<Begin Segment 33>

KL: Ah, thank you, I meant to ask you about that, because Ichiro had some memories and I thought you might, too. What do you remember about the sentry, the towers?

KM: One time we passed by that -- that I don't remember, but the sentry towers.

KL: The rock buildings at the entrance?

KM: Yeah. I remember the soldiers used to read comic books, and they would trade with the kids. Because they were just kids, too.

YI: But we had a tower with a round, was that oil or water?

KM: That was oil.

YI: Oil: I remember climbing that.

KL: Where was that?

YI: In the block. There's a big round tower... well, container was on this tower.

KM: You went there to get your oil for the stove, to keep yourselves warm during the winter.

KL: And you climbed it?

YI: Yeah, I remember going up there.

KM: There was a ladder that goes up the side of the tower. It's not very high.

YI: It was high when you're only two feet tall. It was pretty tall for somebody short. It was, it was off the ground pretty high.

KM: It was about 15 feet, not much higher.

KL: What did you call the sentry post?

KM: Sentry house was the "goon box."

YI: The what?

KM: Goon box. That's what World War II people called their sentry towers in the movies.

YI: Oh.

KL: Did you say you did not have memories of the guard towers, really?

KM: No, I didn't.

YI: Well, they were there.

KM: What's her name, the artist? Judy... I have her book. She drew pictures of that, and some other artists.

KL: Judy Sugita?

KM: I don't know her... I can't remember her last name. Do you remember Judy's last name?

Off camera: It's like a Portuguese name.

KL: It's okay. That's the end of my questions. Are there things you wanted to add that we didn't touch on?

KM: No. This is my third interview, second interview.

KL: Where have the others been with?

KM: The one at the Maryknoll church, and I thought somebody asked me some questions at the Eastern Museum, but I don't think so. But I do remember you from being at Manzanar.

YI: Well, I think you guys are doing a good job.

KL: Thank you very much for participating. Thank you so much.

YI: It's important.

KL: I think it is, too, so I'm glad you shared it. You both have really a lot of memories, so thank you for sharing.

KM: Maybe that's so (slanted) because we were kids.

YI: Yeah, it's not really...

KM: Historical.

KL: Yeah, but everybody's (slanted). Everybody has their... and that's, I think, the power of oral history is you can see what sticks out to people, and what they think about experiences in their lives. I think it's a whole another way of looking at things that should be there along with the government documents and the journal entries from the 1940s. Any kind of documents of people's memories are what we know, or what we think we know about these significant events. So it's worth hearing, I think.

YI: Well, thank you.

<End Segment 33> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.