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TI: Yeah, so after Pearl Harbor, in the weeks after that, did he continue the Sunday services?
FD: Yeah, I guess so, until he was taken away. I think he was taken away in February.
TI: Yeah, I think it was the end of February based on your writings. And so it probably wasn't that much longer after that that people were starting to be removed from their homes, Japanese Americans.
FD: Yes.
TI: And so how did the family start preparing?
FD: Well, I don't know, but my mother heard from friends, I don't know whether directly or indirectly, that people were being taken away and put into camps. And it was only a matter of time before they got around to Riverside. And so without my knowledge, it seems like she was preparing for all the kids who were at school, putting things away and sorting them out. Somehow she managed to take care of stuff by herself. So she was no dummy.
TI: And did the church help in any way? Because they had, I'm guessing that maybe the house was owned or rented by the church.
FD: It was owned by the big congregational church, that is the Caucasian church downtown. I don't know if the structure is still there, but then the last time I visited Riverside, it was still there. The congregational church was pretty large, had a large structure downtown, sort of a Gothic-like building. And, oh, it must have been well-to-do, 'cause they owned the Japanese church, they called it a mission of the congregational church.
TI: And so did they help out the family, perhaps, like storing things?
FD: Possibly. Well, I think my mother stored all of our stuff in the house, in one of the bedrooms. And she invited other people to store their belongings there, too, if they wanted to, because she had been told that the congregational church would take care of the building, make sure that it wasn't vandalized. Because we had heard that in other localities, some of the houses had been vandalized by people who were angry at the Japanese.
<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.