Densho Digital Archive - John Nakada Interview (denshovh-njohn-01-0015)

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RP: So, John, do you recall who requested the transfer to Gila? Was it your dad or your older brother?

JN: My oldest brother did, Yoshio, he the one that really took care of us, he did a good job. He was like a father to me. And he did a real good job with that.

RP: During the time you were at Heart Mountain did you... were you able to make any new friends?

JN: Yeah, I knew some friends because they were from the area I was from and so then I made a few friends like we went to school so you made friends, you know. It was pretty good so I had more Japanese friends there than I ever knew possible. Because a lot of 'em had farms in the same area we had so we knew each other.

RP: Can you ... first of all what block were you in in Heart Mountain?

JN: Block 2, barracks 2, C and D.

RP: So you had two rooms?

JN: Yeah, we had eight people there.

RP: So who stayed in C and who stayed in D?

JN: I don't remember. I just know that my sister and mother stayed in one room and then other room, the men slept and then part of where my mother and sister lived, some other people lived too. So it was kind of a crazy arrangement.

RP: Do you recall anything about the block that you lived in, Block 2? Was there any recreational equipment there, did you have a small little baseball field or gym equipment?

JN: They had a recreation room where they had meetings and things like that and they had no baseball field, they had a baseball field for maybe two, three, you know, blocks but they didn't have a baseball field specifically for our block. So the recreation was not that good.

RP: Basketball, baseball?

JN: They had special areas for all the people.

RP: Do you remember any gardens or landscaping around your building or in your block?

JN: In Heart Mountain it was bad, there was nothing. In Gila River, Arizona, it was a lot better. They could grow things there, it was hot, it was really nice. And so people there they had gardens and everything so it was a lot better. But I remember when I went to Gila River, Arizona, it was really hard for me because when I went there I didn't know anybody. And all the people there are for a year so they knew each other. But we were complete strangers and those people that were in the area were basically from different part of California than we were. They were from Guadalupe and areas like that and so didn't know anything about that so had to make new friends, new things all over again. It was just terrible, it took me a long time.

RP: Do you remember any details about your... I imagine you took the train again from Heart Mountain to Gila?

JN: No, we took a car. We took a car all the way down so it wasn't too bad.

RP: Whose car was that?

JN: Somebody loaned us a car and I guess they trusted us because we had seven brothers in the army so my brother, Yoshio drove the car all the way down. We must have looked crazy because we suitcases and everything packed on the top of the car and the trunk.

RP: So your whole family fit in the one car?

JN: Yeah, well, by that time there were only about five of us, six of us, so we were all in one car.

RP: So were some brothers --

JN: The other brothers were in the army by that time.

RP: And they volunteered out of camp to go into the army?

JN: Yeah, they got volunteered or drafted, both. I think most of them volunteered. But see, the government changed their minds you know, first we were enemy aliens and then when we got in the camp they needed soldiers, they needed interpreters. So they say well, we're going to change this now, so we're going to put you in the army. So they drafted us, so one day they were prisoner of war the next day they were a soldier for the U.S. Army. To me that didn't make any sense. And so, in fact, especially in Heart Mountain they had a group that said, "Unless you release my family I'm not going to go into the army," so they put 'em into prison, they were draft resisters.