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TI: Okay, so let's, let's go to the war. So December 7, 1941, is the day that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Do you remember that day?

FS: Sure, we were, I was, we were... what was it? I think we were either picking grapes in Lodi... we're coming home, somebody, somebody drove, one guy drove the car and there's about four, four or five of us on the car, and it was his car and I was driving his car. "You drive it." He told me to drive, so from Lodi we come all the way home. That's about, at least, oh, how many miles? I would say at least fifteen miles away from Elk Grove to Lodi.

TI: And when you heard the news, what, what did you, what did, did you guys talk about that in the car, or what did you think?

FS: We were, we're kind of... I hate to, hard to explain. I wonder what's gonna happen to us, you know. That's all, that's the only think I can remember saying.

TI: This uncertainty, not knowing what was gonna happen and just...

FS: Yeah, uh-huh.

TI: Okay. Can you remember anything about the days after December 7th, in terms of what was happening, like in terms of do you recall, like, FBI picking up anyone in the community or anything like that?

FS: No, we didn't, we didn't hear about, I didn't hear about it at that time. Later on, probably just before we went into camp, I think that's when we heard about it, that people were picked up and taken, taken someplace else.

TI: But in, going back to Elk Grove, so like in the weeks after December 7th, do you remember any changes that happened in the community? Before, before you had to leave, just like what, what type of things were happening? Do you remember anything?

FS: Well, we, I think we, at that time we had a, just about that time we had a fall-out with the boss, with the owner. That's why, when I was, we were living in Florin already at that time, just before the evacuation.

TI: And this is your, your, when you say fall-out with the boss, your father did or you? Who had the falling out with the boss? What kind of...

FS: I don't know, he was with us then. I'm not sure what happened. It was right after that that something, something that I hate to say came between them, and then it broke up.

TI: I see, okay so, so it was after December 7th that... so your dad was still with you, he had a falling out with the boss, he moved to Florin, and then it's then that, that he left.

FS: Yeah.

TI: Okay, that makes sense. So that got you into Florin in that one area, because, and we'll get into this later, but there are, different parts went to different, different camps, so we'll talk about that. Anything else that you noticed? Well, so Florin was a little different place. I mean, anything else that you can remember, though, before, in terms of people preparing to go to camp?

FS: You mean what happened, people in Florin?

TI: Yeah.

FS: Most of the people in Florin were there, they had their own, own ranch, like a strawberry farm and all that, so there were so many, so many families out there, scattered all over there. So they, they used to ship, they used to have a, they called it a strawberry... what do you call it? In Japanese it was kumiai dakara. What do you call it? Corporation, I would say. So they would, a couple of people would drive the truck or whatever and then they'd, they'd pick up the, pick up the strawberries and they'd ship it on a train. There was a train going right through Florin all the time, so they put 'em on there and they would ship it to, it could be back to East or someplace.

TI: So what happened to all these businesses? With the war breaking out and then people having, to have to leave, what happened to all these businesses?

FS: I don't know what happened. 'Cause from what I, what I know is seemed like somebody wanted to take over. They wouldn't, they didn't know what to do with it, I would say.

TI: Okay, so let's go back to your family. So pretty soon families got the, the orders that they had to leave, so what, what happened to your family?

FS: What did, what happened to our family?

TI: Yeah.

FS: There was somebody that was helping us up, out, to making, putting the stuff together. By then my dad, I don't know where he was then, but he might've been with my cousin in Sacramento, so we had to, I think this guy made a box for us to put it in, and then we shipped, take it, take it to the railroad. Railroad track was right there, so we put everything on the, where the railroad track is, and they put it right on the train right away.

TI: And so at this point it was just you and your mother, just the two of you?

FS: Yeah.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.