<Begin Segment 9>

RP: You were roughly fourteen and a half, almost fifteen years old, when the war broke out? You were the oldest son, were you expected to take on more responsibilities and what role did you play when you finally realized... when the notice came down that you were going to be removed from your community? What responsibilities did you take on in terms of preparation to go to Pomona?

TH: Well, we thought we were going to go to Manzanar. There was talk that, this was maybe March of 1942, I think they were probably building the barracks in Manzanar after, what was it, (9066), the bill was signed by President Roosevelt and that was something to look forward to, when that news came out. I think as the oldest son, I did help my dad. But we got all that prepared, like a canvas top, to shed off the rain, we prepared our trucks like that. We did have a Model A one ton truck.

RP: You had crops in the ground?

TH: Yes.

RP: You are preparing to work them and eventually harvest them. What arrangements were made in terms of the farming operation before you ended up leaving?

TH: The name of the person that bought the farm was named Cornelius. The last name was called Cornelius, and he was from like Arcadia. He bought our farm and he refused to pay. It was supposed to be like he didn't have the money so he was going to pay it after the crops were harvested. I remember that, like I was talking to you earlier that, we tried to collect but there was no way we could collect from him.

RP: How much money?

TH: It was nine hundred dollars. I think we had a buy and sell agreement but it wasn't enforceable that much. I think we didn't have an attorney draw it up or anything, I think it was just a regular sheet of paper, regular handwritten buy and sell agreement.

RP: The nine hundred dollars covered the crops in the ground and what else?

TH: I think the horse, we had a horse, and the cultivators and the tractor... Model T pickup that we owned... and the harnesses and all the loose items. The rest of the items, some of the items, people used to come, drive in and give you fifty cents for that vise... the big vise that you needed if you're farming, you need a vise like that. I think I got fifty cents for a big vise, that it costs a few dollars to buy back.

RP: This gentleman, Cornelius, you mentioned that he had to go to a government office, or the government got involved in trying to push him to pay you?

TH: Yeah, I think it was when we were still at Pomona Assembly Center, is when we took a last ditch effort to try to collect the money and we had help from some of the older Niseis to help support this. And he was called in and they had a hearing but he still refused to pay. I guess the law was, I don't know what happened but the law didn't kick in.

RP: You also mentioned that he really didn't know much about farming?

TH: I beg your pardon?

RP: You mentioned that he didn't really know much about farming?

TH: Yeah, that's right. He was probably one of those wishful thinkers, that, "I'm going to do it this way and that way."

RP: He actually attempted to run the farm while you were --

TH: No, I don't remember. I think we almost worked to the last day to help him out. And we did continue to irrigate so the farm would be, the crops would be growing. I don't know if we hoed too many weeds after we sold it, but we did other things to keep it going. It was only a nine acre field.

RP: After you came back from camp, you attempted to recoup some of your losses. Can you share with us how you went about doing that?

TH: It so happened my mother didn't throw too many papers away before the war. And so she took some of those papers to camp with us. When we came back we had some receipts as to what we had bought or, we had some receipts, so I took my dad to Los Angeles on First Street and we went to a Japanese attorney and we were doing a, something like a War Relocation Act where the federal government was supposed to pay us back some money to bring up your farm to the present, which would be about 1949 or that era. My dad submitted a claim for 35,000 dollars, which was to replenish what he lost during the time of war. And we kept hoping and hoping that we were going to collect. That was his big goal was to receive that, and he even told my sister that, the oldest sister, that if he ever got that claim, he would share it with her. We did get that after a length of time but we settled for ten percent which was around 3,000 dollars. When that came, my dad endorsed the check and I deposited in our family farm fund.

RP: It helped a little bit?

TH: Uh-huh.

RP: Do you feel like there was justice had been done to some extent?

TH: Well, I think by the time we got it, we kept farming and we were lucky that our efforts were rewarded. I was like I never thought that I can make so much money so quick.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.