<Begin Segment 7>

MN: Now, when your family is put on the train from Tanforan to go to Utah, what do you remember of the train ride?

JD: It was a long, exhausting, I thought it was kind of long, very exhausting. The seats were not all that comfortable. They were, I think, wooden and like wooden benches. I remember that we had to have the shades closed when we approached any kind of station. It didn't matter whether it was nighttime, daytime or whatever, you just had to have that shades closed, shut down, so I remember that. We ate in a dining room and we had, I think, pretty decent food. I don't remember what we had, but I think we had pretty decent food on the train.

MN: Did African Americans serve you?

JD: That's what I recall with us anyway, on, at the dining room table. Yeah.

MN: Do you recall how they treated you?

JD: No, I don't.

MN: On the train did you have to sleep sitting up?

JD: Yeah. Yes, we did.

MN: Did some people sleep on the floor?

JD: I don't remember that.

MN: Now, when you got off the train in Utah, how did you get to Topaz?

JD: I think we were, were we bus loaded? I think we were. I think we were bus loaded. I'm not a hundred percent sure on that, but I think we were bus loaded and we were let off at the gate of the camp, and then from the gate of the camp we had to walk in to where our barracks were, and I guess we were assigned the barracks. I don't know if it was before or when we got there. I don't remember that part of it. I just know that we walked to our barracks. That was a long walk, and I thought, God, this place is sandy and dusty, and this was August summer, never experienced that kind of heat wave. It was kind of miserable walking. I mean, we finally did get to our barrack. It was not, it was okay. It was okay.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.