<Begin Segment 11>

AC: And how long were you there at the livestock arena?

JT: Let's see. It was September they put us on trains headed for Idaho, in September.

AC: So you were there all through that hot summer.

JT: Yes, it was a hot, hot summer. And let's see... and then when we trained to Twin Falls, Idaho, the blinds were pulled down.

AC: What about, I guess, there was no... there was no air conditioning, there was no fans, and it was so hot. How did you guys survive?

JT: I don't know. We made it. [Laughs]

AC: Did you guys have water that you could cool down on at least, or sprinklers or shower?

JT: Not on the train, I don't think.

AC: No, no, I'm talking about in the assembly center.

JT: Oh, yeah, there were showers, areas of toilets and that stuff, sure.

AC: What about in the horse stalls themselves? Was it sweltering in there?

JT: It was very hot. I remember trying to sit outside in the shade by the building. So anyway, it was not a pleasant... but when you're kids...

AC: How about the dust, you know, so hot and so dry in the summer?

JT: Well, I was told, Alton, that they had athletic department, police department, fire department, they had all this type of thing. And the fire department thought it'd be a great idea to hose off the hallways with water to try to cool it down. But the water would sink down into the areas that the manure had been, and the stench just came rolling up, so it wasn't a good idea.

AC: Wow. Do you remember any other characteristic sights or sounds or smells of that area?

JT: No.

AC: Do you remember about... what kind of food did you guys have to eat?

JT: That I don't remember either, but I was told that it was not the gourmet food, it was, of course, rice, but heart, liver, tongue. Not the choice cuts of meat. And I'm sure vegetables, but they always had rice.

AC: But you followed the sports figures around as they went from game to game. Any particular sport that you followed?

JT: Well, mostly it was baseball. Because basketball was not too much there. But I just followed them on the baseball diamonds, and I was kind of like their mascot.

AC: Did they have a pet name for you?

JT: No, no, they didn't.

AC: But they recognized you as the boy who kept following them around?

JT: Yeah, they did.

AC: Were you their good luck charm?

JT: I must have been. [Laughs]

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.