<Begin Segment 7>
SY: So then when the war, when Pearl Harbor happened, do you remember what that was like? What, do you remember where you were when it happened?
AM: We were coming home from a movie and we heard it on the radio.
SY: You were coming home with your parents?
AM: Yeah.
SY: So you, they had a car? You were in a car driving?
AM: Yeah.
SY: And they, do you remember their reaction?
AM: I think they were kind of like, "Oh my gosh."
SY: And you, did you understand what it meant, or did you have any idea what it meant?
AM: Not really, because I didn't know where Japan was or, even though I went to Japanese school, the language was Japanese, but I didn't know too much about Japan.
SY: But did you feel, being Japanese, that you might be discriminated against? Or were, was there, were there instances?
AM: I probably did, because I remember, I remember a Chinese classmate at Lincoln and he'd call me some kind of name and I'd call him back a name, and we didn't hurt each other, but we were sluggin' at each other. And when it was over we became good friends. [Laughs]
SY: So since Pearl Harbor happened on a Sunday, then you went to school on Monday?
AM: I don't remember that.
SY: So you don't remember reactions from your classmates. Do you remember that period between hearing about Pearl Harbor and then going to camp, going to the... I assume, did you, do you remember going to...
AM: I remember where we lined up, on the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Venice. We were trying to put up a marker or memorial. I remember lining up there, and I was obsessed with the fact that I had to part with my German shepherd dog and so I was just moping around that he wasn't with me. I wasn't too worried, as I recall, about where we were going. I didn't care. Where's my dog, you know?
SY: Do you know what happened to your dog?
AM: No. My father must've either taken it to somebody or turned it loose. I don't know what happened.
SY: And do you know what happened with your parents' nursery?
AM: They lost it all.
SY: So, and do you remember them packing up and selling things, or getting rid of things?
AM: I remember people coming to buy furniture. I remember especially one man who flipped a coin and said something like, "Heads, I'll pay you fifty cents. Tail, I get it for free."
SY: And that was, that was an interesting way of doing business. So he, your parents were, it sounds... did it make you feel like they were desperate to get rid of things?
AM: Desperate to get...
SY: To get rid of their things?
AM: No, the people knew that we had to leave, and so they really took advantage of... in fact, I remember a scene in Farewell to Manzanar where the lady broke the dishes because the man offered her some ridiculous price for her precious dishes.
SY: So you identified with that, huh?
AM: Yeah.
SY: And so you do have some memory of that time. Do you remember, did you have friends who were not Japanese?
AM: Yes. Oh yes.
SY: And how, what was their reaction? How did you deal with leaving all your friends?
AM: It must've been pretty bad. There was, I could remember this lady because she wrote me a letter to camp, and she's been in touch with me all these years. In fact, she called me the other day just before Christmas, and she said, "I don't have your address. I have your phone number, that's why I'm calling you. But I want to send you a Christmas card."
SY: And this was just a friend of yours.
AM: Yeah, a classmate.
SY: A classmate.
<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.