Densho Digital Archive - Yukiko Miyahara Interview (denshovh-myukiko

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KP: So how did you travel to Jerome?

YM: We, they put us on a train. So, so I was able to go on the Pullman because I had Fred. And so we had a berth to sleep in and all. But, my aunt and uncle, they all had to sit in a regular coach train.

KP: How was the... what do you remember of the train trip?

YM: It was okay. Only when we stopped, I don't know, it was in Arkansas or someplace, and they let us kind of stretch and everybody came and said, "They don't look like what we thought they'd look like." [Laughs] You know. I remember that remark very much. Uh-huh. They thought we were just short little things.

KP: Somebody had been listening to the propaganda too much, I think.

YM: Uh-huh.

KP: So, in October, you arrived in Jerome?

YM: Uh-huh.

KP: What was that like?

YM: Oh, it was awful because they didn't have the blocks ready for everybody. You know, they moved us before the mess hall was ready or everything. But we were lucky that we got in a block that was already done. Except I had to stay with my aunt and uncle. Because they didn't have two rooms and they said they'd move me as soon as my husband get there, but we, we waited a long time before we got our own apartment. But... they give you a lot of promises but they don't work right away.

KP: Were conditions better or worse in Jerome?

YM: It was... the room was better, you know, but they had such muddy-looking grounds that when it rained it was just miserable. You know, so muddy.

KP: And what else do you remember about Jerome? First impressions of Jerome?

YM: First expression of Jerome, I didn't like thunder shower. They had thunder shower almost every night. You know, lightening and... it was scary. I used to take Fred and go under the bed. They said, "That's stupid. That;s a steel bed." [Laughs] But it sounded like it was just gonna fall right on your head. That's how loud it was. And I wasn't used to that kind of weather. And they didn't have snow but they had sleet. That was worse.

KP: What was that like?

YM: It just hits you, you know, like little icicles. Uh-huh. It was really different from California weather.

KP: How was the food in Jerome?

YM: It was not too bad. Uh-huh.

KP: What else, what else do you remember? What was, what were some of the other difficulties of being in Arkansas?

YM: Well, like I said, I didn't work or anything. All I did was take care of Fred. So, you know... and we were there only 'til, just one year. We left in October again.

KP: How were the winters there?

YM: It was very cold.

KP: What kind of heat did you have in your barracks?

YM: Pot bellied stove that you burn the wood in.

KP: And where did the wood come from?

YM: They had to go out in the forest and cut down the wood.

KP: Who, who did that?

YM: The guys in the block. My husband, 'cause they had to go. When it was their turn to go, your block to go, he was out there chopping wood when Fred got sick and I said to the doctor, "Well, my husband's not home." He said, "You can't be worried about your husband being out there. You gotta take him to the hospital." So I had to take Fred to the hospital.

KP: And this was the hospital in the camp?

YM: Uh-huh.

KP: Stepping back to your husband, when he went to the hospital for his surgery, where was that? Was that in...

YM: Los Angeles General Hospital or some... I don't know. They took me out there one time but we couldn't see where we were going because they put us on these army trucks with canvas. Then you can't even see outside. You know, so all I know is they took us to the hospital and then they brought us back. Uh-huh.

KP: What, were there insects in Arkansas?

YM: Oh yeah, they had chiggers.

KP: What are those like?

YM: I didn't get it but I know some neighbors had chiggers and they were taking showers every half an hour.

KP: Were there mosquitoes there?

YM: I don't remember, not too much, I don't think.