<Begin Segment 7>

SY: And you went, started going to school right away? Oh, I guess you didn't end up going to an assembly center then.

RN: No, no, we didn't.

SY: Did you ever find out why?

RN: No, I didn't. And I don't remember where we were picked up. We assembled to go get the buses, I just remember being on the bus and those couple incidents. So I don't know how we got on the bus or where.

SY: And did your father and mother, did they start working? Did your father start working?

RN: Yeah, my father was pretty philosophical, so he said, well, obviously they don't have a produce market there, so he said he might as well learn something new. So he started working in the shoe repair shop, so he thought he'd learn a new trade. So he worked in there most of the duration.

SY: There was call for shoe repairs, huh?

RN: Oh, yeah, well, the camp was a self-sustaining city eventually. They had shoe repair, barber shop, the hospital, the hog farm, cattle ranch, vegetable crop growing.

SY: But he must have had somebody teach him how to...

RN: Yeah, I mean, he just volunteered. I think people were paid like ten dollars a month or something.

SY: And he did that for the duration?

RN: Yeah, I think he did, pretty much. Oh, no, I'm sorry. Then later he decided he wanted to work in the mess hall, so he worked in the mess hall. Later he told me the reason why is that he could get food, extra food, and bring it home. So he thought the mess hall was... so he used to bring leftovers home, I mean, back to the barracks.

SY: And do you remember eating together with your mother and father?

RN: Yeah, I remember that a lot.

SY: That was something you didn't necessarily go off with other kids and eat?

RN: No, no. But that was in the evening when my father would get off work and bring leftovers from the mess hall, so we had kind of a late snack.

SY: Yeah, I understand people were able to eat in their barracks, some people ended up eating in there.

RN: Yeah, well, he did mainly because he worked there and brought food.

SY: Brought food, huh? And your mother, did she end up finding work?

RN: No, I don't... because quite soon she, well, she became pregnant then had my brother and everything, so she was pretty well taking care of my brother. In camp it's even more difficult, bringing up an infant and all of that.

SY: And you remember your brother being born?

RN: Yeah, I just remember my dad telling me. And actually, the ambulance coming by to pick up my mom. I mean, we had no transportation, the camp hospital was far. So I remember the ambulance.

SY: And were you in school at that time?

RN: Yeah, yeah, I'm trying to remember what grade. I must have been in first grade. That's what I said about dates and time. [Laughs]

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.