<Begin Segment 9>

KP: So did your, when you said that almost immediately, your father and your grandfather said that they were scared, they knew they were in trouble, did they start burning or getting rid of things from Japan?

TT: No.

KP: Didn't have any.

TT: That's one thing, we didn't have too many of that, things like that. So we didn't... some families, they had a lot of things, Japanese, but we didn't have all that much. I think, I think my grandmother had a picture of the emperor and the royal family, but I don't remember... maybe they burned it. At least, I didn't see 'em burn it. But we had very little Japanese, you know. Flags and things like that, we didn't have that. At least I don't remember. I know a friend of ours, our neighbor had it, and I think they burned it and buried it or something.

KP: Did you have any guns or radios or cameras that you had to turn in?

TT: Oh, yeah, we had guns. But you know the funny thing? They said guns and cameras you have turn in, that's all I remember, we got two guns back. We had a .22 and a shotgun and a couple other guns. But we got those, we got two rifles back. But you know, the people that had these samurai swords, I know my neighbor had a beautiful samurai sword, gold inlaid on the handle and all that, they never got it back. You know, that's how it goes. But one thing I still remember, we lost everything we had, our farm equipment. Don't forget, we didn't own land, we didn't own the house. We had a house built, but that was our house, we built it. And then we had the farm equipment. They said they had evacuation sale, that's a big joke because if you know that evacuation poster, everybody could read that whatchacall, top of that tell you, and the bottom it tells what to take and cannot, but it tells you date and time we're gonna leave. So the evacuation sale meant nothing. That's all they, smart people wait until we leave, and they help themselves. That's right, like tractor and cultivator, things like that, we lost everything. That's one thing I watchacall... but see, the trouble is, you only could take only what you can carry, don't forget, and one bedroll. I still think about those family I know of, they had youngsters, I think the oldest one was nine, three or four kids, nine years old, and they had, even the grandfather and grandmother, they had to carry the clothes for all of 'em. I don't know how they did it.

But what really surprised me was that, anyway, we stayed in the Arboga Assembly Center over there by Marysville. We stayed there about one month, then they put us on a train at night to go from Marysville to Tule Lake. But you know, to this day, little babies, infants, I don't know where they got the formula. I don't know how they ever managed. Because that's all I remember, they had two MP, one on either end of the car with fixed bayonet, and they had no facility for the kids. I don't know how the mother did it, unless they made some and stored it, I don't know. Because it was an overnight trip. We left in the evening and we got there middle of the next day. So I don't know how they did it, but they did it.

KP: So how long did you have, when they posted the notice, to when you had to --

TT: We had ten days. (...) It was better than... some people, they had forty-eight hours. Worst one was, I don't know if you ever heard about it, at Terminal Island they had twenty-four hours. I talked to one fellow, I couldn't believe it. Twenty-four hours.

KP: So I guess your grandfather and father tried to sell some of their stuff but couldn't?

TT: Yeah.

KP: Were you able to store anything?

TT: Lot of people stored, we stored some things, but what good is it? The cop would look the other way, they come vandalize, take what they want, lot of places they take what they want, they burn the barn down or shed down or whatever. But that's how it goes. In other words, like on the farm equipment, first come, first serve, they come and help themselves. Because if you've seen the posters, because they knew the time and date when we had to go, so that's all they have to do, wait.

KP: Kind of a burglar notice. It was a notice for the burglars.

TT: [Laughs] Yeah. Because just like they say, because we didn't get it through mail, the posted it on the fenceposts, everybody could read it.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.