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LT: This is part two of an interview with Taylor Tomita at his home in Hood River, Oregon. It is March 18, 2014. The interviewer is Linda Tamura, and Ian McCluskey is the videographer. So during the spring of 1942, you and your family learned that you would need to leave Hood River and your farm. How did you learn the news and what were your thoughts?

TT: I really don't remember how I heard the news. But they must have told us ahead of time what day we were going to leave, so we had to get prepared to leave, take whatever you need in camp, what they allow us to take.

LT: What were your thoughts? You had, you were nineteen years old, you had lived all nineteen of your years in Hood River, and now you were being told that you would need to leave. What did you think about that?

TT: Well, I guess they told us ahead of time, we knew that ahead of time we were gonna leave, so it wasn't too much of a shock that we had to leave. I can't remember any real feeling, what I thought about. I guess everybody else is leaving so you thought, well, that's what we had to do.

LT: Okay. Did you know where you were going or what you needed to do to prepare?

TT: No, we didn't know where we were going, but I guess they told us what we could bring, so we got ready to take what we can and just waited 'til the day that we go.

LT: So how did you prepare specifically? What did you decide to take, how did you make that decision, and how did you pack?

TT: Well, I guess we had a couple of suitcase and probably took whatever you wore and maybe an extra. But I only remember being one big suitcase, so maybe we had another suitcase, and whatever we couldn't take in the suitcase, we put it in, my dad bought a piece of canvas and wrapped all the bedding and other clothing in that, just tied it with a kind of small rope. So I think maybe we had to have about two of 'em, and that's all we took, I guess.

LT: Well, now, your family had a farm. What was going to happen to the farm when you were gone?

TT: Well, my dad arranged for neighbors to take care of it. It was a young farm yet, so all he wanted was them to pay the taxes and the payment, we were making payment on the farm. So he did that. But by the time we came back, it was producing pretty good, so it turned out pretty good.

LT: For you or for you...

TT: For my dad and me, for the farm. Because it started producing and making a little bit of money.

LT: And this was a pear farm. Well, how did you leave?

TT: This neighbor lady, she took us down to the train that morning, just got there, and everybody's there waiting to get on the train.

LT: Okay. Before you left, did you say anything to your classmates or visit your neighbors? Did anybody come visit you?

TT: I was out of high school for a year, so I didn't have no classmates around that time, or didn't see any. Only one neighbor, I think, I would have talked to him, but then I don't remember what I was talking about, just tell him that we had to leave and all that. And she said she'd take us down there when we left. That was it.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.