<Begin Segment 5>

FK: So when the war broke out and you heard about Pearl Harbor, what did you think?

NK: I thought Japan was crazy. [Laughs] Not much we could do about it. I thought it was just crazy in Manzanar, that we went to Manzanar. Were you in Manzanar?

FK: Uh-huh.

NK: Were you born by then?

FK: Yeah. So what did you do when the war broke out? What did you think as far as, what did you decide to do?

NK: Well, we were buying the property from Arnold Rayburn, and he offered to step in and harvest the berries for that year and keep the farm going until we come back. So we turned everything over to him, and he harvested the berries and kept the farm going until we came back. Then he turned it back to us. We had to start all over again.

FK: So who did you have working on the farm then before the war? Who were your pickers?

NK: There were Filipino men and Indian men.

FK: Was there a specific Filipino family that worked with your family at that time?

NK: Yeah, but I've forgotten their names.

FK: So how did you get -- were the pickers from Canada then at that time, too?

NK: Yeah. To harvest the berries, most of the pickers were from Canada. They were Indian pickers that the parents had contacted way back in the '20s when we were still living over here, used to come and harvest.

FK: Uh-huh, High School Road. So how did, did you have to go after them, or how did that work?

NK: Well, mostly they came down by ferry, but we did go up there to get them to trucks, but most of them came by ferry, I think. Pick 'em up in Seattle.

FK: So what part of Canada were they from?

NK: Oh, I forgot the name of the... I forgot the name of the place.

FK: Up further north like Duncan or Nanaimo?

NK: I guess... I know I went up there with the truck once or twice to get their baggage, but generally they would come down on their own. I don't know how they got here.

FK: So when the war broke out, how were you feeling personally about, did you decide what you wanted to do or...

NK: We had no choice. We had to head down south to California, and we had no place else to go. It was a tough time.

FK: Did you decide you wanted to join the service or something right after the war broke out?

NK: Well, eventually I did, but, get in the service, but I think we went to California and then the family moved up to Minidoka, and I went out to work in a guy's farm, and from there I went into the service. I worked on his farm for a short while and then went in the army.

FK: Now, did you try to volunteer before we had to go to camp or anything like that?

NK: From the camp?

FK: No, from the island before we went to concentration camp, did you try to volunteer for the service?

NK: I don't think so. I just went with the family.

FK: Okay. What do you remember about when the FBI came to the island? Do you remember anything about that, when the FBI came to the island?

NK: No, that was a long time ago. I don't... did the FBI come around?

FK: I think in early February before we had to go to camp?

NK: I don't recall talking to them.

FK: Were your parents and your grandparents...

NK: They must have talked.

FK: Yeah. Were they taken away before we had to go to camp?

NK: I think Dad may have been for a short while. He was in camp, too, though. He might have been for a short while 'til he joined us there. I'm not sure.

FK: So what do you remember about that day, that day when we were, had to leave the island?

NK: Had to leave the island? Oh, it was a sad day. Lot of my friends came to see us off at Eagledale. That was a sad day.

FK: Did the army trucks come and pick you up at your farm then?

NK: I guess that's how we got there. I'm not... I don't remember much about it. Yeah, we just had the people that were, we were buying the land from, he agreed to move into the house and look after the house and take care of the farm for us while we were gone. We owe him a lot. He harvested what was available there, went through the whole thing and did a lot for us. Arnold Rayburn, he did a lot for us.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.