<Begin Segment 6>

RM: So what do you remember about when you first heard the announcement that the government was going to remove anyone of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast?

GO: Well, then they had to figure out what to do with the things we had. Because we had a farm, we just left it to the... we had two Mexicans that were working for us, so we just left it for them, so they took care of the farm, then that was theirs. And the lease was, I guess the lease was still going on, so they can harvest whatever was on our farm. And like the other small stuff, some people would come over, just like we had, they just bought a new car. And then I think maybe a car dealer or somebody that came over says, "Well, we'll buy your car." Told my sister, "You call heads or tails and I'll give you fifty dollars more." So he flipped it and she lost. She lost the fifty dollars. And then we had to sell it because otherwise we've just got to leave it.

RM: How much did you sell it for?

GO: Gee, I don't know. It was cheap, anyway.

RM: What about other things?

GO: Well, we had a truck, and I think tractor or something. And we had this gas station, had a mechanic there, too, he took care of our, he said he'll sell it for us, so we took it over there and then left it, and he sold it for us. Because he was a good friend of ours. And then some other stuff we had, we had a friend who lived close by, he had a shed. And some of the stuff was pretty good, we stored it in there. And the rest, either gave it away or left it.

RM: What about like... had your parents brought any family heirlooms over from Japan when they moved to the States?

GO: No, we didn't have nothing.

RM: What happened to your house?

GO: Actually, I don't know what happened to it. Maybe they sold it.

RM: Did your parents ever talk about how it felt? I know a lot of people didn't talk about that, but to be selling off all of their stuff, having to move?

GO: Well, it's like they were told to do it, so they did it. Just like when they tell us to do it, we'll do it. So that's what they did.

RM: What about you? Were you surprised when the order came?

GO: Yeah, when it first came out. Then it finally dawned on us that we have to do what they said. But, yeah, there's some people who were, like my friend, he had things and people come over and said, "I'll give you fifty dollars," or something, for it. This fellow says, "Nope, I'm not going to sell it that cheap," so we just piled it up and burned it. And then some people, this is what I heard, people want to buy it but they want it so cheap that they just threw it, broke 'em.

RM: Do you remember your neighbors? Were you all preparing to go at the same time?

GO: It was the same time because like we all had to go Burbank, catch the bus to go.

RM: And what... do you remember what time, what month it was, day it was?

GO: Dorothy was telling me this. May, June, April, something like that.

RM: Sometime in the spring.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.