<Begin Segment 6>

KL: So back to Santa Anita, you'd mentioned the mess halls, and I asked you about your living quarters. Are there other places that you remember spending time in Santa Anita?

JW: Well, we worked... we had to work. Well, I don't know if you had to, but I worked in the camouflage nets. That was kind of weird, too, because here we were making camouflage nets, weaving 'em in and out, and they were being sent where needed overseas. And yet we were in camp. We were doing things for the United States Army, service, but we kind of laughed about it then.

KL: You did? At seventeen it struck you as...

JW: Yeah, and there were quite a few people from other parts of California that were working on the nets, and got to know them, got to become good friends, joked with each other, and that was kind of fun.

KL: How would you describe that... you kind of raised an interesting point about, kind of joking about that contrast of your being confined in Santa Anita and you're supporting the U.S. war effort. And it makes me wonder kind of what people's mood was in Santa Anita and also how they coped with this situation.

JW: I don't know. We joked about that, us girls, about four or five of us, we joked about that, said, "What are we doing here weaving these nets?" I don't know how the others felt, but we joked about that.

KL: How did your parents react to being in Santa Anita?

JW: Well, I don't know. They didn't have anything to do, for one thing. Of course, my dad, he loved to play the Japanese chess, the go and all that. So that's what he did all day in Santa Anita, is find someone to play with. He seemed to... I don't know, I guess I really don't know how they felt. You know, that's one thing, they never were outspoken, they never said much. They never seemed to gripe either, you know, I think they would have griped, but they never griped much.

KL: How did your mom spend her days in Santa Anita?

JW: She knitted a lot. She loved to knit and crochet. I think that's probably what she did. You know, I can't remember whether she had attended any classes, I'm sure they had... I'm sure they had some classes there, too.

KL: It was a library, and there were classes. I think it was even in Santa Anita where there were some art classes.

JW: Yeah, she wasn't much of painting or anything. I know there were a lot of classes in Rohwer, but I don't know if you say there were, but I don't know. I'm sure there were, art classes and stuff like that. That was so many years ago.

KL: Did people date in Santa Anita?

JW: Did they what?

KL: Did they date?

JW: Yeah, I had several boyfriends, yeah.

KL: What was that like?

JW: I don't know, you had your parents there. No, I just walked around, I guess that's what it was, or go to a movie or something. Or go to a baseball game. I think they had dances, but you know, I never did go to any of the dances. I'm sure they had in Santa Anita, but my dad was a big protector. I mean I remember one fellow would come to the house and we'd sit outdoors, and every once in a while the curtains would go this way and Frank would say, "Uh-oh, your dad's watching." And he says, "Oh boy, that's the third time, I think I'd better go home." [Laughs] It's kind of funny, yeah, so he'd go home. For us it was just being friends, having fun together.

KL: That was in Santa Anita or that was at your home?

JW: No, that was in Santa Anita.

KL: Did you have any visitors in Santa Anita from the outside?

JW: Yeah, we had the Jones'. We had a dear friend who lived in Sawtelle, and she was ready to have, to give birth. And so she couldn't travel to Manzanar, she lived in West L.A. So she came over to Santa Anita and had her baby there. And she had, the Jones' were very devoted people, a couple, and they came to visit us. Of course, I think they came to visit her because they were her best friends. But we knew them too, so we visited with them.

KL: Were they able to come inside?

JW: Yeah. No, they came inside, they had special passes. They mainly came to see Yaeno, so they got in. And she would always bring some goodies or something like that. But other than that, no, we never had any visitors, not that I can remember.

KL: I'm trying to move us along so you can make your engagement tonight, but are there things that you recall about, other things that you recall about Santa Anita that you think are important to record?

JW: No, I don't. I remember we enjoyed the games that they had, sports-wise. Yeah, we did have those, and we'd go out there and cheer. That was nice.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.