<Begin Segment 10>

MN: Now, Gila River is out in the desert.

KY: Yes.

MN: Was it difficult for you to get adjusted to the weather?

KY: No, I don't think so. I think since we had lived in Fresno, we were sort of used to living in hot, dry weather. And I think even then I tolerated hot weather much more than cold weather.

MN: Did you have any incidences where the heat actually got to you?

KY: Yeah, I fainted one day walking home from school or someplace. And when I woke up I was in a hospital in Butte. And I don't know how I got there. I don't know how I got back to Canal, and I don't know if anyone let my parents know. I do remember when I got home, my parents didn't say anything about what had happened to me. So I guess it was no big thing. They didn't think it was a big thing and I didn't think it was a big thing either.

MN: What happened? Were you just dehydrated?

KY: I would think I was either dehydrated or perhaps I ran out of salt, I don't know. I think we were given salt pills, but I don't really remember.

MN: Now, was this the only time you went from Canal to Butte camp?

KY: Yes.

[Interruption]

MN: -- Gila, and I wanted to ask you if you could share with us what your father did to your barrack to keep cool.

KY: My dad dug a basement beneath our unit. It was probably four by four by four. And he built a trapdoor in the floor of our barrack, and he had stairs, so we could go down there and sit beneath the ground level. And it was cooler down there, so we used that sort of like our own private basement, just to stay cool.

[Interruption]

KY: And I don't know where he got the tools to do that, or the shovel to dig out the dirt, or what he did with the dirt once he dug it.

MN: Let me ask you a little bit about the food in camp. Now, I know people today, they still can't eat certain foods because it's associated with camp.

KY: Right.

MN: Do you have that problem?

KY: Well, for a long time I couldn't eat pancakes because if you ate pancakes in camp for breakfast, they'd still be at the bottom of your stomach at dinnertime. And so for a long, long time I didn't eat pancakes at all. And I do now, but...

MN: Did you ever get diarrhea from eating food at camp?

KY: No.

MN: Now, were there foods that they served in the mess hall that you'd never eaten at home?

KY: I'm sure there was, but, I mean, you ate what they gave you.

MN: What memories do you have, I mean, what sort of foods did they serve in camp?

KY: I don't remember. Nothing memorable. [Laughs]

MN: I hear stories where families in camp were broken up because the kids no longer ate with their families. What was it like in your family?

KY: I must have eaten with my mom, although I don't remember. I don't think I had the guts to go eat in another block. I don't think I had any boys that I was close enough to that I would go eat with them.

MN: Can you share with us the time you ate a rattlesnake?

KY: Oh, well, it was just something that they cooked over the fire. And it was no big thing.

MN: Do you recall what it tasted like?

KY: No.

MN: But I guess it wasn't so bad that you did spit it out.

KY: Oh, no, not at all. I mean, it's just a reptile.

MN: Let me ask you a little bit about the public latrines. Was it difficult for you to get adjusted to a public latrine?

KY: No, 'cause most... if you go to sporting events, as far as boys go, you use the urinal, and everybody's there around you. As far as the shower goes, if you're in school, you take showers without partitions or stalls or anything like that. So it wasn't anything that I hadn't been used to. We did wear getas in the showers, so that our feet wouldn't touch the concrete, but I think that was mostly to prevent getting athlete's feet. And also when you walked from the men's shower room back to your barrack, your feet would stay dry. But as far as urinating or sitting on the toilet, it was no problem as far as modestly goes for, I think, most boys.

MN: Do you have any idea where you got the geta from?

KY: No, but I would think probably Papa made it.

MN: What about movies? How were movies shown at Gila River?

KY: There was like a drive-in screen, except the people who lived in the camp would take their own folding chairs, and they would have speakers throughout this open space, so that you took your chair with you, sat wherever you wanted, and you can hear the sound of the movie. And when the movie was over, all the kids used to run back to their block and go take a shower before the adults got there, and while there was still hot water.

MN: Do you remember what kind of movies were shown?

KY: No, I do not. There were a couple of them that were very boring as far as I was concerned, because I didn't understand the movie. And I don't remember seeing any cowboy movies or cartoons or things that I would have preferred.

MN: Let me ask you about some of the holidays in camp. What was Oshogatsu like in Gila?

KY: I think was had mochitsuki in our block, but I'm not sure. I know one year we did, and that was a fun day for me because I got to eat mochi after it was being made without having to be cooked. And I also got to run around and throw flour on everybody else.

MN: What do you remember of Christmas in Gila River?

KY: I think someone gave all the kids in our block presents. I think they did it anonymously. I don't remember ever writing a thank-you letter to anybody. There was one family that had a lot of kids, and they were upset 'cause they didn't get any presents. And apparently someone forgot to bring the box that had all the toys for that family, and they found it and then they gave that family their toys.

MN: Did your block have things like a Santa Claus or a Christmas tree?

KY: I don't think so.

MN: Do you have any other memories of camp?

KY: No.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.