<Begin Segment 18>

LP: How did the experience of being at Manzanar and Tule Lake and in general, just the World War II period, how did that impact you as a person and the rest of your life, and what kind of...

MW: You know, the one thing that I used to tell my children and everything, the one thing that I wanted them to do is to be fair. It doesn't matter what color they are, it doesn't matter what religion, doesn't matter what race they are, but be fair. Always try to be fair, it doesn't matter what it is you're going to do or you're not going to do, but be fair about it. I said that's the one thing that I think was lacking. And because anybody else, you had to be American Indian or whoever it is to be born here, you're all from somewhere else. Why not be fair with it? This is what I think... the main thing I wanted to teach my children was that, and not to discriminate. Just because the color of the skin is different doesn't mean a thing. I said, "Take that person individually and assess that way without going by the clothes, the color, none of that matters, it really doesn't." So now they have so many different people from different countries. But still, that goes to anyone, it doesn't matter what. To me, that's the only fair thing. So that to me is the most important thing.

LP: Was there anything, Kristen, that you wanted to add? Is there anything that you had wanted to bring up that you didn't, or is there anything you...

MW: No, time certainly goes fast. [Laughs]

KL: Thank you so much.

LP: Yeah, thank you.

MW: Oh, they really go so fast, it's amazing. And I'm surprised that they want to go into this much detail at this late stage. And I have a friend that he refused to go in the service because his parents were in camp. And he got thrown into jail and all that, but he's a brilliant guy, his father was a judo teacher, and my mother used to... his wife happened to be my mother's classmate in school. Can you imagine way back then? It's a weird way how it came about, and I said, my gosh. So one of my girlfriends that was in the same block with me, Ruth Saitow, that was her maiden name, and spell it, S-A-I-T-O-W, Saitow. Well, what it is, she lived in the back house, her and her sister, and they had older parents. So I would go to see the people in the front (house) with judo teacher, they had just that one son. And so I would go play with those girls, and that's how I knew (them). But then they were in the same block as I was (in Manzanar), so it was real interesting.

LP: Was that at Tule Lake or at Manzanar?

MW: No, Manzanar. I don't remember Tule Lake. Tule Lake was not... I guess because it's not something you were first, when you first went, that's the biggest surprise of all, because you had no idea what to expect. Well, I had no idea in Tule either. I didn't like Tule in the sense that they were not friendly people. I guess I'm getting older, too, I must have been eighteen by then. Well, I was eighteen. And it was just, when was Tule? When did the people, did they get from other camps, do you remember?

KL: We can show you because I've printed out a lot of documents, the roster.

LP: Yeah, it was in late '43.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2014 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.