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TI: So let's go to Minidoka then. From Puyallup they transfer you, or move people from Puyallup, Washington, to Minidoka, Idaho. Tell me, what were your first impressions of Minidoka?

FS: [Laughs] I thought, gosh, what an awful place. You know, when we went there, it was, I think, in August. It was pretty hot, dusty. The barracks had been built, but the rooms, of course, were better than in "Camp Harmony" but not much better.

TI: At this point, what was the family unit? Were all your older siblings with the family, or had they started leaving? What was the family unit?

FS: There were eight of us, of course, and we were given the one room. But my sister, Bess, who was in nurse's training -- I don't know how this comes about, but they wanted her at the hospital to work over there, and they had sleeping accommodations over there. And it was at that time, I think it works out that my sister Betty volunteered to be a nurse's assistant, and she moved over to the hospital, too. So there were six of us, my mom and dad and four of us, in the room.

TI: Okay, so that gave you a little more room.

FS: A little more room, yeah.

[Interruption]

TI: So let's pick it up, we're at Minidoka, and you had just gotten there. You talked about how two of your older sisters were working at the hospital, so they were living over there, so the six of you were living in your apartment. What were your first impressions of Minidoka now that you're there? You said it was little bit nicer than "Camp Harmony," but what other, like, first impressions did you have of Minidoka?

FS: Hot, windy, dusty. I could remember, you know, when the dust would kick up, and inside our units, it was terrible. There was dust all over. My mom used to clean it off, but no faster than she'd clean it off, it was dusty again. It was terrible. I remember the other thing that... you know, the mess hall, the dining room was, again, I was used to as a kid on the farm, eating with my family all the time. And that whole scene disappeared. And to me, even as a thirteen-year-old kid, I didn't like it, and I had a little trouble dealing with that for a while. But you overcome these things.

TI: And the thing you said you didn't like was not eating with your family? Or what didn't you like?

FS: Well, it was not being able to eat with my family, secondly, I didn't like this idea of going through the line to get your food and all that kind of stuff. And the food that was prepared was not prepared good in my view, not what I was used to with my mom's cooking. [Laughs] I distinctly remember that. The only thing that was good was the milk. That's terrible. No, that was not a very pleasant experience.

TI: If you could recall any of the fun times, the good memories of Minidoka. I know you were there for a while, and during that time, were there any memories that were good for you?

FS: Oh, yeah. I had some close friends there that we'd play cards, of course, a group of us would play baseball and football and sports and stuff like that. Those were kind of fun times. We'd go down to the canal and go fishing. And I used to like to fish from the time I was a kid, so I'd enjoy that. But generally... oh, and one of the things that I'll mention, two barracks over, the Hikida family. Did you know Ray Hikida?

TI: No, I don't remember them.

FS: Anyway, Julie... what the heck's her first name, now, or her last name? Anyway, the Hikida family that had the Hikida Furniture here in town, they were two barracks over. Ray's mother used to go to the canteen and pick up these rolls. And after we'd be playing out in the yard and this and that in the evening, she would warm up these rolls and put peanut butter and jam on it for us. I have fond memories of that. [Laughs] We really enjoyed that.

TI: Now, how would she warm it up in her barrack? Was there like a hotplate, or what did she have?

FS: You know. We had those potbelly stoves, and when she had that stove going, she would just warm 'em up right on top of the potbelly stove for us. And for a young kid at that time, it really tasted good.

TI: No, that sounded good. Eventually they started up the schools at Minidoka. How were the schools? You mentioned that you were a good student back in Sumner. How was your school experience at Minidoka?

FS: Best I could say is mixed. Number one, we didn't have good science, science courses. Things like math and English and stuff like that I found okay, and we had teachers that were pretty good. But school in general was not the best. I did okay. I didn't find it difficult, it was relatively easy. So I don't have any negative experiences about that at all. Some of my friends that went to the same schools thought the schools were terrible, I didn't find it that bad. The main thing that I thought was we just didn't have good science courses. And during my high school years, I never did get a good science background. And I think that's part of it, because I never was introduced to it well.

TI: What other activities did you participate in? So school, you talked about... yeah, so how did you spend your time when you weren't in school?

FS: A lot of times I'd play cards with friends, guys like George Mano, Katchi Aoyama, Kaz Nakamura. Come to think about it, except for George Mano, all these guys are gone. But we used to play cards, pinochle.

TI: Now, socially, you were a little young. Did you do the dances and things like that, were you old enough for that?

FS: I'd go to the dances, but I wasn't a big dance fan. I remember going to 'em and enjoying the music, the music was very good, the old Dorsey bands and all that.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2017 Densho. All Rights Reserved.