<Begin Segment 14>

JA: Another thing about Pearl Harbor. What, what do you think were the feelings of Americans when that happened and the experience --

GI: Well, my personal feeling about the Pearl Harbor is that I don't blame the Americans for feeling bitter towards the Japanese or even towards us American citizens because we looked like the enemy. But I always bring up one point, but did you ever stop to think about all the families that suffered through that killing and bombing in Pearl Harbor. I mean, you have to feel, have some, a lot of strong feelings for those people. I felt sorry for them. But there's not much I can do about it. I can feel sorry for them, but that's about it. But I shouldn't -- that's, I think that's what brought on the whole evacuation anyway. They just hurried that thing because there was too much hatred. We couldn't get a job, you know, even after Pearl Harbor, I mean, we couldn't get a job and we had, most of us Nisei were waiting in the unemployment line getting our unemployment checks. I remember that, because there were no jobs available. The only jobs that were available were, you were gonna either be a gardener or you're gonna work in a fruit stand. And that was, as far as I'm concerned, that was about the extent of it. I know I was gardening 'til, until evacuation. I worked in a flower shop, too, for $15 a week, twelve hours a day, six days a week.

JA: Better pay than you got at Manzanar.

GI: Oh, yeah. [Laughs] Manzanar, don't forget, I, I had free board and room there.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2002 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.