<Begin Segment 7>

HH: Going back in history, back when December 7th and Pearl Harbor took place, do you remember what you were doing that day?

ME: I learned about it when I was at church. That was a Sunday, and I heard about the bombing at church that morning. And with a couple of other friends, we decided that it was probably the last time we'd be able to play golf for some time, so we decided to play golf that afternoon.

HH: Which church did you belong to, by the way?

ME: I think it was called the... it was a Presbyterian church, but I forgot exactly what it was called.

HH: On Post Street?

ME: On Post Street. Post and Arcadia in the corner.

HH: Do you still remember what the living conditions were like in the concentration camps?

ME: Oh, yes. Clearly, in Tanforan, we got assigned to a horse stall as many of us were. Although there were many new tarpaper shacks that were put up, but we lived in, we were one of the first to arrive. So we were assigned quarters in the horse stalls, and when it would rain, it would be just a sea of mud all around the stalls. And so horses didn't have any trouble with it, but we had trouble getting in and out. So we concocted our own ramps to get into our place. And of course, there was no privacy to speak of. And the same thing in Topaz where we occupied a part of a tarpaper shack, and as it has been described, there were no walls that went up to the roof, so you could hear everything that was going on all through the building, practically. But as I said, I didn't stay very long, so I didn't suffer the hardship that a lot of people went through. About the dust coming through the floor, no furniture to speak of. A lot of people suffering.

HH: Do you know what you did for social and leisure activities?

ME: Well, I think we played some bridge. And in Tanforan, I joined our little theater group and we did some plays and things like that. I think a singing group or something like that.

HH: Did they have schools for you during that time?

ME: Well, I was finished with college, so I didn't go to school anymore.

HH: What kind of work did you do?

ME: In Tanforan, I was with the supply department. I also was with the supply department in Topaz, too, and took care of ordering supplies as was needed, non-food supplies, ordering and inventorying, keeping stock of whatever supplies we needed.

HH: How would you describe the restrictions placed on your freedom at Tanforan and also at Topaz?

ME: Well, we weren't allowed to go out at all. We were allowed to go anywhere in the premises, but that we were certainly not allowed to go out. At Topaz, we were allowed to go out if we had a reason to go. Like my mother, I know, attended a wedding of a relative in Salt Lake City or something like that. If you had a reason to go, I think you were allowed to go out.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 1994 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.