<Begin Segment 12>

JS: How did you, how did you find out that you were going to be transported out of Reedley to...

MN: I really don't know. I don't know.

JS: So did you --

MN: They all, everybody, my, my sisters and my mother and father, they all knew when we were gonna, we had to take the train. Yeah, uh-huh.

JS: So you went from there to where?

MN: To Poston.

JS: Oh, directly --

MN: Directly, uh-huh.

JS: You didn't go to assembly center, then?

MN: No, no, we didn't, we didn't go to, no.

JS: Where did you catch the train?

MN: Reedley, Reedley, uh-huh, train station.

JS: And was there a lot of people there?

MN: Yes, there were a lot. A lot of us.

JS: Do you remember anything about that?

MN: Vaguely.

JS: Okay.

MN: All I remember was that they had the shades down; the shades down on the windows of the train, so we couldn't see out of, we didn't know if it was day or night. I remember that.

JS: Who told you that you had to keep the shades down?

MN: I don't know.

JS: Was there any --

MN: No, just my mother did.

JS: Was there anybody in the train that enforced that? I mean, you might try to take a peek or something.

MN: I think, yeah, I think so. I think there were soldiers there with a, with guns, walking around.

JS: Oh, inside the train?

MN: Inside the train, uh-huh.

JS: How did you react to that, seeing that?

MN: It was kind of fun. I don't think he was going to hurt us. See what a sheltered life I led? [Laughs]

JS: How about, how crowded was the train? Or was it --

MN: We all had, we all had seats of our own, uh-huh. It was crowded, but it wasn't, it wasn't like we were crammed in there, yes, uh-huh.

JS: So you slept in your seats and all that.

MN: Yes, uh-huh, exactly.

JS: How about food?

MN: I think we had sandwiches.

JS: Who provided the sandwiches?

MN: Somebody brought it in from outside.

JS: So they fed you sandwiches?

MN: Yes, uh-huh.

JS: How long were you on the train before you got to --

MN: I think two, two days.

JS: Two days?

MN: Two days or two nights. Yeah, uh-huh.

JS: Okay. And the shades are drawn, down, so you don't know where you're going.

MN: Shades are drawn, uh-huh, so we don't know. I didn't know.

JS: How, how was your mother -- was your father there, too?

MN: Yes.

JS: And how was your mother and father taking this?

MN: Oh, I think I -- see, they were with the uncles, so they were having a good time, I think. [Laughs]

JS: How were they having a good time?

MN: Because they were in, they had such a nice camaraderie, my uncles and my mother and my father.

JS: Okay, okay.

MN: Yes.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2004 Densho and The Japanese American Museum of San Jose. All Rights Reserved.