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FA: Sam, it's a pleasure to meet you after all these years.

SH: Thank you. I'm glad to meet you, too, because this is the first occasion I ever had, you know. People come to me and tell me about their, their experience and things.

[Interruption]

FA: Let me, let me start from the beginning.

SH: Okay.

FA: Where, where were you born?

SH: California. Gardena, California. Down below, you know, California, it's Los Angeles.

FA: And where were you when, when the war broke out?

SH: We were in Hollywood. We were gardening at the time. That's when we were asked to evacuate.

FA: What were you doing? How old were you?

SH: I don't remember how old I was. You know, I'm, I'm seventy-nine right now, see. But anyway, I was a little different from the rest of the people. They got proclamation come out. Right then and then I protested. I did, but I won't tell you how far I went, but anyway, when evacuation came, the military said we had to evacuate this area. [Laughs] I told those two lieutenants, "No, no. Not on my own power." Then they'd make a, what, a chair like. Two lieutenants, young men, you know. Smiling, said, "Okay, sit on this." They took me to the front porch. Well, "Thank you." Then I walked up to the bus. Anyway, I was really a problem kid, I think. Even when the, when they first started, all the proclamation come out. I was really a very, well, I was objecting because after all, you know, we're American citizens. We have just as much right as anybody else. And we have just as much right with our Constitution, you know. We have a day in court, we should have a day in court. But, you know, it's still the presidential proclamation. You can't say nothing. Nobody has.

FA: Are you saying that they handcuffed you?

SH: No, no, no. They did not handcuff me. You know, they, there's two lieutenants, so they said, with my, I was in the house, not living room, I said, "I'm not going out of this house on my own power." Then they, then they made a, what, a chair, you know. Two lieutenant hold on their hand like this. He says, "Sit on this." [Laughs] I said, "Okay." Then they took me to the front porch. I said, "Okay."

FA: They carried you on their arms.

SH: Yeah. You know, they carried me out. Took me out of the house. You know, there was nothing wrong with that, you know. Because the military, what they say goes. You know, they got orders, huh?

FA: What about the rest of your family?

SH: Well, they, they volunteered, many of 'em. My brothers, they all went, not all of 'em wanted to volunteer for service, two of 'em went, the first one. Then the other were, another brother was, he was... when he was in the Heart Mountain, they, I think he volunteered, too, he said, "Yeah, I'm gonna serve."

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 1993, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.