<Begin Segment 20>

KL: When did you leave Rohwer?

MU: May of '45.

KL: And where did you go?

MU: We came home. We came home. The Sorensons said, "Come on home. We'll just release, give back your farm." We came home in May, and we started to go to church. We weren't welcomed as... but we kept on going. And I think it was in, around February, I can't remember the time, there were some shots fired into our home. My sister was -- it was around midnight -- my sister was still up. She was sitting on one side, and the bullet hit the chair on the other side across the table. But we were all okay. And I understand they think it's the same people that went to Selma -- that's, what, about ten miles east of Caruthers -- and they shot into the home there, and it hit the baby bed. Everybody was okay, but... so there were incidents like that.

KL: Were those the same night, those two shootings?

MU: I think it was the same night.

KL: Was it two houses, or were there more than your two houses?

MU: I think, as far as I know, there were the, our home and the one in Selma.

KL: Was there a police investigation?

MU: They came to ask us a few questions. That was it.

KL: You didn't hear anything further.

MU: No. So we don't know who they were. I think they were probably people from -- after we left, during the war, a number of people came from Arkansas, Oklahoma, and so they think it might've been one of those people. I don't know.

KL: Did the Sorensons have any trouble from the newer residents, because of caring for your property?

MU: No, I don't think so.

KL: They didn't get threatened or...

MU: They were good people. Yeah, no problem.

KL: Were you in contact with them from Jerome and Rohwer? Did you write letters or anything?

MU: I think we did. Not that often, but yeah, we were in contact.

KL: When you returned to the outskirts of Fresno, did you have any face to face encounters where you were threatened or where people spoke badly to you?

MU: I don't recall. Some of the stores in Caruthers, one store in Caruthers would not sell groceries to the Japanese -- although he had a team of boys that formed a baseball team, they had some Japanese on that team. But at the store they wouldn't sell to us.

KL: That's weird, I think.

MU: Yeah. [Laughs] And then we, my sister and brother went to one church, and some of the congregation said, "If those Japs are gonna come, we're not coming back," and so of course they didn't go back. So we started to go to Methodist church, and I don't think the people were very happy, but we said, "We're gonna go. We're worshiping God, not people." And one Sunday my brother was there, and this man's son, in uniform, was visiting, and he gave my brother Tosh a hug and welcomed him warmly, and the father saw that. He was standing right next to me, he saw that and said, "If my son in uniform could treat you folks like that, I had no right to treat you the way I did." So he apologized. I thought that was wonderful.

KL: What's the name of that church, the Methodist church?

MU: It's United Methodist Church, the First United Methodist Church of Caruthers.

KL: And would you tell us the name of the other church that you attended, where the people told you to stop --

MU: It was, it was Assembly of God that my sister and brother had gone to.

KL: In Caruthers.

MU: Uh-huh.

KL: And the name of the store that you said would not sell to Japanese?

MU: I think it was, I don't know, Andersons were the owners. The store isn't there anymore. It's someone else's, has it.

KL: In Aiko's letter and the other letters to the editor, it talks about this chamber of commerce survey about whether stores should sell to Japanese Americans or not. Do you have any memories of that?

MU: I wasn't aware of that, if there was a survey.

KL: Were there other stores besides Anderson's that wouldn't sell to Japanese Americans?

MU: No, I think the other -- well, it was, it's a small town. Caruthers only has, what, two or three small places where they sell groceries. I don't think we had any problem with others.

KL: That may actually have been in Watsonville. I may be, yeah, that survey may have been, may have been in Watsonville. That's a powerful example, of that soldier who gave your brother, and then his father would respond to that. Were there any other encounters where you saw people's feelings change?

MU: No, I don't recall any other specific encounters.

KL: Did that, did other members of the church eventually warm to your family?

MU: Oh yeah, we went regardless.

KL: You started to know people.

MU: We were very active, so we were accepted.

KL: Was there a Japanese American Christian church around?

MU: In Fresno, yeah.

KL: Why did you choose to attend the local one?

MU: It's closer. Fresno is what, twelve miles. Caruthers is only a couple miles. And we're familiar with the people there.

KL: Did most of the Japanese American community of Caruthers return to Caruthers?

MU: Yes, I think everybody did.

KL: Did others attend churches like you guys, integrate churches?

MU: Our family is the only Christian family, so others belong to the Buddhist church. Although maybe one or two members of a particular family may be Christian.

KL: Was there a Buddhist church in Caruthers?

MU: No.

KL: Where was it? Where was the Buddhist church?

MU: It's in Fresno.

KL: Did that church, did the Buddhist or the Christian church in Fresno have a role in storing people's belongings or in helping people reenter --

MU: I think the Buddhist church did.

KL: What, do you know what they did or how it was...

MU: No. We kept our things stored in the little building that was on our own property, and of course we had asked the Sorensons to watch over our ranch, so we didn't worry.

KL: What, when you came back, did Noriko and Fumi come back also to Caruthers, and were Mildred and Anna still there, your friends from high school?

MU: What was that?

KL: Your friends, your girlfriends from high school, that group of about five of you, did, were they still around Caruthers, or did they come back, too?

MU: Yeah, they all came back.

KL: How was your, what was your reunion like? When you saw them again after those years away, what did you talk about or what did you do?

MU: We didn't have that much contact. They either went to school or went to work, so...

KL: And what did you do? Did you go to work or to school?

MU: I went to work to support the family, and of course, it was all farm work.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.