<Begin Segment 22>

TI: So tell me about Seabrook. What was Seabrook like?

NM: It was something like camp again. [Laughs] Only there's no fence. It was nice. They had a family place, they're building a family, lot of family coming in, so they were building apartments like that. And then the single guys, we got a dormitory. So the singles stayed in the dormitory, and people, when they bring their wife, would get a cabin, house. It was okay, yeah. But we walked to work. Yeah, the factory like that, walk about three or four blocks.

TI: And how many Japanese were there, and what other groups were there?

NM: Right there, there was, cafeteria was always full. So there was quite a bit of Japanese. 'Cause when I went there, there was a lot of Japanese. [Laughs]

TI: So when you say "lots," maybe, what, a hundred, or how many do you think?

NM: Let's see. Cafeteria was all full, dormitory, there's... there was quite a bit. And what year was it, I went? I forgot when I went. I better check that out.

TI: Okay, well, I can find it other places. But so, but you said it was kind of like camp in that you had apartments and a cafeteria?

NM: Yeah. Well, I was in Jerome, Rohwer. I stayed Rohwer about, maybe six months, then I went to New Jersey.

TI: Now, how did Seabrook recruit you to work there?

NM: Seabrook?

TI: Yeah, how did they get you to work at Seabrook?

NM: Oh, they had a Seabrook Farm near there, yeah. And then I met a Kamikawa, you know, Glen Kamikawa. He's gone now. He said, "Come on, Nori, let's go Seabrook Farms." "What's there?" I said. "Oh, there's Tom and lot of guys there now. And there's a job there." "Okay." And he and I, we went there and we got a job right away. And then we got a single room, dormitory, yeah. And then Glen Kamikawa was married, so we got a family, got a little home, yeah. They can... and then that, Seabrook Farms, they had little grocery store. They were getting it ready. They were just starting it. Grocery store, they were putting in lot of things, they have cafeteria, like, that.

TI: And how much did they pay you? Do you remember how much the pay was?

NM: How much was it? Well, it was a good rate, anyway, yeah. I forgot how much.

TI: But it was a lot better than camp pay.

NM: Enough to... I saved a thousand bucks, yeah. Of course, if you want to save that much, you got to save and boy, don't go out. So I brought home one thousand bucks. Yeah. Then I gave it to my folks to use it, then I, they said they're gonna stay in Rohwer. They stayed in Rohwer, then I went Japan.

TI: But I want to -- more questions about Seabrook. What kind of work did you do at Seabrook?

NM: Seabrook? There's all kind of jobs. They got all kinds of vegetables, and they freeze it, and then they put it in the vault. It's so big, Seabrook. It's got lot of farm, they got blueberries, some fruit, too, sometimes. What's that blueberry? I think they got lot of that, blueberry. And they got lima beans, lots of lima beans, yeah. And they got all kinds of nani, yeah. And I was just sorting, loading, doing a lot, and everybody's packing. All kinds of jobs. And then when we eat, they give you a free lunch. It's soup and sandwich. And then there's a little gate there, right between the cafeteria, okay? You know who was there? Prisoner of war. Germany, German people that was caught and captured, they're all there. Boy, they're all muscular guys. Gee. How can they lose the war? But they were there, prisoner.

JS: So they were there to work?

NM: They were prisoner, and then they worked at the...

JS: At the farm?

NM: Seabrook Farms. They do lot of farming and all that, too, just like us guys. So they were making some money, too, I think.

TI: So the prisoners of war, did they have guards watching them over there?

JS: They have their own guard, yeah. They have their own guard. And we eat side by side. [Laughs] Yeah, that happened. But they're all muscular people. I said, "How can they lose the war?" Muscular guys.

TI: And how long were you at Seabrook?

NM: Huh?

TI: How long were you at Seabrook?

NM: How was it?

TI: No, how long? How long did you stay at Seabrook?

NM: Oh, one year. Then my call came, so I had to report, then I was taken in right away, then I went to Camp Robinson, took my training there, then we trained. There was one Texas boy, tough guy, he's my bodyguard. [Laughs] He was a nice guy. We called him Tex Thompson, and by god, I want to meet him, but I don't know his address or nothing.

TI: Why did you need a bodyguard? This is Camp Robinson? Or when did you have this bodyguard?

NM: No, no, this is training already. I was in...

JS: MIS.

NM: Camp already, see. See, I took training at Camp Robinson, and then I got to know him, and we slept in the one shack, twelve guys. And then he said, "Nobody touches him or you're gonna answer me." He's a tough, husky guy, so I wasn't afraid.

JS: What was his name?

NM: Tex Thomson.

JS: Thomson.

NM: Yeah. Without a P, he said. That's what I remember. Tex Thomson without a P. [Laughs]

TI: So why did Tex do that for you? Why did he want to protect you?

NM: I don't know. We got together. When we go bivouac, we stayed overnight in the field, huh? I got half the tent, he's got the other half. So you got to sleep with me. [Laughs] That's why he was good to me. Yeah.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2010 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.