<Begin Segment 16>

TI: But so let's go back to your story, so three hundred, about three hundred twenty-five went to Manzanar, so tell me about the journey to Manzanar. What was that like?

HU: Okay. The way it happened was they posted this Exclusion Order, this about so big and then on the top it told you what area it covered and the bottom section said you had to leave by such and such days -- ours, we had to leave by May 30th -- and in the middle was an address where the head of the family was supposed to go there to register, and so my brother went there and that's where we got the number 8648. We were numbers then, and then that's where they told us that we're going to Manzanar and they, they told others they were going to Pinedale or Fresno, wherever. That's where we found out where we're going, and they told us we have a choice. You don't have to go to camp as long as you move out of the western states, you know, you could go to Wyoming or somewhere. Well anyway, I believe there were about (2,500) that moved out of the West Coast out East and didn't have to go to camp. Anyway, we went to Manzanar and we had, they told us that we have to be at Elk Grove Railroad Station at ten o'clock. That was Sunday morning, May the 24th, and then so Mr. Barnaby, our Caucasian neighbor, he drove us up, drove us to the, to the railroad station, and then at the railroad station there was bunch of MPs and we boarded the train and there was one MP standing there with a rifle. Those days they already had the M1s, but for domestic use they had the old Springfield 03 or whatever they, the old rifle, so it was kinda, very upsetting. You know, here we're going voluntarily to the station by, without any force and then we're going into the car and you see this guy with a rifle. That, that was very disturbing.

TI: And when you, was it disturbing to not only you but the other people there also? Did people talk about that?

HU: No, nobody talked about it. Then, they didn't bother us really. The only time they bothered us was we came down from Sacramento down to Bakersfield and then it was dark, so we had to pull down the shades, and then we cut across to the East over Tehachapi Pass and by that time it was nighttime and I raised the curtain and looked out the window. Oh, it was just beautiful, pine trees, moon, stars. I mean, it was just beautiful sight, and the soldier came up to me and say, "Hey, you can't look outside the car. Pull down the shade." And I said, then I couldn't do anything, but I was really pissed off. Why can't I look out? There's no harm in that. I was very disturbed about that. And of course when I, then we went to Mohave and from Mohave we went on the bus and then when we went into the camp, I mean, there're barbed wires, these towers and then MPs all over, and they were driving up and down the camp in a Jeep and I remember the second morning I was there I was sitting with my friend and then this Jeep came right in front of us and I shouted, "Fuck you," and gave them the finger. [Laughs] And that was kind of stupid thing to do because they came to a stop, sudden stop and they start coming, walking toward me and I was just, I was trembling and shaking and I was breaking out in cold sweat, and, and the driver says, "What did you say?" And I couldn't even speak, and I looked up and I was looking up a barrel of the rifle, and then finally I said, "Nothing." I couldn't even, my voice would even come out. But anyway, in retrospect I'm glad that I'm expressed what I thought at the time, but in a way I'm kind of ashamed that I lied and said, you know, "I didn't say anything." But it was a, sort of a traumatic experience, but as time went by there were a lot of activities --

TI: Before you move on, I just want to ask you a couple questions about that. So what was the demeanor of the MP when he, when they stopped and came up to you? How would you describe his demeanor?

HU: They were pretty cool. I mean they, I guess they felt they were pretty cool. They were, I guess they thought they were big shit or something like that when they came up to me, but I was scared.

TI: They were intimidating.

HU: Yeah, absolutely.

TI: I mean, you said they had the guns, they were, the guns were pointed towards you when they came up.

HU: Yes.

TI: So why, why did you say what you said to them? What made you --

HU: Because I was pissed off because why should, why should I go into a place where it's surrounded by barbed wire? Why should they be watching us, searchlights and machine guns? Why should they be patrolling the area with rifles? And, I mean, we're peaceful, right? We didn't do anything wrong, so at that, I was, what, thirteen and I, I'm not thinking right anyway. You're, when you're thirteen you're more spontaneous. You're, you don't think about what you're doing, so I guess I did what just came naturally to me.

TI: Well, it's a pretty bold thing to, to --

HU: Yeah, stupid thing.

TI: -- to flip the finger off to an armed MP.

HU: Yeah, it's very stupid.

TI: Or bold. [Laughs]

HU: [Laughs] I just, I thought I was a, I thought I was a big shit, too.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.