<Begin Segment 23>

RM: They used to have half-tracks with the machine gun on top, you know, traveling around the...

RP: Oh, half-tracks. You mean like a...

RM: Yeah.

RP: Okay. With machine guns?

RM: Yeah.

RP: Was this after the riot, or...

RM: Yeah. They wasn't there before.

RP: There were a number of soldiers that were patrolling the camp.

KP: So, the half-tracks weren't there until after the riot?

RM: After.

RP: They came in after?

RM: Yeah. They got there after, I think. We got to see 'em during the day. They would travel around.

KP: So what did you, what did you think of that?

RM: Nobody said anything. They got guns, we ain't got guns. [Laughs]

RP: Well, you got a holiday, too, because they closed down the schools for a couple weeks at least. But to get back to your, back to the dojo, you started with this humble little setup of sawdust-covered canvas platform. And then how, how was this, this newer building financed and funded? I mean who, where --

RM: Donations.

RP: From where?

RM: All over. All over people, from the people.

RP: From the camp?

RM: Yes. I think that when they sold the building, as I understood, it was about $600 for the building, and they put it in the, one of the associations. I'm not sure which one. Nanka or I'm not sure. It was Nanka or so what.

RP: Uh-huh. Was there any help from the dojos outside that were still operating in Los Angeles?

RM: No. They didn't know nothing about it.

RP: They came, the money came from the people in the camp?

RM: Yeah.

RP: judo enthusiasts and...

RM: Yeah, well, they would, it was a way of living at that time. judo, farming guys, and flower growers, anybody, it was a sport then.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.