<Begin Segment 20>

MN: Okay, so once you got into Jerome, what were some of the first things you did with your friends?

BT: Well let's see, I don't know, we... we all lived in different blocks, so we got together at this friend's place in Block 42. Because they had a large family, so they had half of the barrack, and the large, the large unit, they had four boys, so we used that as a clubhouse. We met over there. Nothing to do, we just sat around, played cards.

MN: Now, you shared with us the latrine system at Fresno Assembly Center. What was Jerome like?

BT: Jerome was better. It had regular, regular commodes, but no partitions or anything. Yeah. It was kind of difficult for the ladies. They complained, so the, eventually the camp carpenter went around installing partitions for them. But no doors on the partition.

MN: Did your mother have problems with the, having to go in, using the public restroom? Did she ever complain to you?

BT: No, my mother never complained. My sister, later on, told me how difficult it was for her, because -- and a lot of the ladies, the older ladies, they just couldn't use the restroom just any time. Like my sister says she would wait 'til late in the evening where maybe there won't be much people or anybody there. And being pregnant, that was really bad.

MN: But I assume everybody waited until late in the evening.

BT: [Laughs] Well, I think the older ladies did.

MN: You shared about the water being different at Jerome also.

BT: Yeah, in Jerome, when we first went there and first couple of showers we took, seemed like we couldn't wash the soap off us. It was so, our body was, not slimy, but you know, and we couldn't figure out. And later on somebody told us, well, the water is soft. This is why it feels that way. So once you get used to it, it was okay, but it was a funny feeling.

MN: What was the food like at Jerome?

BT: It was okay. One thing, like, every camp had a ration, same ration. If you... and it depended on your head cook, how it was prepared. So you could, not everybody had the same type, they had the same ingredients maybe, but it was cooked in a different way. So if you had a good head cook in your block, you were lucky.

MN: Did your head cook, how did he cook the mutton stew?

BT: You know, I don't remember having mutton stew in Jerome. In Fresno Assembly Center we did, and oh, that could've caused some problems, because people couldn't stand the smell. Me, I complained with my friends, but here, I'm gobbling that food down 'cause I liked it. I like stew, for one thing, but the smell didn't bother me when I was eating it.

MN: The mutton was Fresno, not at Jerome, huh?

BT: Yeah. I don't know if other camps had it in their camp, but I don't remember in Jerome.

MN: Now, at Jerome, were they strict about which mess hall you had to eat at?

BT: Oh yeah, definitely. Because each mess hall was given a ration for how many people was in your block, so if you ate at another mess hall you're eating somebody else's food. In fact, for a while there I was having lunch in Block 42. I thought why should I go to, when I can eat over here, I'd think. But after about, I don't know, fourth, fifth, five times, they came up to me and says, "Don't come back anymore." [Laughs] Yeah.

MN: I've heard of people catching the rattlesnakes out there and eating them. Did you do that?

BT: No. My brother-in-law ate the, somebody brought the rattlesnake to the mess hall and they had someone... yeah. It, they said that it tastes like chicken. I don't know. Everything seems like it tastes like chicken.

MN: What was your first job at Jerome?

BT: I think it was in the hospital warehouse. We had to, well, when the supplies came in we had to take it off the truck and set it aside, or if they needed more beds in the hospital ward, we had to set 'em up.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.