<Begin Segment 8>

JD: What do you know about how the, about how Felix and the rest of the Filipino American community reacted to when, when you all were taken away?

FK: Well, I, I think in a lot of ways, they probably thought it was wrong. At the same time, it gave them an opportunity to, to expand what they were doing and so forth. I know my dad actually had a contract written out with Felix and his cousin Elaulio Aquino, to look after our farm and he would share profits with them. And I think what they found was that it was hard to get pickers, you know. It was... people didn't want to be picking berries when they could do other things, other things, and they also found out that they could make more money if they worked in the shipyard or worked on these other jobs. Where, where there's a manpower shortage, they were, people were looking for people to work and do different things. So like in our case, they stayed in our house and looked after our farm and stuff. But as far as the actual farm, it was pretty much gone by the time we got back in the three-and-a-half years 'cause they just stopped farming. Because it was just too difficult for them to do and it just wasn't that profitable for them unless they were willing to make a lot of sacrifices. So, I mean... you know, it, it's like we need to be really grateful that they were able... that we were able to keep our property by them having come there, but as far as keeping things going and stuff, it was just impossible for them to do.

JD: So your dad worked out the contract with Felix before he was taken off to the...

FK: Uh-huh. Yeah.

JD: So he knew, roughly, what was going to happen?

FK: Well, he had six days to do it, so...

JD: That seems to suggest a very, very strong trust between 'em before...

FK: Oh, yes, yeah. I'm sure. And you know, my dad, when he got back, said he was gonna sell Felix an acre of the land to build his house on, 'cause... and so he sold it to him for a dollar. But that's how important he thought that our relationship with him was.

JD: What happened to all the machinery and personal belongings and stuff that you all had to leave behind?

FK: Some of it was put in the Japanese hall. That was on... there was a Japanese Hall that they built in the, I think the late '20s. It was on Grow Avenue between Wyatt and Winslow Way. Some of the... if you had Filipino men looking after your farm or, or Caucasian people looking after your farm, you probably left your equipment there for them to use. Some of the stuff was put in storage with the government, but most of that was never returned. Things like maybe cameras and things that were a little smaller and valuable and so forth, and I don't know what happened to that. And I think later on they had a period of time where you could put in claims for being paid for property that was lost, but it was very limited as far as what they would pay you.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.