Life Behind Barbed Wire

7. RETURN TO HAWAII

211 Straight to Seattle As we were driven out of the barbed-wire enclosure of Santa Fe Camp, the relief we felt showed in our faces. I inhaled deep breaths of freedom for the first time in four years. Of course we were not entirely free yet. Until our release from custody and the designation “internee” was struck from our records, we were still subject to many restrictions. In this way, life behind barbed wire continued for a while. Three hundred and twentyseven internees exited the camp gates at 2:10 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30, 1945, and arrived at the station seven minutes later. Our train left the station at 2:32 p.m. It was a six-car train especially prepared for us, with freight cars attached. These held our luggage, all 150 tons of it. We were to travel north for fifteen hundred miles, directly to Seattle. The cars were considerably old and antiquated. We had sandwiches and fruit until dining cars were added in Denver. Several internees from each car were assigned KP duty. It turned out to be labor-intensive work, and I felt sorry for them. A ten-gallon can of milk was distributed to each car. Traveling with us were Mr. Monroe, an immigration officer acting as transportation commander, and dozens of club-carrying guards. The sick were kept together in the Pullman car, attended by Dr. Masayoshi Tanaka, a white nurse, and a dozen rotating internee volunteer orderlies.The orderly ’s work was no easy task either. With the exception of the spokesman and committee members, no one was allowed to visit other cars. At 4:35 a.m. on Wednesday, October 31, the train made a brief stop at Colorado Springs, where we saw many big glass buildings. Outside Denver at around 6:40 a.m., we entered a large industrial area lined with what looked like defense-related factories. We saw white female laborers for the first time. A streamlined Union Pacific train stopped beside ours; the white 7 RETURN TO HAWAII 212 soga children in the train waved to us repeatedly. There were many overpasses in the area, and traffic seemed to be moving smoothly. At 7:45 a.m. we left Denver. As soon as we pulled out of the station, we saw vast fields of beets. Dr. Tanaka, accompanied by the nurse and a few guards, moved about the train, checking on the internees. A blunt man, he was in a good mood that day and announced, “Everyone is homesick . Castor oil all around.” Who was he kidding? I was not about to oblige him, and I refused. At lunch, seventy people passed through our car to go to the dining car. (Each group was given about thirty minutes to eat.) Our car was fairly dirty. On top of that, it was very difficult to rest, because we had to sleep in our traveling clothes with two of us sitting side by side and facing two others. Nevertheless, others envied us, saying their car was dirtier and must have been made in the Tokugawa era. Someone is always worse off, I suppose. Huge pastures appeared on either side of us. There were puddles as big as ponds and mobile fences here and there. We saw a huge herd of sheep. When our turn came for lunch, we went to the dining car. We were served by black waiters and the tables were clean. The menu included beef stew, real coffee with cream, bread, and real butter. It was my first honest -to-goodness meal in four long years. The ice water and coffee were especially good. I did not know butter could be so delicious. In the camps, we had had coffee made from roasted beans and imitation butter. Now my dulled tastebuds had been reawakened. A few people in another car suffered food poisoning from sashimi they had brought from Santa Fe. They vomited and were plagued by diarrhea. This gave the authorities a bit of trouble. The Vast Plain At 2:12 p.m. we arrived in Laramie, a town of six thousand people and home to Wyoming University. Fish fossils could be found not far from here, so the fossil collectors among us looked out longingly. At 8:15 p.m. we passed through Rock Springs, a thriving town. Mr. Kyl So Han operated a coal mine farther beyond. It was said that he never hired Japanese workers and...