Densho Digital Archive - David Matsuoka Interview (denshovh-mdavid-01-0021)

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DM: But after that camp, he came back, we had to go, he came just in time so we were going back to Walnut Grove. He was with us. So when we came back from the camp to the Walnut Grove, we had a bus stop, and we were walking down to our house, my brother was with us in uniform, and then this Filipino, they had all taken over our Japanese stores. One white woman was with them, she started calling us "Japs." "Get out of here, go back." Yeah. My brother in uniform was gonna go after her, but the old man says, "Stay back." And it so happened, there was postmistress and this head of the packing shed was there, I guess they sold it so they came down and help us, guided to our house. And that evening, I guess they called the sheriff, so the sheriff was watching our place for us after the incident. Good thing that woman said something, so, later some other people.

JS: So you were with your brother, your father, your whole family? Or who else was there? Was your mother with you?

DM: My oldest sister wasn't there, and my oldest brother wasn't there. So we got three, three of us and my other sister.

JS: Okay, and you were one of the first families back to Walnut Grove?

DM: Yeah, we were the first.

JS: You were the first.

DM: Yeah. That's why this white woman with the Filipino group, she was a son of a gun -- cussing at us like, "Jap."

JS: And so the Enos family had left your house already, or were they...

DM: No, yeah, they were just cleaning up, you know, just about ready to move out, everything.

JS: So you were able to move right in.

DM: Yeah. They kept that house really nice.

TI: Can you describe, when you went to your house, and you were cleaning the house up, what was the reaction or the interaction between your family and their family?

DM: No, no problem. They were nice about it. Yeah, we didn't have any problem.

TI: Were they welcoming? Did they, were they glad to see you?

DM: Oh, yeah. Only one left there I remember was the father. Gee, it's been a while. But most of them were gone, you know. Just, I think one of the boys and the father was there the last night of clean up, I guess. They were really happy that they got to stay there, you know, place to stay.

JS: And then how long was it before the rest of the community started to come back?

DM: Oh, my gosh, it's... week?

JS: A week?

DM: Yeah. I'm not sure, I'm just...

JS: You're not really... do you remember that first week when you were, like, the first family there and it was quiet, right?

DM: Yeah, we didn't expect nothing like that. And then this woman started saying, hollering, you know. So other people in there was in the pool hall and everything, they all start coming out. 'Cause my brother was so mad, he was gonna go after her, he was in the, you know, service. So Dad said, "You better not do anything." And then it so happened that that bus station that we got off, there was that postmistress and that head of that, when they saw that, they came right down and they look at them and they didn't say nothing after that. They escorted us all the way out to the house.

TI: And what happened to that woman after that?

DM: Nothing, nothing.

TI: Did she say in that area?

DM: Yeah, she was staying with that Filipino, they had a pool hall there. That's where she was staying. She was a bum, I guess. But it's a good thing that happened, 'cause that alerted, they called the sheriff and everything, so sheriff came around and watched us. Although we had, you know, on and off, but they didn't touch us because they know the sheriff was behind it now. That was, I thought we were gonna have a big mess for a while when they started cussing like that.