Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Tom Matsuoka Interview
Narrator: Tom Matsuoka
Interviewer: Alice Ito
Location: Ridgefield, Washington
Date: May 7, 1998
Densho ID: denshovh-mtom-01-0025

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TM: And we picked up in December, early December, and released in July. I met my family at Pinedale in July. And oh, yeah. We really get hungry in Portland, in Portland Station, but I don't know we can go out to eat or not because all the Japanese is already sent them out to the camp. But this man and me, this man from Tacoma and myself, "Oh, let's go to the restaurant and see." If they don't serve, that's it. But if we can eat something, we really sure like to eat. Went to a restaurant in Portland Station. By gosh, they gave us food. [Laughs] We sure tickled. So we eat there and then we rode in the train again.

Well, then went to Pinedale, so doggone hot. Man, was it hot. You know, over 100 degrees just about every day in Pinedale. You have empty milk, milk bottle. Those day was everything was in bottle, not just in paper carton. Nothing like that now. If you leave that milk bottle outside and lay down, ant is go in to the bottle and all died on the inside, too hot. That's hot. And I remember in the camp there was one bad thing is, on the mess, big line. Everything line. And you go in line and they give us food. And you look and, gee, is one side is stew and another side is some kind of salad. You know, one side really hot, one side cold stuff and together, you know, gee. I remember that. But, anyway, we didn't stay in that Pinedale too long because Pinedale gonna close and everybody move to Tule Lake. That's a permanent camp, that's what they said.

<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.