Densho Digital Archive - Kay Endo Interview (denshovh-ekay-01-0007)

<Begin Segment 7>

RP: So you were there for three months and then where were you sent?

KE: We were sent to Minidoka Relocation Center, Idaho.

RP: Had you ever been on a train before, Kay?

KE: No, this was the first time I've ever been on a train.

RP: And do you have memories of that trip?

KE: The only thing I can remember is it was long. We left in the evening and then... and I can't remember how long it took. But we got to Idaho in the afternoon so it must have been leaving that night and then getting there the next day. 'Cause if you drive it's what, it's about eight hours right now, eight or nine hours.

RP: Do you remember the block that you were assigned to?

KE: Yeah, we were Block 32.

RP: Barrack?

KE: Barrack 11, Apartment E.

RP: So were you down in the lower end of the camp?

KE: No, we were in the center probably, not quite center but it's... the Minidoka camp is not set up in a modular form. And the reason for that was because of the canal and the basalt layer so they worked around it so it's in a... actually it looks like a boomerang.

RP: Yeah, when I first saw it I thought it looked kind of like a horseshoe.

KE: Oh, sure, right.

RP: A really badly shaped horseshoe.

KE: And they said it's, from one end of the camp to the other, there's approximately three miles.

RP: And your whole family lived in that one room?

KE: One apartment, yes, one light bulb.

RP: Did anybody grab some scrap lumber and build any furniture?

KE: Oh, yes, as we were mentioning prior to that, in the army term that was called midnight appropriations.

RP: So what did you do when you first got there? It was probably in the summer time and --

KE: No, it was, see, September so from October, well, November it started getting cold so we were kind of limited of what we could do. Then of course we started school right away.

RP: And which school did you go to? There were two elementary schools?

KE: Yeah, there was originally Block 30 was supposed to be half the school and then they moved everybody over on our half of 32 to 30 and that became the grade school. That was Stafford Grade School.

RP: And the schools were... or school was held in the barracks?

KE: Yes, original barracks with very little modifications.

RP: Were there chalkboards?

KE: Yes.

RP: Chairs?

KE: Chairs, right. I think we had regular school chairs.

RP: Were there any teachers that sort of stood out in your mind either positively or negatively?

KE: No, the only ones I can remember is the Murakami sisters from Seattle and they were very good teachers. And that's the only teachers I can remember.

RP: Now you had a special job in the school?

KE: Oh, you mean... well, you always got a job as safety patrol and I don't know what we really did we probably controlled the students from going across the street instead of the other way around where you stop traffic, something to do.

RP: Did you have a sign?

KE: I think we had a flag or something that you just --

RP: You just waved it.

KE: Yeah, didn't let the students cross. there wasn't that much traffic there either but something to do.

RP: What happened when it rained in Minidoka?

KE: I've seen pictures but myself I couldn't remember those incidents.

RP: Do you remember snow?

KE: Yes, it snowed, it was cold but I can't remember being real cold either but it apparently was cold.

RP: Massie seemed to think so.

KE: Yeah.