<Begin Segment 21>

SY: So your family stayed at Manzanar pretty much the whole time? Or when did they end up leaving? When did you, how did that happen? How did you end up...

YY: Well, I left in, let's see, it was April, no... I think I got married in April, then I left in May --

SY: In camp? Now, how --

YY: We went out to Phoenix.

SY: To get married.

YY: Uh-huh.

SY: And so you met your wife in camp.

YY: Yeah.

SY: And where, how did you meet her?

YY: She was working in the hospital.

SY: What was she doing?

YY: She was doing some secretarial work.

SY: So she wasn't in the medical field, she was just working in an office.

YY: Office, uh-huh.

SY: So you met her, she, had she already graduated from...

YY: She had graduated from Fullerton JC.

SY: And she was, was her family there in camp as well?

YY: Yeah.

SY: So you met her, do you remember how long you knew each other before you got married?

YY: Over a year, I think.

SY: And she was, so you kind of dated and did things at night together.

YY: Yeah. I remember going to the movies together. They had these different, she used to belong to a girls club and they used to have little get-togethers, so we'd go to those.

SY: She was, was she much, same age as you?

YY: She was one year older than me.

SY: And as far as you know, she worked in the hospital the whole time you were there?

YY: I don't think she did, but she was there when I started going.

SY: She was already there when you started. So you would see her every day, then, when you...

YY: No, not really.

SY: But you'd maybe eat together? Would you eat together?

YY: Well, I can't even remember doing that either. [Laughs]

SY: So how did, you don't remember kind of courting her, how, what you did to, the whole courtship thing while in camp?

YY: I know we went to a lot of places together. Nothing during the daytime, I don't think.

SY: And your friends, were they, did they all have girlfriends? Or was it unusual to have a girlfriend while you were in camp?

YY: Well, some of 'em, but most of 'em that, they had girlfriends, I think. But maybe some, I don't know. I can't remember that either.

SY: But it was not unusual to have a girlfriend while you were in camp. Is that something you were thinking about when you were there?

YY: No.

SY: Did you have girlfriends before her?

YY: Yeah. When I was going to JC and stuff like that.

SY: And then when the war started, then did that affect...

YY: Yeah, 'cause I lost track of all these people that I used to know 'cause they went to different camps and I didn't know what camps they went to.

SY: So you just lost track, basically. So when you first got to, so do you remember first meeting your wife?

YY: No, not really. I can't remember.

SY: And were there other women in camp that you were, you dated?

YY: Well, there was, I think there was one other girl that I went out with, but I don't know what happened. We never got together again.

SY: So how is it that they allowed you to go outside of camp to get married? What, how, what was the procedure for that?

YY: We just said that we were gonna go to another camp, and they gave us a pass to go to another camp. And we just went to Phoenix and got married, and from Phoenix we went to Cleveland.

SY: So you were planning to get married and then leave camp, that was part of your plan?

YY: Right.

SY: So at that time everybody was just allowed to leave if they...

YY: Right.

SY: Was there any kind of form, some reason that you had to leave?

YY: No, I think, I can't remember what we had to do. But they gave us permission to go to Phoenix, so then from there --

SY: So why did you choose Phoenix?

YY: It was the closest place to, otherwise we had to go to Las Vegas. But a lot of people went to, went through Las Vegas to go back East. But we thought it would be easier to go to Phoenix.

SY: And so there was no thought of getting married in camp?

YY: No.

SY: Nobody, did people get married in camp? I don't even know that.

YY: I'm pretty sure they did.

SY: So there were ministers --

YY: I heard that there was weddings, but I never went to one, so I don't know.

SY: And both of you wanted to go outside to get married.

YY: Uh-huh.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.