Densho Digital Archive - George Maeda Interview (denshovh-mgeorge

<Begin Segment 8>

KL: So when we were talking earlier, you mentioned two other things that I wanted to ask about, a trip to Azusa to see members of your mother's family and also your father's arrest. I don't know which of those happened first.

GM: Well, my father's arrest was first. I remember that vividly, and I got off the school bus, and usually I'd run up the driveway, run in the house, and grab something to eat, open the refrigerator and grab something to eat. But on this day, there was a green car, green sedan, three men in suits, plus my father in a suit, they were all standing beside the car. And I walked up and I asked my father where he was going, and he gave me a little hug and he said, "Don't worry, I'll be back." I didn't realize he was being arrested by the FBI for his part in being an officer of the Japanese language school. So I ran into the house and my sisters and mother were crying and I said, "What's wrong?" And they said, "They arrested Dad." I said, "Why? He didn't do anything." Everybody was crying. So when he left, my mother, who never took care of business, now had to be the head of the household. So not knowing what was going to happen, whether she was going to be sent to Japan, she had no idea what was going to happen. They hadn't even talked about evacuation.

First thing she did was go to the bank and withdraw all the money. Then she made a big decision that she was going to see her sister in Azusa. Now, remember, we were restricted to this 5 or 15 mile radius, and Azusa was probably sixty, seventy miles away. So at midnight, my sixteen year old sister, who I don't think had any driver's license, we all jumped in our 1939 Chevy car with my mother in the middle and my sister on one side, me on the other side in the backseat, my older sister driving, and I remember her telling us that if something ever happened to (her), or us, all the money that we have is tied around (her) waist and a money belt that she made. So when she withdrew the money, she took it with us when we visited my aunt in Azusa. And all I remember were a lot of hugs, and we didn't stay there long. Crying and hugging and goodbyes and all that. And then we drove back without an incident, and I'm sure we shouldn't have done that, but we didn't get caught and no one got in trouble. But that was one of the big decisions my mother made. She had no idea if she was ever gonna see her sister again. And that was exciting, I remember that so well.

KL: I don't know if this is the right time for this either, this question, but it's on my mind and I do want to ask you what changes you saw in your mother as she had to move into this new role being the decision-maker.

GM: She wasn't wishy-washy, she made decisions, right or wrong. I mean, she didn't get any advice from anyone to go to the bank and withdraw the money, that was a big decision, do I leave the money in the bank or take it out? She decided to take it out, again, she hadn't the faintest idea of what was going to happen to our family, so that was one of the first things she did. No, she took over like a champ. [Laughs] To this day I was very proud of her, but she did.

KL: Did it change your... Shizuko also at all, having your father's arrest?

GM: Shizuko, my older sister, was always a very responsible type person, so I didn't see any change in her. She took the role as assistant, head of the household, I guess. And as a matter of fact, when we were in Manzanar, I forgot what year, but they allowed people to leave Manzanar if they were going to go back east. And so my sister was one of the first ones to sign up for it and she went to Chicago and worked there, I don't know what year, but she was probably there a year and a half or so until the end of the war.