<Begin Segment 30>

SY: So you, in general, you think it was a terrible experience, camp?

YY: Yeah, I didn't care for it that much. But then, I met my wife, so... [Laughs]

SY: And as far as you know, your friends, people who were in camp, who never talk about it, I mean, do you think that's the general feeling?

YY: I don't know what their feelings are, but it never comes up, so we never talk about it.

SY: Even though you're... so what kinds of things do you talk about, then? Mainly golf?

YY: Mostly. What happened in golf.

SY: And they don't, most of them don't go to these reunions or, camp reunions, things like that?

YY: Well, the younger people do, I think, the people that were in high school. The people that didn't go to school there, I don't think they, their friends don't go either, so... like the, Manzanar has a reunion every year, but it's, the people that are on the committee are all people that went to high school there. So I didn't go to high school there, so I don't know anybody. [Laughs]

SY: Is it, do you think that your age, so your age has a lot do with it, in terms of what you, what your memory is of camp?

YY: Yes, I think so. I think the young people liked it there. They made a lot of friends and didn't have to do anything.

SY: So how do you feel when you hear things like that? Does it...

YY: It doesn't bother me, but it's just that they, they didn't have that same kind of growing up as we had. We had lots of, where we were turned away from different things. Like we wanted to go to this pool or something, and they said, "No, you can't. You can only come on Mondays when we clean the pool," or something.

SY: Before, that was before camp?

YY: That was before camp. And a lot of places that, they wouldn't let us in, but, so we had to stick to our own neighborhoods. Yeah.

SY: And then during camp, what, was it because... I mean, why do you, why is it a less pleasant experience for you?

YY: Well, what I remember is that we had, I was going to school and now I was, can't go to school. And another thing is that we had to move out so fast, we lost all this stuff, and if the war didn't happen we wouldn't be living like this, in camp.

SY: So it made a big, bigger impression on you.

YY: Right, being, we lost so much, you know. A lot of things that you think you had, you wonder what happened to it.

SY: So that's why you prefer not talking so much about it.

YY: Well, it's not that, but it's that I, that's something that I don't like to talk about.

SY: How did you feel when redress happened, when you were able to...

YY: Well, I didn't get any of the money because my wife gave it to the grandkids. [Laughs]

SY: How lucky your grandchildren are.

YY: Yeah. [Laughs] I had, at the time we had four grandchildren, so they each, it was enough for the four of 'em we got.

SY: And did they know where that money came from, your grandchildren?

YY: I doubt it. 'Cause they weren't, they weren't that old when they got it.

SY: But your own kids knew, right?

YY: Yeah. Yeah.

SY: And they, did you celebrate, or did you...

YY: No, we went to dinner. I remember that. That's when my wife gave 'em the money.

SY: She didn't discuss it with you first?

YY: No. [Laughs] Well, she says that we're gonna give it to the kids. So that's what we did.

SY: And you were okay with it after?

YY: Yeah.

<End Segment 30> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.