<Begin Segment 7>

JS: So you left early? Where did you go, in 1945, where did you go?

HS: First we relocated to Utah. Roy, it was a cannery in Roy, Utah, and we, there we peeled tomatoes alongside German war prisoners.

DG: The whole family went?

HS: Uh-huh.

DG: Literally alongside?

HS: Yep, literally alongside the German war prisoners.

DG: Did you, did you communicate? Did the prisoners of war and...

HS: Well, we couldn't speak German, they couldn't speak English, but we did communicate some way or other.

JS: How did you find out about the work there? Were they recruiting people from Tule Lake?

HS: Yes. A representative from the cannery came into Tule Lake and promised us living quarters and a job and all that. But when we went there, we had to live in a tent right next to the railroad station, next to the railroad tracks, and so every time the rail, the train passed by, the ground would shake. Lost a lot of sleep then.

DG: So all five of you were in one tent?

HS: Right, right, in one tent, dirt floor. That's what --

DG: Through the winter?

HS: They promised us housing, but that's what we got.

DG: And how long did you stay there?

HS: About a year. One season.

DG: So you lived in that tent through the winter, in Utah.

HS: Yeah.

DG: That sounds very cold.

HS: It was.

DG: What was the name of the cannery? Do you remember?

HS: Roy. No, Varney. It was in, Varney company was in Roy.

DG: Utah. And there were other families from Tule Lake who came?

HS: Who went to the... yes, my, let's see, I think my cousins went with us.

DG: The cousins from Clarksburg.

HS: Uh-huh. No, it was a family friend. My cousins went back to their own home.

DG: So, I know that for people who were your age in camp, there are a lot of pleasant memories. There was free time, you were with people your own age, there were, there was fun that you described. So to go, then, to living in a tent, working in this cannery, after you've had this fun filled time with other teenagers, that sounds like...

HS: It was a big change. [Laughs]

DG: Yeah.

HS: And I swore I would never eat anything made out of tomatoes. [Laughs] Even ketchup, which was the worst.

DG: How were your parents?

HS: How old were they?

DG: No, I mean, how, do you remember how they felt about this?

HS: Well, they just accepted it. What else can they do?

DG: And did, do you think that they planned to come back to California? They saw this is just until...

HS: I think so. My father didn't have any intention of going back to Japan at all. A lot of them did, and came back.

DG: So just, back to Tule Lake a little, so Tule Lake has such a different history than the other camps.

HS: It was notorious.

DG: Yeah. What do you remember about the politics and the tension and the fighting?

[Interruption]

HS: What was your question?

DG: I was asking about the atmosphere at Tule Lake. We've read about --

HS: We lived in Block 4, which, there were mostly Oregonians and Washingtonians, very few from Sacramento, and so Block 4 wasn't noted for raising trouble or anything. It was right close to the administration building.

DG: Did your family consider leaving Tule Lake? You know how the people who were first assigned to Tule Lake, once it became a segregation center, could go to another camp.

HS: Yeah, they could relocate to another camp, but my father didn't want to move anymore. He knew, he knew that the war wasn't going to last forever, so we just stuck it out.

DG: And your brothers were older. Did, do you know how they answered the "loyalty questions"?

HS: Well, my brother and I were young, so we didn't have to. I don't know how my sister voted, I mean, on that.

DG: Any more Tule Lake? Did you see other Clarksburg people there? Clarksburg or West Sacramento?

HS: A few families.

DG: Wait, did people from West Sacramento go to Tule Lake, or did they go somewhere else?

HS: Well, some of 'em went to Tule Lake. I guess it depended on where you lived.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2012 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.