<Begin Segment 6>

DG: Let's go back again to, back to the war, and after Pearl Harbor, and, can you describe to me what it was like at school, what, with the other kids at school, after the war started?

TK: We were very quiet. We didn't say anything because most of the kids, you knew that they weren't friendly. They wouldn't come up and, you know, meet us like they were the week before. Because I was in a group with the jocks and, you know, and all I remember is the principal gathered us all in the auditorium and he said the war is on, and I can't remember what else he said, but he was trying to get everybody assembled and said we were American, but there was really no response. The students were real cold from that day on. And I don't think we were, yeah, we weren't in school very long because we only had a week, right. Yeah, so I can't remember too much of it.

DG: So the principal assembled everyone... and what was the purpose --

TK: Yeah, all the all the students, yeah. Everybody in the high school had to assemble in the gymnasium, and he made a speech. And I don't know... I can't remember what the speech was about. But, you know... well, it was about the war and a that we were all... I think he said that we were all Americans. But that didn't make much difference when it comes to the students because they were real cold, most of 'em were. Except some of 'em, and they were probably the Yugoslavians. They were, they were kinda discriminated, they were kinda outcasts. I could tell they weren't part of the mix, so they were friendly to us. Yugles', Terabochias, Medalias, and I can't remember who else was in that group. But all the rest of 'em weren't cold but they weren't friendly like they were a week before. So, but they didn't start a fight over anything. We just kept our mouth shut and they didn't say much either. So in that one week nothing happened.

DG: And then can you describe to me how it felt to be preparing to, to leave and how you decided what to pack and sort of maybe what was going through your mind?

TK: Yeah, but, you know, for one suitcase, there wasn't much to pack. [Coughs] The only thing was clothes that you needed right away. We couldn't bring anything else. And I couldn't think of bringing anything else, like... we didn't have anything, you know, of, anything valuable that we could bring. We didn't have... oh, did we have a camera? [Coughs]

DG: Would you like some water?

TK: It won't help. I think we had a camera, a box camera, but I don't know what happened to it. We had to turn it in, I know. But I have pictures and from that day on we tried to get pictures, but... [Coughs] But other than that, no, I don't remember too much.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.