<Begin Segment 17>

RP: A few more questions about camp. How did the environment around the camp, did it affect you at all? The mountains or the... did you have any thoughts about...

MW: I thought... oh, those Eastern Sierras? I always used to look at it and I thought yeah, they were very nice. I mean, that's one advantage, is that the environment was nice. But then it was really cold. I mean, it's just, at that time at my age I didn't, I just remember that those mountains were pretty. But I didn't, as a kid, I don't remember. I just remember the hot and the extreme hot and the extreme cold.

RP: How about, do you recall any of the, some people talked about scorpions or lizards or...

MW: Oh my gosh.

RP: Obviously you have a story to tell.

MW: Huh?

RP: Do you remember any of those creatures?

MW: I was asleep. And I opened my eyes and there was this thing crawling on my face. And so I, of course, I jumped up and screamed and my mom says, "What is it, what is it?" And I put that thing and I shook and that, I was very young and oh, it must have been a tarantula, I think. It had legs and it was on there. To this day, I have a phobia against anything with legs. I can't, and I try to get over it. People said you should go to this, like where you quit smoking. They have this thing. And I said, "What do they do?" They said, "Oh, they show you these... you keep looking at it." And I said, "If I did that I would die right then and there." 'Cause even on television, sometimes they'll talk about look at this, what do they call those people who don't keep up their apartments? Those landlords?

RP: Oh, slumlords.

MW: Slumlords. And they says, "Look at all these." And they show it on the screen. And when I saw that thing I would just pass out. I.... and in camp, of course we had all kinds of... we were out in the desert.

RP: Did you see any snakes or...

MW: Yeah.

RP: You did see snakes?

MW: Sure. All... and then the, what is it, those tumbleweeds, constantly hitting you or whatever, the tumbleweeds. But I remember the Japanese are very clever and they're botanists, like with flowers and things. So I remember there were a lot of places where there were flowers. I mean, I vaguely remember flowers. It's hard because I remember certain things and I don't know really where they play into the scheme of things. I could remember these things. Whereas if I were older I think I could place them at a certain location. But, uh-huh....

RP: Did you ever have a situation where you got lost in the camp trying to find your barrack room, when it got dark or... was it disorienting for you?

MW: Pardon?

RP: Was it disorienting, was there a disorienting experience where you couldn't kind of figure out where you were?

MW: Today, if I went I would definitely be disoriented. But at that time, no, because I was a child and I probably was with my sisters a lot. The three of us...

RP: You were, you were...

MW: Well, my one sister was handicapped so the other sister, so we just, she was always with me or she'd take me, whatever. And so it was, it was okay for me. But I remember how this lady, well, this is this lady's story, so you don't want to hear that, from camp.

RP: Go ahead.

MW: Huh? Well, the walls were so thin that you really could hear anything next door, just like here. And I mean, it wasn't even, just plywood with the holes in it. And so gee, if you had a baby, I mean, you'd better get out of that barrack 'cause you'd wake up the whole neighborhood with the baby screaming. Yeah. So I felt sorry for, for those people. 'Cause it, the walls were so thin and I remember, yeah, my sisters and I we... I remember my sister said, "Go outside and look in..." There was like tarpaper. And she says, "Tell me where the hole is so we can stuff the, we could stuff the hole." And it was really cold because the, when it was windy, the wind would just come right through the holes. Then I remember my dad sitting by that potbellied... we would all just, just gather around that thing. 'Cause it was so cold. Uh-huh, yeah.

RP: Do you recall ever eating meals in your barrack room? Or would you always go to the mess hall?

MW: We went to the mess hall but on certain days I remember my mom said, "Pa doesn't like this so we'll do somethin' else or somethin'."

RP: Was your sister who was...

MW: Handicapped.

RP: ...handicapped, did she, did you bring meals back for her? Did she walk to the mess hall?

MW: Yeah. She walked.

RP: Oh, she would.

MW: Uh-huh, yeah.

RP: So it was a little more convenient when you moved into...

MW: Block 27.

RP: ...Block 27 was right next door so she didn't have to walk as far.

MW: Right across the street.

RP: Do you remember your block address in 27, or your barrack and your room? Was it 27-14?

MW: We were the first ones.

RP: Right next to the mess hall?

MW: Twenty-seven... but I don't know what direction, but we were at the end. Yeah, uh-huh. So, I mean, I wish I could remember more things but...

RP: That's okay.

MW: That, 'cause I was five to eight.

RP: Right.

MW: Yeah, uh-huh.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.