<Begin Segment 9>

TI: So do you remember your first impressions of Crystal City when you first got there?

JN: Yeah, oh, we had a warm welcome.

TI: Oh, describe that.

JN: A warm welcome as we approached the main gate, the entrance to the camp. There were people all on either side of the street waving at us, saying, "Welcome," and then clapping, it was the people that were already there. So that was really nice. And my mother, at the time, she felt that it was safe for the family, because she saw all the faces were Asian.

TI: And how large was your group when you got there for this welcome? I mean, it was your family...

JN: Oh, we were on a bus or a big truck, I don't know. That I don't remember. But we weren't just the only family, there was others.

TI: And you mentioned your mother feeling good about it, how did you feel? Do you remember what your feelings were like when you saw all those people clapping?

JN: Oh, yeah, well, like I say, my mother felt good about it, so did we.

[Interruption]

TI: And so the first hour we talked about your childhood in Peru, the trip to Crystal City, and the last thing you talked about was how when you came to Crystal City, I asked what was your first impressions, and you talked about how people were there to greet you, and you had this big welcome, people waving and clapping and how that really, really felt good for you and the members of the family. So let's talk about that more. So when you're coming into camp, when you get off the bus or the truck, what happened next?

JN: Oh, yeah, let me see. Since we didn't have much to eat, they took us to the mess hall and we all got there inside, not only our family, there was others. And the first thing I recognized was a can of plum or prune with syrup in juice, and I just took a couple of those. And it tasted so good, I never ate anything like that. Few more, and I waited to be given our meal. So when we got our meal, I don't know what it was, either French fries or potatoes somehow. And everybody was using ketchup, so I used it. That was the first time I had ketchup, and it was so good, I tell you. To this day I use ketchup on almost anything that I eat. So that was the beginning, we ate what we had been given. And soon after that we went, we were taken to our home, let's put it that way, to a barrack, a large barrack where two families were divided. Our family one, another family on the other side. Each half of that barrack would be two rooms and a half. So one room would be for my sisters, the other room would be for my brothers, and the half would be for my parents. Time went by, we got used to living there, we would go do our shopping. We received some sort of token, plastic, maybe supposed to be money. Each family would get so much, and we'd go to the market to pick up our groceries, I don't know, was it every other week? But my father was good at carpenter, he made a cart, and we would push it to pick up all our goodies, that was another thing. And so every day was that way, do whatever we had to do. My brother would like to raise some fruit, he did the garden part.

[Interruption]

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TI: And so, Jimmy, when you first talk about your, the barrack kind of room that you were in, is that, I guess the question is, when did you first see your father and brother at Crystal City?

JN: Probably that was the first time.

TI: When you went into the barrack there?

JN: Yeah. I don't remember having the meal that was given there, I don't remember my father or brother being there. After moving to the barrack, that was the first time that I saw my father and brother.

TI: And the first time you saw them, did you notice anything, how they looked or anything? Do you remember that?

JN: No, it was too much for me to see what was going on around most other than my father or brother, just knowing that they were safe.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2019 Densho. All Rights Reserved.