Densho Digital Archive - Rose Tanaka Interview (denshovh-trose

<Begin Segment 15>

AL: Do you remember your impressions when you first saw Manzanar? You came in at a time after most of it was built.

RT: Yes, it was mostly built, but I do remember arriving in the camp and finding that there were some ditches, sanitation ditches that were still, needed to be closed over. It was still in the process of being finished off for people to live in. But it was pretty much finished. I think I remember some of the ditches that still had to be leveled off, but all the facilities were there.

AL: Do you remember your emotions as far as seeing it, knowing you're going to be there?

RT: Well, I don't know, it was just really strange. My state of mind was, "What's going on?" It was like a dream, or a nightmare, whatever. And whatever happened, happened, and this was the way it was going to be. So I don't remember any huge emotions except I knew that this was wartime, and we were being affected by a war, and this is what happens when you're in the wrong side.

AL: Was your entire family going to Manzanar at one time? Were your brothers, your sister, everybody there in camp with you?

RT: Yes, except for Tom, who was in the military. It was Kay, Katsuma, and Henry, and my sister Machiko and me, so there were four children and my parents together.

AL: Could you tell us a little bit about your brother Tom and how he was in the military? Was he drafted, did he volunteer?

RT: He was drafted.

AL: When was he drafted?

RT: He was in April, I think, of 1941, he was taken in. He had to report for duty, and because the army was segregated at the time, they didn't know where to put him. He went through basic training and then they didn't have a unit for him, so he was shifted from camp hospital to camp hospital, wherever they needed him. And this is my recollection, it may not be accurate. But all I know is that he was very disgusted that he was made to work as an orderly in a hospital, and he wanted to be in the military and he had very strong feelings about the Japanese, he wanted to fight them, and why couldn't he go and fight them? But they, instead, moved him to a hospital where he carried bedpans, and so he resented that. So when the 100th Battalion and the 442nd unit was set up, he was placed there, he was very glad to be with them. And he was sent to the European front and spent all of his, the rest of his military time in Europe.

AL: We will definitely talk about the 442nd, I know your husband was also in that and lost his brother. But I just wanted to have an idea of who... when you moved into your barrack at Manzanar, was it just your family or did you live with another family?

RT: Well, the barracks room was about twenty by twenty-five feet, you know, there were four units to a hundred by twenty-five foot building. And if you had six people, they considered that a family, and we were all placed in that one room, so we didn't have to share it with another family. If you had a smaller family, you would have to share it with another smaller family. And if you had a huge family, then you may have, use two rooms. But we were just about the right size for one room.

AL: When your dad came back to join you, were you already, how long had you been there?

RT: Oh, it wasn't very long, maybe a couple of weeks or so.

AL: Did you notice any changes in him?

RT: No. He was subdued, but I didn't see that it had any bad, you know, there wasn't a real huge change. He was very grateful for what Captain Williams did in securing his release. So I think he was very good with that, and grateful.

AL: He was very fortunate. Did you or your family remain in contact with Captain Williams? Did he ever come visit you at Manzanar?

RT: No, he never came to visit us in Manzanar, but once we got out, I think he came out to visit the family out in Colorado. And he did come and visit, I think he visited me in Denver once.