<Begin Segment 18>

RP: What type of work did you do? You mentioned clerical, but any specific work that you remember in the fiscal department? Did you type...

CH: Well, it was typing up all those vouchers, you know. And it had to be, it had to be done because we were fed by the government with all these awful food. [Laughs] Gosh, it was awful. Mutton, two thousand pounds of mutton, spread, of course, all... and that awful fish, what was that? I wouldn't eat it now. And then liver, we eat liver. And thanks to my cat, we had a little pet cat.

RP: You had a cat in camp?

CH: And they had liver for their meal, 'cause we won't eat it, so we'd give it to the cat. [Laughs]

RP: That was a very well-fed cat.

CH: Yes. And then after I worked in that department, I went into the accounting department, and took care of those huge books that had to be recorded. So that's where I became a nineteen dollar...

RP: You became a nineteen dollar professional?

CH: Yes. And that was very, very interesting work, you know.

RP: Who did you work under in accounting?

CH: That was Mr. Boczkiewicz, yeah. And then the head was Edwin Hooper.

RP: Now, did you work in the main administration building?

CH: Yes.

RP: That L-shaped building with the sidewalk leading up with the flagpole?

CH: Yes. Yeah, we had to walk, you know, from thirty to there, that's quite distance. I don't know, is that a square mile?

KP: You were walking close to a mile.

RP: Yes, and a mile back.

CH: it's nothing, I mean, what can you do? You don't have any cars. They had trucks, but you can't expect them to haul you.

RP: What did you think about the work that you were doing? Was it just filling kind of a productive role?

CH: Yes, I did, yeah.

RP: You had taken clerical courses and things in school?

CH: Oh, during that time, I think under Mr. Boscowitz, I took a leave of one hour to learn shorthand at the high school level, non credit. And that was so interesting, but I don't know if they use shorthand anymore. They don't, huh?

RP: Did you take other classes as well while you were in Manzanar?

CH: Yeah, I took an English class and I took a Japanese language class.

RP: You did?

CH: Yes.

RP: Where was that offered, the high school?

CH: This Dr. Ban, of Los Angeles.

RP: Dr. Ban?

CH: Yeah, Dr. Ban. I think he was a... he could have been a minister, a Methodist minister. But he taught Japanese language.

RP: Now, was that class geared to administration people, people who were working in the...

CH: No.

RP: Anybody can take that class.

CH: Anybody can, yes. And let's see, what else? Oh, I didn't have time to do anything else. I had to do my sports, you know.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.