<Begin Segment 6>

MN: I'm going to take you back to right before the war, okay?

JM: Okay.

MN: When you gathered to go to camp, where did you gather?

JM: I think we were with the group that left at the old Nishi Hongwanji. I think they have pictures of that. We were bussed to, I believe, the train station, and we went... I thought we went only as far as Mojave, but I think you were, you were mentioning to me that the train had gone as far as, close to Lone Pine and that area. I think you're probably right. Because I do remember the ride from the train stop to Manzanar was relatively short, so it couldn't have been from Mojave.

MN: Now, when you went to Nishi Hongwanji, the old Nishi Hongwanji, did you walk those blocks to get there, or did someone drive you to Nishi Hongwanji?

JM: You know, I have no recollection of that whatsoever.

MN: And then you said the train station, so by then, was Union Station built, or was it the Grand Station that you went from?

JM: that's a good question. I keep thinking we left from the Union Station, but I could be wrong on that. That part I don't remember too well.

MN: Do you remember the train ride at all? Do you remember eating on there? Do you remember people getting sick, or any other recollection?

JM: No, not really. Just, that part is pretty much a blank.

MN: And then you said you went straight from here to Manzanar. You didn't go to an assembly center?

JM: No.

MN: Do you have any idea what month that was?

JM: I believe that was March. March.

MN: 1942?

JM: 1942.

MN: And then what time of day did you arrive at Manzanar?

JM: I think we were, we, since we took off in the morning here, and we had to transfer from here to there, I think we got there very late in the, at night. I'm guessing something more like -- I could be wrong again -- nine, ten o'clock. It was pitch black, and I was surprised at the amount of this fine, powdery dust that was everywhere. Whenever you walked, it went, poof. So we were sent to our barracks and then introduced to our straw mattresses. I guess that's what we were told to sleep on.

MN: And what did you do the next day you woke up?

JM: Well, next day as usual, I'm using to roaming around L.A. when I was younger, so I started roaming around the camps and promptly got lost. [Laughs] So, well, all the barracks looked alike, you couldn't tell, you know. So I kept roaming around, and eventually I found my way back to Block 11, which is where I was supposed to be. The overwhelming memory, of course, is the smell of tarpaper, because they were still constructing barracks. So you get this fresh whiff of tar. Then when it came time to eat, I don't know how many days in a row they gave us hash. Over and over and over.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.