<Begin Segment 9>

SY: And so you obviously have little recollection of Manzanar other than the sheet. Did your parents talk about going to Manzanar at all?

NG: No, they did not. They're a classic case of not talking about it. Yeah.

SY: So never really heard what --

NG: No, and I remember when we left Tule Lake the first place my mom took me to was a toy store. We didn't have the money to buy anything, but she wanted to show me this toy store and that one day we will buy something. And then when we moved up to Stockton she would say to me, "Don't tell anyone, especially a policeman if there's a policeman around, that you were in Tule Lake." You know, I'm five years old. I'm going, what is, what happened? Why does she not want me to say anything? And then I remember we had this big old trunk and I found her, their ID. It looks like a prisoner ID, right? So I thought, I said, they were in jail? [Laughs] 'Cause they didn't, they didn't say anything.

SY: Wow. So what you do know is that when they left Manzanar they all left together?

NG: Right, because of the "no-no." Okay, so my grandparents signed "no-no" and then my dad did. My aunt -- not the one that was not married -- did "no-yes." My uncle who was not married signed "no-yes." My other uncle --

SY: So "no-yes" would mean that they would serve, they would serve...

NG: They would not serve, but then they would, their allegiance would be to the United States.

SY: I see. So they, okay, so they didn't want to serve. And then, and yeah, I'm sorry, so go ahead.

NG: No, and my, the eldest daughter, who now already had seven kids...

SY: The eldest daughter already had seven kids.

NG: Had seven kids in Manzanar, so they said --

SY: That would be your mom's eldest sister.

NG: Right. So they said no, they're not, they did not want the idea of having to go to Japan, so they answered "yes-yes." So they're the only ones who remained in Manzanar. They stayed the whole time. And my other uncle had left, they had a, he went to Chicago for some kind of work. I guess they had that, where people could leave. So he was in Chicago, and then he couldn't get back to camp. That's why he joined, he did join the 442nd. Remember I didn't know? He did, so he did, yeah, he did volunteer. He went to Shelby, and so he was in the 442nd.

SY: But he, was he sent overseas?

NG: Yeah, and he was in Europe.

SY: He, and he was in the, in a battalion, he actually fought?

NG: Yeah, I don't know if he fought, 'cause he was one of those uncles that, he was one of those uncles that just, he's your favorite 'cause he just knew how to talk and was always good to the kids, but he was, like, not the... I mean, he got into a lot of trouble, but he had this gift of being very personable. So my mom said when he was going overseas this guy said, this friend said to him, "Nothing's gonna happen to him. Don't worry." [Laughs] So he, I mean, he did some naughty things.

SY: He did?

NG: Yeah, and he got in, he was in, they tell me he was in prison for a while. He would, those kind of con, he was a con person and he would con people in their own community.

SY: I see. So somehow --

NG: But he was our favorite. He would just... [Laughs]

SY: He was personable.

NG: Very. That's why his, he had a very, very good friend and he said, "I'll do anything for you. Don't ever ask me for money." But he would, he just, he would even ask his little nephews for money. He was not a proud man. [Laughs]

SY: And your grandparents, did you talk to them about why answered "no-no"?

NG: No, that's the whole thing. They didn't get together. They didn't...

SY: They didn't decide --

NG: They're not political. They're just...

SY: They all, each family decided separately that they were going to answer "no-no."

NG: Yes. They did.

SY: So not, so there was no discussion about going back to Japan? Or was there?

NG: I think that was always a fear, that they may happen. But I think it was more, I think it was an emotional decision, that this is... life was hard for them. There was a lot of discrimination, and I think they just felt like, no, Japan is still my country. In fact, my mom and dad renounced their citizenship.

SY: They did?

NG: Yeah, they did. And that was a worry, but then it was ruled out that it was, like, not, I don't know, unconstitutional. Or that wasn't...

SY: Right. But they still had to get their citizenship back.

NG: Yeah, but evidently it was an easy process.

SY: The paperwork. They were able to file that, no problems.

NG: Right.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.