<Begin Segment 6>

BN: Do you remember the preparations, like the packing and the disposition of the home?

SM: Very vaguely. I remember my mother was the guide on what to pack. Unfortunately, the government never told us we were going to Wyoming. As a result, I recall that she simply packed California-type clothing, nothing especially warm, for northern weather. So it was ordinary-type California clothing that we took with us.

BN: Now your grandparents are still with you, right, at this point?

SM: Right.

BN: And then what happens to the family home?

SM: Well, now we had already moved to Sutter Street, the nice home. And my father knew that the home had to be taken care of. And fortunately, my father had a friend who was a white attorney in San Francisco. In fact, his name was Maurice Harrison. He was a lawyer, and he was the head of Hastings College Law School in San Francisco. And so Mr. Harrison and his wife took care of our house while we were gone. They did a really good job. In fact, his wife sent us packages during the war, things that we could not find at Heart Mountain. And I remember sending special canned foods and other essentials that we really needed. And they took care of our house while we were gone, so that was very, very helpful.

BN: Right, wow. Was it rented?

SM: I think it was rented. I'm sure there was a mortgage on it, and I suspect it had to be serviced. But I do remember after we returned to San Francisco, we moved right in, it was not a problem.

BN: Wow, so you were really one of the fortunate ones in that regard.

SM: Yes, we are very fortunate.

BN: Do you remember, what do you remember about your actual day that you had to actually leave and get on the buses, or maybe it was trains to go to the assembly center?

SM: Well, General DeWitt had posted these orders that were outside our house, and gave instructions. Gave us one week to show up and "bring with you no more than what you can carry," report to a local office where the buses came, and it happened to be at the school, Japanese language school on Bush Street, about a block from our house. And so I remember lining up on that day, that morning, with our suitcases, and getting a body search by the armed guards escorting us. From that point on, we were under constant guards watching us getting on the bus, took us to the trains that first took us to Pomona in Southern California as our temporary assembly center. And again, never telling us where we were going, they didn't tell us we were going to Pomona, they didn't tell us our ultimate destination was Heart Mountain. So it was a tough time not knowing what's going to happen to us.

BN: Did any of your school friends or even your father's friends see you off on that day?

SM: I don't remember anyone seeing us off. We just showed up at a certain time and saw other people from the neighborhood there getting on the same bus. So they must have been organized, so everyone going to the same assembly center was gathered at this one bus.

BN: And then did you take the bus to a train?

SM: Yes, I recall we took a bus to the train depot, which is south of Market Street in San Francisco. Then the train took us to Southern California, Pomona.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.