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BY: So let's talk, switch and talk about Pearl Harbor. So Sunday, December 7, 1941, where were you, what were you doing when you heard about Pearl Harbor?

MK: We were home. And then they had, the men had gone in to Hood River to do the regular meeting kind of thing, you know, but we were home. And then people started to say, "Japan attacked Pearl Harbor," so we were all stunned. So everybody began to listen to the radios, you know. You know how those old radios were.

BY: Frances, do you remember anything? You were about seven years old.

FN: Like I said, the only thing I remember was hovering over the radio listening.

BY: Do you remember the emotions that you observed from your parents or other people?

FN: I don't remember anything about that.

TI: Should I ask Mary what the parents' reaction was?

BY: Sure.

MK: We were all stunned.

BY: What do you remember about preparing to leave your home?

MK: I know our mother and father worked hard to get things ready, because we couldn't take everything. And so they were very busy packing everything away and leaving what they couldn't take. And I was pouting, I don't think I helped much. [Laughs] But Mom and Dad really worked hard. And then our neighbor, Mr. Harry Wilson, he had an orchard next to the Yasui place. And she used to be a schoolteacher, and she married this Harry Wilson, who was a rancher, and she was very kind and said she'd store some things for us. So Mom got those, main things we would need like bedding and cooking, things like that. So she kept that for us, she was very kind. You know how teachers are. But they weren't living in a beautiful house either, they were next door and they were living in a barn. But there was, like, we had a lot of room because we would pack apples and all that, you know. But I remember our neighbors were very good to us. But like I said, I was pouting. [Laughs]

BY: Why were you pouting?

MK: Because we had to leave.

BY: Frances, what do you remember?

MK: We rarely went anywhere, you know, in those times, because nobody traveled. And so if you ever got to Portland, it was like going on a vacation. So we rarely traveled, so anyhow, I didn't want to go. [Laughs]

BY: How about you, Frances? What do you remember about that time, getting ready to leave?

FN: All I remember is that my folks were packing and putting their things in the boy's house. We had another place where the workers, the Filipino workers would stay. And so we used that as another storage place for the things that we want to store. And I remember one of the things, or some of the things were our toys, or my toys. And so we left my best doll in the boy's house, and my mom let me take one doll, which I took to camp with me. And so that's about all I could remember about packing and getting ready to go.

BY: Did you have any pets that you had to leave behind?

FN: We had cats and dogs, but I can't remember what happened to them.

MK: Oh, we had a dog named Bill, like those little golden labs, he was a nice dog. Don't remember now, that's all I remember. I think she remembers the dog. Do you remember Bill?

FN: I remember the dog, because I remember the cat. Because one day I want to carry the cat, and my brother said no. He says, "We'll divide up the cat. What do you want, the head or the body?" And I said, "I'll take the head." So he grabbed the cat and he held it, because all I had was the head, I could just pet the head. [Laughs]

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.