<Begin Segment 11>

RP: I want to go back a little bit into your early education, grammar school. What are your, any vivid memories you have of going to school in Platteville?

AW: I suppose the thing that stuck out the most was when the war came on. Before the war, my friends were Caucasian, and we, I never thought of myself as being different in terms of racial bias situation. But when the war started, there was a young boy who had a knack of getting a group of other boys together, and coming up and said, "Alley's a Jap," and then this would start a fight, physical fight. And I, initially, I fought and then my mother said to ignore them, but that was not possible. This went on almost every day. And so this I remember, that there was no one else that really supported me. And then I think at that time, there were people of Japanese ancestry, but I know that the brother above me, Andrew, and I, had problems with other people. More than teasing, just badgering because we were of different color. So that I do remember as something that went through in the grade school in Platteville.

RP: So there was a really distinct change in the behavior...

AW: Right, right.

RP: Because I think you mentioned how your father coming to class, and did you feel part of the community before the war?

AW: Yes, right. Right. I think my father helping, bringing things to school, and when I think back about it maybe the daughter-in-law of the landlord where we stayed at was a teacher at school. Things of this nature probably helped. So we were well-integrated within the community. So we, we were just part of the community.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.