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RP: And we just have a few minutes left, can you share with us how you have passed on your camp experiences and your stories?

MY: Well, I've told my children a little, and I've also made presentations to beginning teachers, and some of the teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District have invited me and I have presented to their students. And what I have found is they're just dumbfounded. They just can't imagine how one could've lived in such situations and survived. Even my friend, I told her that I was going to Manzanar and I might be televised by a Japanese company, and she says, "Oh well, that life is over." But I explained to her how hard it was, and I said, even like getting a drink of water. She said, "What's so hard about getting a drink of water? Just turn on the tap and there it is." I said, "We didn't have a tap inside our house." And she said, "Well, where did you go?" I said, "There was a tap on the outside of the barrack, but I never wanted to use that. I would go to, quote, the latrine." And she said, "What's that?" [Laughs] And I explained to her, and I said, "Little things like that makes life comfortable, being, having water in your own home, your own apartment, having even just a little hot plate to cook just a little something." But to think for that long a period you had to live in a, quote, a camp life.

But in explaining or relating the things that had happened, I sometimes feel, well, it just happened to us, it's just part of life, but I also look upon it as a way of maturing me very quickly, and sometimes I find I'm very, very harsh in judging others. I think, "Well, don't they know any better? You have to do this, this and this." I feel that as a youngster I had to make many decisions, and they didn't, it helped me become stronger. That's all I can say. But it, the camp life affected people, I think, based upon their age and their economic situation, and I know how debilitating, how horrible it was for, especially professional people that were just beginning, young adults starting college, like. Or high schoolers that couldn't stay to walk across the stage and earn their high school diploma, some of them are still being awarded the high school diplomas. And so in many, when I get opportunities, I don't mind sharing my experience, but it's only from my viewpoint, how it affected me. It affected many people in a very negative way. Some were able to cope and some weren't, but I always give my father and mother such, I have such respect for them, not only my own parents but everyone else at that same age, how they were able to survive and not become bitter, but to tell us, "If you work hard, you can overcome what is put before you."

RP: On that note, thank you very much, Madelon, on behalf of Kirk and myself and the Park Service. We really honor your stories and appreciate your...

MY: You're welcome.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.