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RP: Then you were on a train to Jerome and you said that your sister at this time was pregnant?

DT: Yeah, I guess she was 'cause when she went to... in September she was pregnant and she and her husband, they gave her a Pullman. We were in the coach but she they were given a Pullman.

RP: That was a pretty long train ride.

DT: It was, 'cause every time the soldiers came by we were on the side and our shades were all... and soldiers going back and forth making sure we don't peek out. And then every time the regular trains went by I think we were on the side more often than we were going so it took a long time I think. And then the toilet got all plugged up and they didn't clean, they didn't clean toilet, they just got plugged up and it was a mess. And I think in Denver, I think Denver or Salt Lake I think they did let us get off and go eat, I think, I remember something like that, one of those. But a lot of people were peeking through, to see the soldiers go by. You know, when you're told not to do something.

RP: You do it. So you went from Fresno which was really hot to Jerome which was hot and humid.

DT: It was.

RP: Do you remember getting off the train and going into camp? What were your first impressions or feelings?

DT: Well, some of the details, I guess, well... I guess maybe Jerome wasn't as bad as Fresno. And we were so glad to get off the plane, I mean train, anything was better than a train. [Laughs] But I think what they did was... I can't remember where the train stopped but they must have put us on a truck or something 'cause we couldn't have walked from the train station to our area. But we must have got on a truck but we were on a corner, not on a corner, next to a corner I guess. And then there was a fence and a guard house and then they had spotlight going back and forth. Well, we would wait for the spotlight to go a certain place so we could sneak out under the fence and we'd go catch fireflies, the lightning bugs. It was so fascinating, I've never seen anything like it. And about two, three or four girls we would get out. Well our parents didn't know. Well if they did we would've really got a spanking, sneaking out, but that was so much fun. I'd like to go back to Arkansas again just to see that firefly and I can bring it home for my kids or have them go with us.

RP: Did that there were snakes and all kinds of other creepy things out there while you were...

DT: Well, fireflies didn't stop us from going out there and the guards didn't stop us from going out there. [Laughs] Yes, they did have a lot of scary snakes and they would have contests, they would go and capture that and then they would have shows.

RP: Snake shows?

DT: [Nods] And then they would go out and cut off trunks and then polish it and have a cane or vase. Oh, you should see some -- they had nothing else to do so they just made do with whatever, so they'd go out there and cut it and then they take the bark off and polish it and then they have shows. But and also the men folks from the block had to go in and cut trees for the boiler, they had to take turns 'cause the boiler for the mess hall and the laundry room and everything 'cause we couldn't cook in our room. We just had a pot belly stove. Well after a while we started to cook, if you had food. And then like I was sick, my mom would bring home things and then she would go to the PX or whatever, buy things. But there was no sink or anything you just made do with the pot belly stove.

RP: And how did you heat that stove? Was it with wood or coal?

DT: Weather, it was wintertime, it snowed and it rained, well, we had to walk to school quite a ways to a block. It was muddy and everything but you just went to school, you never stayed home. You didn't dare stay home. But my mom and dad, Papa was a cook and Mama was a waitress so we had a lot of free time. But we weren't bad kids but we did things like going out to firefly or they couldn't keep track of us. But I was too scared to get caught doing bad things.

RP: Did you go out just once or several times to catch fireflies?

DT: Oh, if we could get enough people we would go... I wouldn't go myself. Then we played ping pong. I guess I learned how to play ping pong 'cause in our recreation hall when they had dances, well, I wasn't interested in dances but we would play ping pong and they had seesaw and things like that. We were still kids, twelve year old kids nowadays are into dances, well, we weren't. And I had two left legs so they tried to teach me but I couldn't learn. [Laughs]

<End Segment 13> - Copyright &copy; 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.