<Begin Segment 21>

RP: We're gonna... just a few more questions, Mas.

MN: Okay.

RP: We're gonna wrap things up, but you, when you got back to the States and I think you were living in the Boyle Heights area or East Los Angeles area...

MN: Yeah.

RP: There was some kind of a incident with the American Legion Unit that you, you belonged to the American Legion.

MN: Oh, yeah.

RP: And something came up about was it Japanese Americans or they opposed something.

MN: Oh, okay.

RP: Can you share that?

MN: Yes. In 1958 we decided to form a American Legion post. Okay. And we wanted to ask Sadao Munemori -- that had the Congressional Medal of Honor -- ask the family if we could use their name for the post. So we were given permission to do so. So we formed a fifteen man charter member, what they call American Legion Sadao Munemori Post 321. And that was in 1958. So, but in meantime for this re-addressing came up. And in fact I was in the American Legion. American Legion, they opposed this re-addressing for the Japanese American that was, spent the time in the camp. And tried to get the government to give us help on that. So after that I just pulled out of American Legion.

RP: Of the redress, you were talking about?

MN: Yeah.

RP: They opposed it.

MN: Yeah, they approved it in 1988. President Reagan...

RP: Right.

MN: ...signed the...

RP: So the American Legion opposed it.

MN: Yeah, they opposed it.

RP: And how did you feel about the redress?

MN: Well, redress, well, I think the hardest part was the parents. They're the one that took... we were kids yet. But they had the hardship. But they didn't get compensated for it.

RP: Neither one of them were around?

MN: Yeah. Pop died in 1958. So only the living gets compensated, see.

RP: Right. Now you, it sounds like you, you learned a lot of skills when you were in camp. You learned how to drive and do other things.

MN: Yeah.

RP: It sounds like you also had a fun time with your group and things.

MN: Yeah, yeah.

RP: So how does, how does Manzanar fit into your life story? What, how do you reflect on that life experience?

MN: Well, not much, no. But after I got of the army I had to get some kind of trade so I just went to mechanics school, L.A. Trade Tech in L.A. Then got two years of that. And finally got a job at the Japanese garage in Boyle Heights, Japanese owned garage and worked there from 1952, '53 'til 1962. Then in the meantime I got married and had three kids. So I said well I'd better make my move, not getting any place working. I tried, looked into, tried to buy my place, shop, they wanted too much. So I, brother-in-law, have brother-in-law living in Palo Alto, California, Bay Area. So he was in landscape business so he says come up and in '52 I went. Looked around, I say okay. So I joined him and in meantime for one month I stayed with his family and I got my route started and then I called my family from L.A. and moved them up. So from there to '62, yeah, I did gardening in Bay Area. Then to, until 1982, '62 to... twenty years, then from there I moved to Sacramento in '82. Went into a bowling alley business with my ex-son-in-law, as a silent partner. But that lasted only four years. So they sold the bowling alley and all that. Anyway, so I thought well I turned sixty, I needed a job. So I thought... my daughter was already working for the state, see. So she says, "Dad, why don't you apply for a state gardening." So I said okay. So anyway she says, "I'll help you with a resume." But the oral test... you know what I'm saying? So all the experience I had doing gardening I listed everything, what I did and spraying, all that. So I got called in for an interview, oral interview and I thought there's three people on the interview panel. One Japanese guy. I found out later he was a Korean vet and he worked for the state already at that time. And he was supervisor, Sacramento DMV building. So anyway, they interviewed me and asked me all kind of question and two weeks I had to wait and they say, well you're hired. So I asked this supervisor, he was right there see after I got hired. I said, "How in the hell..." I said, "I'm sixty years old. There was a lot of young guys there." "Well," he says, "Mas, we don't care about... we want guys with experience. We don't care about the age."

RP: Yeah, and you had it too.

MN: Yeah so, anyway I got hired.

RP: All right. Well Mas, I want to thank you very much for a great interview. We really appreciated hearing your stories and on behalf of Kirk and myself and the National Park Service, thank you again.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.