<Begin Segment 23>

RP: Tak, were you, were you around the camp when the so-called "riot" broke out?

TM: Uh-huh.

RP: And can you tell us what you remember about it and your reaction to it?

TM: Well, I was there, I was watching it. Mostly Kibeis, they were involved. And they were attacked... well, they were kind of attacking the guards and I guess the guards couldn't do nothing about it. So, I guess they shot a few people, huh? And I was way in the back side there watching it.

RP: You were watching it?

TM: Yeah. I kinda saw the whole thing, yeah.

KP: So, how many, how many guards do you think started shooting? Did you, were you, did you notice that at all?

TM: Why? Why did they start shooting?

KP: How many do you think were shooting?

TM: Well, there were quite a few of 'em. They were all lined up. Because there was a mass of people there.

RP: How far away were you from the scene?

TM: Oh, I would say about... maybe 50 feet.

RP: Not very far.

TM: Yeah.

KP: Was there any tear gas used?

TM: I don't remember that. Yeah, I don't remember any tear gas.

RP: Do you recall what the crowd... was the crowd chanting or yelling at the...

TM: Oh, yeah, they were yelling, yeah.

RP: Do you remember anything specifically that they said to the MPs or...

TM: What, what information do you have as far as that "riot," what caused it?

KP: Not very much.

RP: Well, the other...

KP: A lotta different stories.

TM: Oh.

RP: Some political tensions between JACL and the Kibei.

TM: Oh. That was one, but the main reason the "riot" was because of the, I think the administration was, some of the administration was...

RP: Black marketing...

TM: Yeah.

RP: Sugar and...

TM: Yeah, right.

RP: Did you --

TM: I think that had to do a lot with it.

RP: Do you believe that that was the case?

TM: Uh-huh.

RP: There were... administration people were doing that?

TM: Yeah, because I had friends that were working on, at Manzanar on the, on the delivery truck, on the food delivery. And, and they, they had access to the, the meat, steaks and all that. And they had preference to their, to the product. They were eating good, these guys that were working on the food truck. [Laughs]

RP: So you think maybe they were also siphoning off some things, too?

TM: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

RP: But they blamed it on the administration?

TM: [Laughs]

RP: One lady said to us, she said, "You know, It wasn't the administrators that were stealing the sugar, it was those Issei cooks who were using the sugar to, to distill certain alcoholic products." So... there's a lot of different versions and takes on the...

TM: Yeah.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright (c) 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.