<Begin Segment 24>

AI: So then what, what did your parents decide? How did you find out that you were going to be leaving camp?

RT: Well, he was contacted. They were actively recruiting laborers to help with the crops because, of course, they weren't getting the laborers that they usually did. And he was, my dad was recruited by -- I think Lefty was there -- Lefty Sasaki came down and then this, the man that owned the farm, Mr. Blatter, I think he came down, too. Anyway, he, my dad, of course, was told that he had to have a crew if he were going to sign up. And how audacious. His crew, one able-bodied adult male, his wife, who was pregnant -- pretty sure she was by that time -- and myself, my two younger brothers, and to make up the sixth member, my Auntie Kik. And of course, my little sister was only, like, four, so of course, I guess he couldn't put her on the crew. Yeah. But that's how we went out. He signed us up to be a sugar beet harvesting crew. And we didn't know. We didn't know we were going to be a sugar beet harvesting crew, all we knew was that we were going to leave camp. And we did.

AI: When was that?

RT: I'm sorry?

AI: When was that?

RT: This is in September of 1942. I'd say someplace in the middle of September. I do believe we got to Chinook, Montana, about the 20th or 25th, someplace in there, so that is when we left. And again, we traveled by train. I would guess we must have gone on the Great Northern. And they put us in another old car by ourselves, our six-man crew, plus my brother tells me that there was another couple. I don't recall that. All I remember is that there were just us in this big car and again, with all the shades drawn; and we traveled that way. I don't even know how we, they must have given us lunches or something, but we traveled that way to Chinook. And we got to Chinook, got off the train, and the first thing I noticed was that it was snowing. Couldn't believe it, all these little snowflakes flying. It was probably early snow that didn't really last, but coming from the Pacific Northwest, snow is an event. And all I could think of was, "Where have we come to, that it's snowing like this?"

AI: And where is Chinook located?

RT: Well, it's about 30 miles south of the Canadian border in the middle of the state of Montana. And it is about 20 miles east of the town of Havre, which is the largest town closest to Chinook. Quite a bit east, probably a couple hundred miles east of Glacier Park. But it is not in the mountains anymore, it's out on the high plains, about 4,000 feet up, although you just don't notice it. It's just all flat. So it is... there is a whole string of little towns up there, but it is very close to the Canadian border.

AI: So you got off the train and it was snowing. It was flat.

RT: Yeah, not heavy. Not heavy, but still it was snow. I remember that. Yeah.

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.