<Begin Segment 8>

FK: What do you remember about that day, on March 30th?

TM: [Laughs] Oh... it was just an ordinary day. We thought we're just gonna be gone for maybe a year or something, that's it. It lasted about four-and-a-half years, or so.

FK: Now, did the, did the army trucks come around to get you or how did that work?

TM: Yeah, the army truck came... I don't know, I forgot who was in that truck besides us. Nishimoris or... anyhow, it was supposed to be "what you can carry," anyway, even if they had a big truck coming around. Each had a suitcase full of stuff, that's it.

FK: So what kind of process did you go through to decide what you were going to carry in your suitcase?

TM: Just a change of clothes, I guess. We went to town and bought some of those cheap suitcases, the metal ones, and filled 'em up to the gills. That was it.

FK: So what was going through your mind on that day when the trucks picked you up and brought you to the site?

TM: You know, I was ready to get drafted. No matter what happens, I was gonna be either in the army or in camp. In fact, if the evacuation day was about two weeks later, I would have been in the army, 'cause I was supposed to show up at a certain date there. And there was no way that I could be seen staying around there without breaking the law. They said, "Go around, go on with the rest of the guys," the draft board said, "We'll get you later." So they got me about three years later. [Laughs]

FK: So when you, when you boarded that ferry, and the ferry was leaving the island, did you have any thoughts in your mind at that time? What were your thoughts in your mind at that time?

TM: I couldn't remember being all shook up, too shook up about it. The only thing is to survive this war some way, I guess. Lot of guys were going to get killed, sure hate to be one of 'em.

FK: Do you remember anything about the soldiers that escorted you off the island?

TM: What about 'em?

FK: Do you remember anything about them, any impressions about the soldiers who escorted you off the island?

TM: No.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.