<Begin Segment 14>

TI: So you reached the Pinedale Assembly Center. What were your first impressions?

MT: Isn't that strange? I don't really recall. Well, it was altogether a different experience for us, being taken to a place and having to live in a barrack, and I remember those barracks were not finished well. They had walls, but then the top was all open all through the barrack.

TI: So you could pretty much hear...

MT: Everything that went on within that whole barrack.

TI: Those different rooms, yeah. And describe your living area in the barrack. I mean, what was it like for the seven of you?

MT: Well, it was pretty miserable, I mean, because we had all our cots lined up, but then there's no room for privacy or anything because you're limited to amount of space.

TI: And so during your time at Pinedale, what did you do?

MT: I don't remember anything that really stands out in my mind about what we did. As much as possible, I suppose, you try to get together with your friends, people that you know, and think of something to do. Eventually they did try to organize something so they would have programs or something periodically, but since it was a temporary thing, I think it was very difficult for them, the leaders to really establish anything that was more in-depth.

TI: Now, did you spend more time with your friends or family? Who did you spend your time with?

MT: I think mostly with friends.

TI: And how about like eating or the food or mess hall? What was that like?

MT: Well, it takes a little getting used to, the kind of food that we were eating.

TI: And why was that? What was it about the food that was different?

MT: Well, for us, basically, we grew up on Japanese food but you're not getting Japanese food in the mess hall.

TI: And you were probably used to really fresh food, too, coming from a farm. In my notes, when you were at Pinedale, your father was released and reunited with the family at Pinedale. Do you remember that?

MT: Yes. My mother and us... excuse me. My mother and we were in line at the mess hall to get in, and one of our family friends, she wasn't in line but she came to my mother and said, "Someone dropped off a suitcase in front of your room," so it apparently had my father's name on it but there was no word from anyone as to what was happening. So my mother rushed back to our apartment and saw the suitcase, and I think she almost fainted because she didn't know what to make of it, you know. But it was not too long after that that my father came. So what was a frightening thing turned into a happy occasion.

TI: Oh, interesting. So I didn't catch this the first time. So when your mother rushed back and just saw the suitcase, what do you think went through her mind?

MT: Well, something had happened to him and then they delivered his belongings.

TI: That maybe he had died or something?

MT: Yeah, there was no word from the office saying that he was being returned.

TI: And so no one told her anything in terms of what was going in.

MT: No.

TI: And so how long did she have to wait until she saw your father?

MT: You know, I can't remember that. I can't really say, but he wasn't too long. But I thought, gee, if they had taken time, the office had taken time to let us know that he was being returned, it would have helped my mother along. [Laughs]

TI: Yeah, I didn't think about that when you first told me about that, but yeah, what would go through a person's mind when a suitcase would just show up?

MT: Yeah.

TI: And when you saw your father, how was he? Did he change at all during that time?

MT: You know, I can't really remember if I had any... right now I can say that I don't remember if there were that many changes in him. There must have been, but I don't remember.

TI: How about changes in the family routine? You mentioned spending more time with your friends and probably eating with your friends or hanging out. Did the routine change when your father returned or came back to the family?

MT: Not so much. I don't think at that time that we ate too much as a family in camp. I think you have the tendency to eat with your friends, especially at my age, I mean, at that age. But it was nice to know that my father was back.

TI: So I'm thinking about you and your, just graduated, graduating from high school, what was the social scene like for you? All of a sudden you have lots of Japanese Americans your age with a lot of time on their hands. What was the social scene like? Were there things like mixers or dances or things like that?

MT: Yes.

TI: How was that for you?

MT: Well, I don't know that in Pinedale that I participated that much in dancing or going to dances or anything like that, unless you already had a boyfriend or whatever. [Laughs] I don't think we went out too much as a bunch of girls to dances, but they had programs and they tried to find some kind of entertainment.

TI: Okay. Before we go to Tule Lake, any other Pinedale memories? Any other events or anything, memories about Pinedale?

MT: No, nothing that really stands out. I think a lot of my memories are fading. [Laughs]

TI: No, you're doing really well.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.