I had this younger sister I had to take care of, she was a terror. No fun things.

TI: Well, were there any difficult memories that you can remember during that time that really stand out?

FK: Well, my mother was recuperating from... what did she have? When we moved to Fresno, she got, oh, what was that... problem with her, there's a name for it. I blanked out. (Narr. note: It was hepatitis.)

TI: Okay, but she became ill.

FK: Yeah, she was supposed to be on a bland, healthy diet, which she couldn't get in Poston. And so our biggest concern was making sure she got enough of the right nutritious food, which she didn't. So she was really frail. And on top of that, the heat. And it was really worrisome. And yet she, somehow or another, survived. That was really a harsh time for her. At least we were kids, so we, you know, were okay.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.