<Begin Segment 11>

RP: What struck you about the camp in the first days you were there? What made a lasting impression on you?

FH: It was horrible.

RP: Just the whole atmosphere.

FH: Thing was horrible. We didn't get adjusted to the food. We had these horrible things that, they were a pan like this. There was a handle that went over like this and the handle came out like this and you had to lock it in some way, hold it, and if you didn't do that the food fell down. It was aluminum. It's a GI thing, okay. It's a GI thing. And the cups were that awful oval looking shape with a handle that came down like this and you had to go like this and hook it up and hang onto it because you couldn't take anything hot, otherwise the aluminum thing was so hot. And if you didn't put that on right that thing fell like this and the whole thing fell. Until you got used to it. The food was not the kind of food that we thought camp would have. You know, camping, barbeque hotdogs and hamburgers. No, a can of spinach and yucks.

RP: Vienna sausage.

FH: And then they had, yeah, and they had tongue. They didn't know how to cook tongue. Tongue was horrible. Tough. Shoe leather. And the bathrooms were no privacy at all. I'm sure you heard that. No privacy at all. It was embarrassing. But we managed. We, you do what you have to do. And we all managed. It's a thing you talk about now, I guess. I don't think I want to do it again, though. But it, with time everything got better. Everybody pitched in and we, everybody did their thing and we got the place looking like it was livable. And we lived there. I lived there three years.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.