<Begin Segment 14>

RP: How did, first of all, how did you find out about this effort to exclude Japanese Americans, and particularly your own situation? How did you find out that you were going to be, your life was going to be changing and you were going to be leaving?

CH: How did we find out? I don't know how our lives would be changing, but I believe it was the Japanese American Citizens League, they had something to do with where we were going to be sent.

RP: They did?

CH: Yes. But to some people, they thought some people on our street on Perkins Road would be going to the same camp, but no. We went to Manzanar, and the rest of 'em went somewhere else.

RP: Yeah, there was a strong, sort of, demarcation, the railroad was essentially the...

CH: Oh.

RP: ...according to Tom, the railroad, people on this side went to...

CH: But it wasn't so, you know. It was mixed. 'Cause some people on the other side of the railroad... no, yeah, those people came to Manzanar. But you know, there were others that weren't on the other side of the railroad track. So I don't know how they figured. But I thought I heard that they had, we had given a choice, and my father and grandfather, they didn't want to leave California, and Manzanar was the place that they wanted to go. So it was our choice. I don't know if Tule Lake was there or not at that time. Yeah, I guess it was, but we didn't want to go to Tule Lake.

RP: Do you know why your grandfather and father would want to go to Manzanar instead of Tule Lake?

CH: Why?

RP: Why would they want to go to Manzanar?

CH: Well, I don't really know. They preferred... so many of 'em were going to Arkansas and other places, that traveling, they didn't want to do it.

RP: Stay as close to home as possible?

CH: Yes, uh-huh. They figured that probably would be the better chance of them going back to, you know, where we're from.

RP: Can you tell us how your family prepared for evacuation?

CH: All I know is my mother was just sewing up a storm, making those duffel bags, put the beddings in. I remember that. And then eventually they're putting all the stuff in one room. So we thought it was pretty safe upstairs. But it wasn't so.

RP: Was there somebody who took care of the house?

CH: Yeah, we had somebody who lived down the road, I can't even remember his name. But I remember he was either Portuguese or Greek, one of those people, supposed to take, look after 'em. But I don't know. We didn't have any written agreement or anything, so...

RP: So when you returned after camp, items were missing?

CH: Oh, yes. I guess it was during the time, I don't know when, but some of the things were placed in the hostel. There were two places, two hostels.

RP: Which, where...

CH: Methodist hostel, or would they call it... well, we called it Japanese Association Hall.

RP: Where was that located?

CH: That's in, that's actually the Methodist Church's hall.

RP: In Florin?

CH: Yeah. And we had, I think it was over there, stored sewing machine and different things.

RP: Where was the other hostel located?

CH: Oh, it was just a block away, at the Buddhist...

RP: Temple?

CH: Hostel, they call it, Kaikan, I guess.

RP: So those were, sort of, areas where it became kind of storage units for families who were...

CH: Yes. And later it became a hostel. So those who didn't have any place to go would have someplace to go.

RP: Did you make arrangements with this gentleman to live at the house?

CH: I don't think so.

RP: So there was nobody at the house when you left.

CH: Yeah, that's right.

RP: Did you own the house?

CH: No, we had a mortgage. And he couldn't pay the mortgage, so I think the government had something to do with it.

RP: So you lost the house?

CH: Lost it, yeah. So many people did.

RP: During the war when you had to..

CH: Those who kept their property had someone very capable handling those kind of things. So I don't know... what did Tommy's family do? I don't quite remember.

RP: What's that?

CH: What did Tommy's family do? I know they lived off of Stockton Boulevard.

RP: I'm not sure. So you had to leave some important items behind. Your violin?

CH: Yeah, violin, and we had a typewriter, that old Underwood typewriter, which is priceless now, I guess. And of course my Shirley Temple collection, those things.

RP: Of you, and your dogs, too, dogs and cats?

CH: Oh, yeah. I'm afraid they were chained. You know, in the farm, you can't leave 'em roaming around. They had long chains, but...

RP: You had to just leave 'em there and go. So did you ever see any of those items again when you got back?

CH: Yes. I saw this beautiful dresser with a marble top, my grandmother's, it's over at my brother's house, right down the road. [Laughs] Yeah, he was able to get that. And he got an old treadle sewing machine, that's about it. And my mother did get her sewing machine back, yeah.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.