<Begin Segment 8>

SY: Yeah, I want to talk a little bit more about Tulare since that was where you first...

YN: Okay. Yes. Well, a couple of years ago we were in central valley and we stopped at Tulare to see the fairgrounds and sort of a nostalgic view of the place, and saw the stables and saw the town, and I would say that when we got to Tulare at the train station, we had to get off and carry our things we could carry and march, walk into the town to the racetrack. People came out as if it was some kind of parade, but a parade with soldiers on the sides, with their bayonets up, and it was just a very humiliating experience. I don't think the people knew what was happening. They probably thought we did something terrible. As you know, in spite of all the propaganda saying that we were responsible for something having to do with Pearl Harbor, not one single Japanese American was ever convicted for an unlawful disloyal act in the United States or in its territories, either before or after, or during the war. So the suspicions were based primarily on our physical appearance, and at the time the Chinese didn't want to be known as Japanese, so they had signs saying "I'm Chinese American," that sort of thing. But if you look Oriental you're under suspicion. Then if your name is Nakamura or some Japanese name, even more so. But in this case, we had to march in and it was just, even at the age of sixteen, it was just a terrible thing. It was, as Grace mentioned, people had to carry their things, so as we think about families where they had youngsters and they had to carry the things for the youngsters as well as for themselves. It was a terrible, terrible experience.

SY: So you ended up, were there any more formal barracks at Tulare or was it all horse stalls?

YN: Well, I believe there were barracks. We just happened to be in the stables.

SY: In the stables.

YN: That was probably the fastest thing they could do to get ready for us, so they hastily paved over the stables, and there wasn't a lot of isolation between one family and another. One thing, there were searchlights that would come on, and the sentries would be up on the guard towers, and so --

SY: Do you remember the overall feeling among people as you were heading towards this...

YN: Well, there was certainly, the morale was not very high. And I would say that we had what is known as volunteer classrooms. I mean, there were people who volunteered to teach and students who just volunteered to come. There was no credit for being there, but I recall taking classes, listening to someone because I thought that person would be interesting, and those kinds of things happened. There were religious services, and when you call the religious service a joint service, it wasn't a joint service, Methodist and Congregational or Baptist and Episcopalian. It was Buddhist and Christian, so they would get together (and) there were services held. The grandstand was used for (all) kinds of assemblies and that sort of thing.

SY: But what was your main activity during this time?

YN: I was trying to think about that. You see, when you're young and if you can forget that you're in a compound, you have friends. You make friends, so you get around, talk and argue and read, those kinds of things, maybe play some kind of sports. Lot of us liked to play basketball, so as I recall there was a sort of a court we could play on. It was sort of a transition time that didn't register any great positive things and I tend to forget the negative things, so it was just a holding tank, waiting for something to happen. But I would say that while I was there, my friend, Kenneth Morgan, came to visit me. And if you can imagine, in a room like this and benches along the side with windows with wires separating you from your visitor, that seeing me in that position when he knew I had absolutely nothing to do with anything wrong that happened during Pearl Harbor, he could not talk about it to anyone for thirty years. It really struck him hard. So I would say that I have a philosophy that, regardless of what happens to you, you should build on it, use it as an experience for something in the future. So I've tried to think of the positive things that have happened, and friendships would be one, and discussions with your friends about various issues and those kinds of things, possibly playing some games and things. And...

SY: Because this --

YN: A lot of times you're waiting in line to go eat... because these mess lines tended to be long.

SY: Your father ended up being hospitalized at --

YN: Yes, he was in the hospital.

SY: At Tulare?

YN: In Tulare.

SY: And so your older brother, then, sort of took care of, he was sort of the...

YN: Yes, one of the things about the evacuation that perhaps people should know is that family life became very, very difficult. When you're in a group situation and where young people can go and eat whenever they want to, I mean, families didn't have to be together. We tried to be together. You know, they don't have to be together. Young people would rather eat by themselves and this sort of thing. The disintegration of the family structure, which is extremely strong in the Japanese American family, had some loose ends. There was no way to control everything because you're in this environment.

SY: So you were all pretty much on your own in some ways.

YN: Yes, I think so. Fortunately, my brother had taught us strong, ethical behavior patterns for us, so I think we behaved decently. I don't recall doing anything that was obnoxious or dangerous.

SY: Was there any kind of dissention within...

YN: I'm sure there was. There may have been some hot discussions, because there were people who strongly believed that this was a very, very wrong thing, the American Constitution has been broken, and others saying that, "See, we told you, these no good people are trying to really take everything away from you," and this sort of thing.

SY: So as a result of this accident, your father was pretty severely...

YN: Yes, he was severely handicapped after that.

SY: Handicapped after that.

YN: He just, well, he was broken in his body, in a sense, and his spirit. He was a very independent person, and you can imagine trying to raise a family with three sons and one daughter, so it was a very tough situation. So my brother actually became like the parent, supervising us, and we respected him, so it wasn't the case of, "Oh, the heck with you."

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.