<Begin Segment 25>

RP: Leo, you said you were in the army for a time, and what did you do with your life after the army?

LU: Oh, you know, they had the GI Bill at the time, so I started to take auto mechanic at the Santa Monica Technical School. And, well, going to the mechanics school, during coffee break and stuff, I got to know this welding instructor. Joking around, and got to know him pretty good, and he persuaded me to, he said, "You better come into welding. You don't want to be a grease monkey all your life." So I, somewhere, I did change. So I changed to welding. And I guess I took for about a year and a half, and I got certified. And so I got certified in the structural welding. So I worked in the... structural fabricating shop, and I worked in the shop for about ten years, I guess, and then it was the first time that the, you know, I belonged to the union. And went on strike, so while on strike, I started to look around for the other jobs. And the Water and Power department and the L.A. City School had an exam, so I took the test for both, and I passed the test for the L.A. school system. So I got a job as a maintenance welder for the school. So I guess I worked for the school until I retired. It was a pretty good deal.

RP: Did you also get married?

LU: Yes. After I came out of the army, I went to school, and then it was after I started to work that I got married.

RP: Now, did your wives have camp experiences, too? I'm just assuming they were Japanese American.

LU: Yeah. My wife was in Poston. I don't know where...

GU: I think she was in Poston, too, wasn't she?

LU: Yeah, Poston had, I think, three camps, I, II, III.

GU: You know, I could never get straight in my mind which camp Frances was in. I think it was in Arizona.

<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.