<Begin Segment 23>

AL: Were you surprised when you came to Manzanar and we knew who you were?

GW: Yeah. [Laughs] I really was. But I was interested in finding you, because I read the book The Children of Manzanar. My daughter Lisa sent it to me. She said, there's a quote in there of you reading Jeanne's book, and that's what got you into, involved in all this Manzanar stuff. So when I went to Manzanar, I wanted to seek you out and see you, tell you what a wonderful thing you're doing.

AL: I think about, like I said in the book, about being there in the eighth grade, and before there was anything there, and just standing out at that sentry post, and I mean, even as a kid, my hair was standing on end, and it's almost like this vibration of the power of that place. And I think that's what... and I mean, I'm not the only one on the staff who feels that, it's just something special about it, even though it's a place of pain and misery and so many things people went through.

GW: You know what I attribute that to? The Indian reservation that was there. Because when I was there when I was a kid, when the windstorm come up, there was one tree, big tree there, that they used to tell stories about the Indians, and you see these Indian ghosts around that tree. And I remember going by that tree and feeling all creepy and stuff, and almost feel that spirit of the Indians around there. And here I was ten, twelve years old, I didn't know nothing about that, but you could feel it. And one of the favorite things I liked to do was when the wind was blowing, go out in the sandstorm and stand in the sand breaks and look for arrowheads.

AL: Do you have any left?

GW: I used to. But when we got out of camp and we moved to Long Beach, we had to put a lot of stuff in storage. You don't pay storage, well, they get rid of it. I had all my arrowheads and all my souvenirs from Manzanar in that place.

AL: You know, there are burials there. We don't advertise that, but there are... yeah.

GW: I wouldn't doubt it. You can feel that spirit. I believe in that kind of stuff.

AL: Are there any things that you wanted to share that I didn't know to ask you about or think to ask you about, or just anything you'd like to... we still have some time left on your half hour. Anything that you'd like to share with us?

GW: There's nothing that I can say other than the fact that I'm very grateful for what you're doing. Because when I'm gone, my kids will be able to talk about it and see it, and I hope you keep it up, I hope it doesn't go on the wayside.

AL: Do you think you'll come back to the reunion next year if there is one?

GW: If there's going to be one, I'll be back, if I'm alive. Because I'm getting old, too. [Laughs] When I see all these guys at the reunion, not too many that I remember. In fact, you ever met Sam? He remembers me, but for the life of us, I can't remember him. And we used to go out and play together.

AL: Do you think... well, you said your sister Martha, that her memory's gone. Your sister Eleanor, do you think she would ever be willing to consider doing an interview?

GW: I was trying to get her to come, to come to Manzanar, but she might, if she's living next year, maybe I can drag her down.

AL: Or we also sometimes take trips and go to people's houses and talk with them if they're interested. I know it was a little pulling teeth on my part and a lot of shoving on Charlotte's part to get you to do this. It wasn't so bad, was it?

GW: No. I can't believe how... holy mackerel, it's four o'clock, I've been talking this long.

AL: What has it been like to talk about it?

GW: I don't know. It makes me think more now about Manzanar. I sort of forgot about it over the years. And I'm grateful that I'm alive enough to come for this reunion and see things. But this is part of my life, an important part of my life. Glad I came.

AL: What do you think Woody would think to know his granddaughter's working at Tule Lake?

GW: You know, even I'm surprised. I didn't know that she was working up there, and we just saw her this week, and Hanako says she was, her friend is going to be down there instead of her. So now her family is going to be more tied in with this stuff, with Manzanar stuff. And by rights they should. All the family should, I think the Wakatsuki clan should look into more, look at Manzanar. It's part of their heritage.

AL: And you know, she has the... as I was mentioning last night, she has the case files for Bill and Tomi and Woody and Chizu, Ray. I don't think she has everybody's, but...

GW: She sent these down, right?

AL: Yeah, she went me those and I printed them. You know, like Tomi's has a lot of medical stuff, and so I thought it's up to you if you want to get them from her. Because these records, we never know, we the Park Service don't get them, only families can get them. And so the only ones we have are the ones that people have shared with us. And so Hanako knows I have an interest, and I correspond with Jeanne, and so she had sent them to me back in May. I think it might have -- so it was after I met you, because I wrote to her and Jeanne, I said, "Guess who was here?"

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.