<Begin Segment 20>

MN: I'm gonna step back a little bit. I know we're talking about the trailer camps in Long Beach right now, but I wanted to ask you about, you graduated from Manzanar High School in 1945. Can you share with us what the graduation was like?

JM: We had a big graduation in that auditorium. It was pretty well prepared.

MN: Did you wear a cap and gown?

JM: Yes. We used to get everything from Sears-Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, and they made all the arrangements. In fact, we had a baseball team, basketball team, we asked Sears-Roebuck to sponsor us and they sponsored our team. We got bats, baseball, mitt, ball, bats, everything, even jackets, so we put Sears' name on the back. [Laughs]

MN: What happened to that uniform?

JM: I don't know. It's all gone.

MN: Did your parents and your siblings attend your graduation?

JM: I don't know. I guess they did.

MN: What did your mother do in camp?

JM: Just took care of the kids. When my father came back she got pregnant, and the baby died. It was stillborn. But I don't know what she really did.

MN: Was the baby buried at Manzanar?

JM: Huh?

MN: Was the baby buried at Manzanar?

JM: (I don't know).

MN: But when you were leaving, did you take the baby's remains with you or did you leave the remains at Manzanar?

JM: I don't know. (...) They had the papers. (...)

MN: Now, Terminal Islanders, they love their ofuro.

JM: Yeah.

MN: There was no ofuro in Manzanar, so how did you guys get around that?

JM: Showered.

MN: Took shower?

JM: Oh, they had one room (with) washbasin. They had two tubs, one for soap and one for rinsing, so we used to fill it up with hot water and took a bath in (and the other to rise off the soap). It felt pretty good. [Laughs]

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.