<Begin Segment 21>

RP: This is tape three of a continuing interview with Kinge Okauchi. And Kinge, you were just describing to us the beauties of the night at this camp that you were, you know, higher up off the desert floor, and you didn't have the lights or anything else. What else do you recall about your experience up there?

KO: Well, the camp site was located such that we got a very good view of Sevier Lake, that dry lake to the south of us. So for city kids, which was most of these kids there, all this open space was something remarkable for them, especially that dry lake bed that stretched for miles. Although they got their fill of driving up to the camp site, the view from the camp site was pretty good, and they enjoyed that. And the walks they got in the hills, they got a kick out of that. Because there were all sorts of little critters that would show up when the, a whole bunch of kids come down the hill, the little critters would run like hell, and the kids would try to chase 'em, of course, and they never catch 'em. And then we did have a few hikes up the, up toward the mountain, but that was the exception to the rule. They always had to be organized for that one, made sure there was one or two adults that went with 'em to make sure that they were, didn't go get lost or anything. Keep track of the kids. Fortunately, we didn't lose anybody.

RP: I was going to say, if there were any lost kids or...

KO: The usual bumped toes and skinned knees and stuff, and that was about it. And, of course, the typical fights between kids, that was broken up usually, so that was no problem.

RP: Were there any situations where you actually had groups of adult internees from Topaz, or was this primarily just kids?

KO: These were almost all kids.

RP: Also, were there any people, administration people from the camp that showed up?

KO: Yeah, once in a while they would come up and check over the area to see that the situation was essentially... not under control, but simply that the place was not breaking down or anything. Make sure that we had the necessary supplies and stuff. But there was almost very little of that, 'cause it was pretty much a self-contained operation, and we didn't have to worry about supplies. We got the standard supplies and stuff, except that they were tailored towards being out in the middle of nowhere instead of in a proper full-sized kitchen. And since most of these were kids, they didn't have to worry about the quantity to any great extent. Made sure that they had the proper stuff, and the quantities took care of themselves, more than enough quantities. Kids eat pretty well. And kids being what they are, they didn't really notice what the greasy stew was all about, as long as it was there. [Laughs]

RP: After a day of hiking and activities, you know, anything tastes pretty good.

KO: All we had to do was make sure that they, they washed themselves properly in the evenings and stuff.

RP: Were there any particular kids that you recall that, that you kind of took a liking to or that impressed you?

KO: Not particularly, no. I was sort of slightly detached from the groups as such. The groups took care of themselves, mostly. I just sort of acted as a number two honcho around there, made sure things went the way they were supposed to go. Let the group leaders take care of their kids.

RP: You were about, what, twenty, twenty-one?

KO: Something like that, yeah. So that worked out pretty well. I just made sure that, helped make sure that the group leaders knew where things could be gotten, how things could be arranged if they needed it. So I acted more like a contact for the supply chain, you might call it.

RP: Were you responsible for closing up the camp at the end of the season, too?

KO: To a certain extent, yeah. We just broke down the camp and made sure that the fires were out in the cookstove, and just sat there. If they ever needed it, I guess they went up and got it, but we left it for the next year.

RP: Left all the sleeping bags and the tents and everything?

KO: Yeah, all the supplies and stuff were packed up and ready to take back. Tents were... the nice thing about it is that most of that kind of stuff was done by the kids. And the last group of kids made sure that... each group that came out there would pack up their own pup tents and stuff and leave it like it was going to be packed off. So all we had to do was make sure that got loaded.

RP: Like you said, most of these kids were city kids, and had probably very little experience in nature. So this was, for many of them, probably, their first experience camping.

KO: Except for the Boy Scout groups, they almost had no camping experience. And especially the little kids, none of them anything other than... in fact, the typical camp problem, some of these kids got homesick. [Laughs] But since they had all sorts of other people with them, then it wasn't too bad. Kept them occupied during the day. It didn't take long for them to get used to all this. But once in a while, we would have a homesick kid. Fortunately, I didn't have to worry about that. Their group leaders had to worry about that.

RP: What was it like for you to be out of camp for two or three months?

KO: Well, that was the real relaxing camp site, the outdoor camp.

RP: Did you camp very much as a kid?

KO: Oh, yeah. I would spend a fair amount of time camping. Not to any great extent, but often enough that I could work my own way around the camps and stuff. Pitched my own tent, you might call, that's about it.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.