<Begin Segment 5>

KL: How did you find out, how did you find out that you were going to have to leave your home?

MS: You know, I don't remember that part. I guess I didn't pay attention.

KL: You were eleven, ten or eleven?

MS: Yes. I think I was eleven, twelve, I think it was.

KL: You said you were friends with your neighbors who were German and you met Chinese people. Did you experience prejudice before World War II began?

MS: Not really, no. I don't think so. They were good people. We had good neighbors, we were lucky. So it's kind of hard to find good neighbors really that you could trust. And they're all different nationalities, so we were lucky really. Then, of course, we were trying to be nice to each other.

KL: Yeah, you and your neighbors would try to be nice.

MS: Right, right. So that's the way the parents, I guess, told us, got to be... especially my father, he was pretty strict. He was very strict, yes. You know, when we were a kid, we couldn't even get the permanent, you know, you didn't... just straight hair. So he was real strict. I don't know, I remember when he read the paper, he wanted to put it straight, not just get all the newspaper, one there, one here, just put it straight after you read, things like that. So we learned to do it straight, tried to clean the mess. So I think that was very nice. You have to teach the little when they're small. Otherwise when they get teenager, they won't listen like they were little, and you can't spank them all the time. He didn't do it. So he was a nice father and nice mother, too. Mother was a little bit easier, not like my father. [Laughs] So we have good, nice parents, strict. Sure miss 'em.

KL: And you said your dad was taken away?

MS: Pardon?

KL: You said your father was taken away after World War II began?

MS: What do you mean by that?

KL: Did your father stay with the family or did he have to go somewhere else?

MS: You mean after... they sent him to three different place, so we have to wait at home. And I don't know, I forgot how many months we wait, and then they come to pick up the family and we reunited with the fathers and brother's uncle, whatever, in the last concentration camp which was in Crystal City, San Antonio, in Texas.

KL: Did someone come to your home in Trujillo to arrest your father?

MS: I don't remember how we did that. I'm pretty sure somebody came to pick up all the family, just the family. Maybe it must be the United States government? I have no idea.

KL: I've read that the FBI and the U.S. embassy...

MS: Yeah, I remember that was the FBI.

KL: ...and the Peruvian government worked together to make a list.

MS: Yeah, I remember somebody came. I think it was either a policeman or FBI, I don't know which one it was, and then just took my father. Because I remember it was in the afternoon, he was taken to my oldest brother Luis, and then the person showed up, either policeman or FBI, he just took my father away. So that's the time. And I guess it was kind of a surprise because we didn't know that.

KL: Your father was surprised?

MS: Probably. I have no idea because he was taken to Luis.

KL: Luis was taken also?

MS: No, he stayed with us, just my father. They pick up just the father. I don't know, some other fathers probably the same day, too, I'm pretty sure. They probably got together when they were sent to three different camp.

KL: Were fathers of your friends also taken and arrested?

MS: Oh, yes. I didn't see, but I'm pretty sure, because I knew which father it was. I remember one family's father took it away. That's the only one I remember, the other one I don't know which father it was.

KL: What did you and your friends say to each other?

MS: Oh, they were kind of surprised too, I guess. Because they had four or five children, too. They were small, too, you know. They were kind of sad, too, I'm pretty sure. I don't know. Yeah, it wasn't too easy.

KL: What did your mother say to you about your father's arrest?

MS: I don't remember what she said, because she wasn't there at that time when my father was taken to Luis. They must have been talking something, my father and Luis, because my mother wasn't there, I don't remember seeing her. So maybe she was in the kitchen, I don't know, someplace else maybe. Maybe she didn't know that they were coming, I have no idea.

KL: Did Luis have to... Luis was about twenty then, right?

MS: Yes.

KL: Did he kind of, was he left to take care of the family, did he step into the role?

MS: Yes. He had to. [Laughs] The two oldest brothers. Because Francisco and Julio were kind of young yet. So we just wait until somebody come pick him up and send them to the camp.

KL: How did you react when your father was arrested?

MS: It was kind of sad. You don't know what's going to happen. It wasn't easy. I'm pretty sure the other families felt the same way, too. Yeah, that was kind of a mess.

KL: It sounds like your parents created a lot of security for you and your siblings when they were home.

MS: Yes, they were nice. They were nice parents. Like I said, we should listen.

KL: Did you hear from your father? You were pretty young, but did you get a letter from your...

MS: Oh, yes.

KL: When did you hear from him?

MS: Oh, I don't remember. I have it at home, I think. I saved all those letters. Yeah.

KL: You said he was taken to three different camps?

MS: Uh-huh.

KL: What was the first one, do you know?

MS: I think it was Santa Fe, and the other one was Kenedy, I think they changed the name of Kenedy, and the last one was Crystal City, San Antonio. I don't know why they changed the name but I forgot what was that, the new name, that's all I remember.

KL: When did you learn where he was? I mean, did you know he was going to Santa Fe when he was arrested?

MS: Oh, no, I don't think we knew that, no. No, I don't think so. They just took the fathers.

KL: Do you know how long it was before your family heard from your father?

MS: No, I don't remember. But I think I, like I say, I saved some of the letter that he wrote. I don't even know if they're supposed to write letter, I don't know.

KL: Some people at least in the U.S. heard from their fathers a couple days later, a couple weeks later, but other people I think it was much longer, so I was just curious.

MS: Right, I think all different, probably, I'm pretty sure. It depends which camp they send. Like my husband, they sent to Minidoka, and he doesn't talk too much either, I don't know if it was right away or they waited, I have no idea. I think each camp is different, probably, I'm pretty sure.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2012 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.