<Begin Segment 12>

RP: So when you did get out of the hospital, can you tell us, how did you deal with your barrack room in terms of you had your older sister and husband and then you had your parents and you and your sister. How did you work out a sense of privacy in a room that had no privacy?

DT: When we went, three of us were assigned to that room. And my sister were assigned to another place with a stranger, I don't know who they were. And so they made arrangement for my sister and my brother-in-law to move in with us, but we had blankets and sheets and things like that just partitioning just around the bed because it wasn't too big of a room. And then even the next door neighbor, the walls had holes on it so we have to hang blankets and things, otherwise they can just peek through those holes. And then one day we were minding our own business and our neighbor, one side was from Fresno, and their friends came to visit them and brought them cucumbers and you wouldn't know that cucumbers tasted, I mean, smelled so good. They would be chopping it and it just come over the ceiling, I says oh my goodness they're having cucumbers. [Laughs] And when you think of cucumbers you don't think, but it was so fresh, and so when they cut it you can smell it. My mom says, "Oh my goodness, they're having cucumbers, wish we had cucumbers too."

RP: Were there other smells that you remember wafting into your room there? What about the noise, the sounds of people in the rooms next to you?

DT: Well, with the ceiling or rafters or whatever it was open I guess but it didn't bother me 'cause I was only twelve years old. Imagine if you were young newlyweds, you wouldn't like it. Well, my sister was living there but never bothered us 'cause we were sleeping, you go to sleep you just don't even think anything of it. But I imagine young people, it was very embarrassing for them.

RP: Did you have to stuff your own mattress?

DT: No, I can't remember what kind of mattress. Must have been straw but I can't remember now. But I'll tell you I'll never sleep on straw or if I have to I'd probably have to have about four or five blankets on top of it now.

RP: How did it feel?

DT: It'd be terrible but it wasn't comfortable, but when you're young and you're just sleeping, you just accept things the way it is. But my poor mom and dad, my mom wasn't the most... she wasn't strong so I imagine it was very uncomfortable and then she lived on a farm, and then to be cooped up in...

RP: They, your parents worked hard and they worked long hours they were busy on the farm and then suddenly they have nothing to do. What did they do in Fresno? Did they work at all?

DT: Fresno I don't think Mom and Pop worked but they worked in Jerome. But Fresno was so hot and mess hall, you have to go to mess hall and eat and they had lamb stew with curry with grease on top. And before you even went to the mess hall you can smell what they were having. But then if you're hungry, that's what you eat. It was rice with curry, lamb curry, I mean, lamb stew but I don't think I could even eat lamb stew with curry today. But I guess if I'm hungry I guess I have to.

RP: Did you eat with your family in the mess halls?

DT: Yes, I think we did. Jerome I don't think, you know, well, especially when you're twelve years old, you're scared to eat with anybody else. You know, you didn't know anybody so I'm sure I ate with my mom 'cause being there was pretty scary.

RP: Was there any effort to set up schools at Fresno?

DT: No, it was May to September so we didn't have school but they had baton lessons and dancing lessons and things like that and I took baton lessons. They just cut a broomstick and you know.

RP: That was your baton?

DT: Yeah.

RP: Did you have any of your old friends from Florin in Fresno?

DT: In Fresno... most of them must have been on the west side 'cause they didn't go. And then like George Uchida, the one from... but he was in Manzanar but boys and girls had nothing to do with each at twelve years old, but we remembered each other in class and now we're pretty close. You know, he would at least talk to me. [Laughs] But I can't remember any of the girls and I guess if they were there, they must have been living kind far away but my cousin's kids were there but they were about two years old, three years old and Mary Tsukamoto's daughter was there 'cause she was about three or four or something. I didn't play around with them.

RP: What do you remember about the latrines?

DT: Oh, that was terrible. You had this bathroom and there's holes, about five holes and I think there was a partition, maybe there wasn't any partition, but they put in a partition between the holes. And then you sit down and do your thing but you don't flush it yourself. There's a tank at the very end and the water goes into the tank and then it turns over and it flushes all the five holes. So if you're at the very end it'll backfire and you better stand up. [Laughs] And you didn't want to be sitting over there 'cause the water fill up and oh man it can turn, run down and hit the wall and then come back and then it flushed. But that was the most terrible thing, and then they didn't have any curtains or anything just partition between the holes.

RP: How about showers?

DT: Showers I think eventually... well, the latrine is what I will never forget, but the showers I think must have been just as bad. And then I think they put in curtains I think. But you try not to take shower if anyone was there. You try to take it early in the morning or late at night so you're the only one there.

RP: Did you find that situation very embarrassing?

DT: Yeah, for a twelve year I think it is. But we came from the country so we had outhouses; we didn't have any running toilet. But even that was worse than an outhouse. [Laughs] At least you had your privacy.

RP: Is there any other vivid memories that you have of Fresno?

DT: Oh, the latrine and the lamb stew and the heat and the hospital, yeah, it was pretty hot there.

RP: So how would you characterize the care that you received in the hospital while you were there?

DT: Well, okay. I guess everybody got treated the same way and I expected the worse I guess so it was okay. They fed me and I was glad to get out of there.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright &copy; 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.