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TI: Let's first start with December 7, 1941, so do you have any memories of that day?

JH: Only what my mother was saying. She said that when she heard that on the radio she was on her way home in the car. I don't think we were with her. At least I don't recall that, because she said in her haste to get home she got into an accident with some sailors, and so as soon as they saw, the police saw her, she, it was her fault. They figured she had to be to blame, so she did get the ticket. I don't know what happened with that because, well, we went into camp on Easter Sunday, the following April. But other than that, her saying that, I really don't remember.

TI: Did you ever find out her decision to go up to her parents up in Long Beach, why she did that?

JH: No, I don't know why she did that. No. We never talked that much about that part.

TI: Okay. Long Beach is, I'm thinking of my geography, it's pretty close to Terminal Island, in that area, right? I mean, it's...

JH: Well, it's very close, it's right next to L.A.

TI: Right. Yeah, so it's a little farther up. Okay. But do you have memories when you went from Long Beach and had to leave with other Japanese to go to camp?

JH: A little bit, because from there we went to Santa Anita, and while there were barracks in Santa Anita, we weren't, we were in the stalls. So they said, well, they had these canvas bags and we had to stuff it with hay, and that was our mattress, which was laid on the ground. But I don't really remember that period very much, other than wanting to play cards with my uncle. He was still single at that time.

TI: And even though you don't remember, like details, how about just, do you have a sense of the feeling of what camp was for you? I mean, was there a sense of excitement because you're interested, or fear, or do you have any of those kind of feelings?

JH: No, I think we all sort of just, it was just taken for granted. This is where we were living. Okay. And we went to school and we, all we did is we played in the, we did play baseball because I remember falling on the gravel. There was no baseball fields or anything.

TI: And this was in Santa Anita or...

JH: No, this was after we got to Arkansas. But Santa Anita I don't remember at all. I even asked my mother once what, where did we go to eat? And I guess there were mess halls for us. There had to be, right? But I don't remember any of that.

TI: Okay, so let's go, so from Santa Anita you went to Arkansas, like Jerome?

JH: Jerome. We went to Jerome, and when Jerome closed we went to Rohwer.

TI: Okay, and first with Jerome, any memories of Jerome?

JH: [Laughs] Well, my mother first was a letter carrier, and the next thing I remember -- they used to have a special canteen for the teachers, the Caucasian teachers -- she was in charge of that canteen. So my mother was always, anyway, she was always looking for something more to do, but, and I remember on one of my birthdays -- but I was thinking about that the other day. How could it, there have been school on my birthday when that was August? But maybe, did we go to school all year round? I can't imagine we would.

TI: But your recollection was that...

JH: That there was a special, she happened to, my mother got my classroom a case of Coke, which was the one and only time that we had a soft drink in camp. It was very special because a case was twenty-four and with the teacher there would've been twenty-four, because this one girl was sick, but she came to school the next day, which was when, which was my birthday. I think it was my birthday. I'm not positive. Why else would my mother be sending a case of Coke?

TI: And so your recollection was in celebration of your birthday every student and the teacher was supposed to get one can of Coke?

JH: Yes. It wasn't, a can. It was a bottle.

TI: A bottle.

JH: They didn't put 'em in cans in those days. So I remember being very angry that this sick girl came to school, and so the teacher, of course, said, well, she would give it to all the students. She didn't need to have one. But yeah, but other than that, nope, don't remember too much. I think we were in Jerome -- were we in Jerome? Could it, were we in Jerome, or I don't know if we were in Rohwer when my mother came to Chicago to go to school to get a job.

TI: Okay.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.