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KL: So you were working in the fields, staying close to home in 1940 and into '41. What do you remember of December 7, 1941?

HF: Well, when we were out in the field with the flowers, and then my younger brother Kazuo came running out to the, where we were working and said, "Japan dropped a bomb on Pearl Harbor." I said, "Where's Pearl Harbor?" We never heard of Pearl Harbor 'til that time. So he said, "Japan dropped a bomb and we're at war now." So then we all ran back home and listened to the radio.

KL: What were your thoughts when you heard his message?

HF: I think we couldn't believe it. We were wondering what was gonna happen to us now? And then my parents subscribed to a Japanese newspaper, so everything is in that newspaper. So it said that we were gonna be put into camp.

KL: It said that within a couple days after the attack?

HF: After, uh-huh. So we said, "No, they can't put us in camp, because we're American citizens."

KL: I always kind of wondered, people... you said that you were worried about being, you know, you didn't think anyone would put you in camp, but you heard rumors pretty much right away, and you said you were worried about what would happen to us. So you did, it sounds like you did have some concern that because of your ancestry you would be treated differently.

HF: Yeah, we had some concerns, but I thought, well, they would never put us in camp, we're American citizens. But then we couldn't stay there on our own, you know. That was the only solution, was to go into camp. Some people did move out of the area, but I think they had a harder time, too.

KL: Who did you know who did that?

HF: Like, you know, they went, moved to Arizona or... mostly Arizona, I think.

KL: You knew people who did that?

HF: Yes, uh-huh.

KL: Who were those people?

HF: This is somebody that we're just friends. But it wasn't any better in Arizona, too, they were discriminated, too.

KL: Did you keep in touch with them?

HF: I kept in touch with them. We have a good friend in Arizona. And then it turned out that my husband lived next door to her when he was growing up, and then he hadn't seen her for a while, years and years and years. So we met up after we started the church, so that was good.

KL: So when you... I mean, did people in your local area's behavior change towards you after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and those other sites in the Pacific?

HF: No. We had a good Caucasian neighbor, and she stored a lot of our furniture for us, because you could only take whatever you could carry. So she stored our sofa and table and chairs and then beds and dishes and pots and pans. And she sent it to us in camp.

KL: Where did she keep them?

HF: She had a big house, or she had a big storage area. Because she was raising chickens, so she kept it for us.

KL: Was she a longtime neighbor, did you know her?

HF: Yes, uh-huh.

KL: What was her name?

HF: I think her name was Girdelli, but I'm not sure. It was just her husband and just the two of them. I don't know if they had any children. I never did meet any of the children, so I don't think they had any, it was just older couple.

KL: Did anybody else in that area's behavior change toward you or towards your family?

HF: No, they were all nice to us. You know, and then when we, the war broke out, we had to turn in all our, the binoculars and cameras and everything to the police.

KL: Would you tell me about that? Like where did you take them and what do you remember of turning them in?

HF: To the police station. That's where we were supposed to take it, to the police station. And some things we buried, I think. Some Japanese artifacts, I think we buried it.

KL: Do you remember any of those things, what they were?

HF: I don't know what the Japanese things were. But anyway, we never got it back. No wonder we turned in to the police station.

KL: What was the police officers, the people you interacted with at the station, what was their demeanor when you turned the things in? Were they cold or were they chatty?

HF: See, I didn't go because probably my sister went. My sister and my brothers, they never complained, they never said anything, so probably it was okay. I think maybe it's different in the city.

KL: It sounds like it was very different everywhere, it just depended a lot on who lived there and who was in charge, and what the newspaper said.

HF: Because my husband never said anything either.

KL: Your parents subscribed to the Japanese newspaper you said. What city was that published in?

HF: It was published in Los Angeles.

KL: Do you remember its name?

HF: Yeah, Rafu Shimpo. I think they still have it, R-A-F-U S-H-I-M-P-O.

KL: Did you guys get an English-language newspaper, too?

HF: No. Because that one, the paper had English and Japanese.

KL: Did you have any large items that you disposed of?

HF: No, it was just mostly beds and I think a sofa, we got it back. They sent it to us in camp.

KL: Mrs. Girdelli?

HF: Yes.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.