Densho Digital Archive - June T. Watanabe Interview (denshovh-wjune-01-0007)

<Begin Segment 7>

KL: What happened next then from Santa Anita?

JW: That was in September that we moved. Yeah, then they said that this is the West Coast, we've got to get you back inland. So we got on a train, they took us to Rohwer, Arkansas. That was about a couple days on that train, it was one of those trains, you know, and every time we'd come to a big city we'd have to put our curtains, the shades down, and so people, I don't know why people put it down, but anyway, they asked us to put our shades down.

KL: Who asked you?

JW: The military. You know, we had military people going back and forth on the train.

KL: What were the interactions with the military people like?

JW: I don't know, I had no... I don't think they were mean or anything, I really don't, because I don't remember anything bad, except it was stuffy and hot in the trains. It was very hot. Yeah, it's still hot in September.

KL: Did you know where you were going? Or I guess I should rephrase that, what did you know about where you were going?

JW: You know, maybe I did at that time, but now that you ask me, I don't know that I remember. At that time I'm sure... well, maybe they didn't let us know, I don't know. I bet they didn't let us know. I bet they didn't, I don't remember.

KL: Had you ever really traveled outside of California before?

JW: The furthest I'd been from Lawndale was Big Pine. We went up to the mountains to go snow, play in the snow, is that Pine? Somewhere around here.

KL: I don't know, there's Big Bear. I don't know Southern California very well.

JW: It's not too far, and that was just on maybe New Year's Day or something, special day, all the youth, the young people would hop on cars, go up to the mountains where we had snow fights. That was the furthest, I tell you. So when we were in grammar school and high school when summer came along, Edna would say, "Well, I'm going to go see my grandma," you know. "Where?" Mississippi, or they would travel, but we had to work on the farms.