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BN: You mentioned your parents both worked, and I assume your siblings also were going to school as well, and probably running around with their own friends. I'm sure you didn't know at the time, but did you have a sense that your parents... because Manzanar obviously had some very contentious politics, and the so-called "riot" in December, the "loyalty questionnaire" episode. Did you have, were your parents kind of political and involved in those kinds of things?

RO: No, no. They were not involved. That was a horrendous thing. I think it was in Block 3, I think, that all of that, all the problems came out. And my parents both signed... what were the alternatives?

BN: You mean questions 27 and 28?

RO: Yeah. But they signed it such that we were allowed to just go.

BN: Right, "yes," they signed it "yes." The so-called "loyalty questions." Do you have any recollection of the time of the December events, the so-called "riot"?

RO: Not really. I read about it after, so I knew that it occurred.

BN: Yeah, but as a kid you didn't, you don't remember any... okay. Did your family, was your family able to maintain ties to the outside world? You'd mentioned this kind neighbor who was looking after some of the possessions, but were you in contact with her?

RO: During the war?

BN: Yeah.

RO: No. Although I had never talked to my mother about whether she had connections, so she may have.

BN: As far as you know. Okay. Were there particular friends or neighbors in Manzanar that maybe you'd mentioned running around with your friends. But were there people there that you kind of remained friends with for life from that time?

RO: Not... although the one guy who was mad because he didn't get into the "smart kids" section, he and I were friends. But I don't think any of the others, I knew some of them because they went to Roosevelt High school. But no, I guess what happened after the war is people went back to wherever it was they came from.

BN: Memories of things like movies, were you aware of the orphanage, the Children's Village?

RO: Yeah. The movies in general were really great. It was Saturday night and they were outside, we would go. There was only one that I remember being afraid of, it was some kind of... it was a movie that had some scary parts, so I was crying. [Laughs] That's all I remember about the... but it was a terrific thing. Everyone got to go to these. And I didn't know any of the kids who were orphans, but I knew that such a place existed.

BN: Do you remember the gardens? Because Manzanar was also known for Merritt Park and the gardens and so forth.

RO: I know that between the barracks, people would grow things.

BN: How's your parents, were your parents into that kind of thing?

RO: I don't think so. Well, they had jobs.

BN: Did you notice, over time, you're there almost 'til the end. Do you remember how things changed over time in terms of... well, anything, in terms of the schools, the facilities, the gardens?

RO: Not... it certainly changed from the first day we were there. They brought white teachers in, for example, which we didn't have at first. So I thought the education was very good. And I didn't see that change, I think. These people stayed with it at least as long as I was there.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2021 Densho. All Rights Reserved.