<Begin Segment 3>

FK: So before the war, when you were a kid, what schools did you go to?

IY: Well I went, first school was Lincoln grade school. Let's see, I think there's a shopping mall right there now. After that we went to Bainbridge High School. That's the only two school.

FK: Were most of the kids you played with kids of Japanese descent or Caucasian kids? What circle of friends did you play around with?

IY: I seemed to play with, more or less, with the Caucasians. Yes. Everybody that I used to go around with was Caucasian. My buddy, he was Caucasian. He went to war and I didn't see him since. I don't know whether he came back or not.

FK: What was his name? What were their names? What were, who were the kids that you played around...

IY: They called it... Billy Freeman. There were... him and I, we chipped in and had a little small car that we'd go here and school, drive around and have fun. And I had other friends, but mostly closest was Billy. Other Japanese friend I had a lot too, but seemed like they all had to be workin' all the time on the farm. It's just not where it is now. If you're on a farm you work seven days a week. If you get a chance, sneak out and go swimming or something like that.

FK: Did you get a chance to say goodbye to any of your Caucasian friends or did they have a chance to say goodbye to you?

IY: Yes. In school, yes. Most of 'em I did. That's why I wasn't too sure after I got to Eagledale drop off there... I mean, we were all in formation more or less so we couldn't take off left or right because of the military guards there. From there we were all together, bunched up. We couldn't take off left or right or say goodbye. When we boarded the ferry, when we got to Coleman Ferry Dock in Seattle, we thought we might see some of our friends and say goodbye to them. It was roped off, so we were all... had to march in formation like and escorted to the train. From there we all loaded the train and went south into Mojave Desert and then from there they load us on a bus and went to Manzanar. That's where our camp was.

FK: What were your impressions of the soldiers? Of the military presence?

IY: The one that escorted us, to my surprise, was... they were real well. They were nice. A lot of them they got pretty close. I was surprise. They got pretty close. Even though we didn't know them by name or person. The treatment... they got pretty close. Now they escorted my mother on both side and they treated her nice. That's why I didn't have to bother with helpin' my mother 'cause she was invalid, she had to have help. Two soldiers there, they took very good care of her.

FK: Is she the one in the newsreel films that the soldiers...

IY: ... right. She's the one that's on the newsreel every holiday, December, you see on the newsreel that she's there gettin' escorted, yeah. They were good. I thought that they treated us very nice, as far as military was concerned.

FK: So how was the train trip?

IY: The train trip, well, like our age group it was more adventurous I think. 'Cause well, we're gonna go ride a train. A lot of people haven't rode a train or even a big bus or leave the farm. Some of 'em got a little tired 'cause they had to work all the time. Now they got away with it and left. Lot of them, I mean, they kind of felt sad about it. Now like myself, we leased our farm. So when we left, that was it. We were just more or less on our own and what's gonna happened in the future is just... wait 'til it comes and go from there.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.