<Begin Segment 6>

JN: We're going back to when, when your father was taken by the FBI. I know you weren't home at that time, but when you came back from your job, how did you feel? Were you, were you scared, were you afraid for your own safety?

MN: Oh, yeah, that was scariest time of the... yeah, we didn't know what was gonna happen and where they were going. And so it was really hard, hard on Mom, all of us, and we all cried. So long ago, but still, the memories...

JN: Did you ever hear from him, do you know where he went?

MN: Uh-huh, and then before we evacuated, they were at immigration office in Seattle, and so we could go see. I forgot how, not every day, but once in a while they'll give us permission to go and see, so we got to see my father and talk to him. So Father would say, "Be brave and," he said, "obey. Whatever they say, obey. Don't fight back." That was... and then, I forgot how, I don't know how long it was before we knew they took him away, we didn't know where they went, we didn't know for a long time. We found out later my father and that group went to North Dakota, Bismarck. And then later on, towards, a year and half or something, then they moved him down to (New) Mexico, I think it was Santa Fe. So we, so we didn't get to see Dad, we would write maybe once a month, we were given permission to write letters. And so once a month or so, Dad would write, but everything was censored so we had to be very careful what we said.

JN: Did you ever feel before on Bainbridge or along the way, that, for your own safety? Did you ever feel that you were not safe?

MN: On the island?

JN: On the island or going...

MN: Going down? We were scared, every one of us were scared, yeah, 'cause we didn't know where we were going. They didn't let us know 'til I think we got as far as Sacramento, I remember, and then we got a bus, and then they told us which way we were going.

JN: Did you ever worry that they, that they might hurt you?

MN: You mean while we were going down?

JN: Physically?

MN: It seemed like the soldiers were there and they were saying they're protecting us, so no, we weren't that scared. Maybe the parents, like Mother and their friends, parents. But being young, I think we weren't that scared going down. We were thinking, "Now, where are we going?" And then soldiers were so good that they were protecting us, so they said, "Oh, don't be afraid," and then they would talk to everyone and sing. So it wasn't that bad going down. That's how I felt, anyway. We weren't that scared.

JN: They were your age.

MN: Yeah. Maybe the little ones might have been, but we were teenagers and twenty-some already.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.