<Begin Segment 19>

AL: When, when did you first hear about or think about Manzanar after the war?

AS: Well, that's when... the, the thing that opened up...'cause I did not tell my coworkers or friends about my background. It was only when that story broke open, with the Fox News and then the interview by the reporter, Renee.

AL: Okay.

AS: And the story appeared in, in the L.A. Times and I think in Orange County Times, Denver.

AL: Was this before or after the 60 Minutes special?

AS: This was, I believe, before.

AL: Uh-huh. How did they, how did they find you? Or find out about you?

AS: Good question.

AL: So you don't know. I mean they just... how somebody first approached you?

AS: Oh, Renee, from, from the L.A. Times interviewed me. Oh, and then those two girls from the Cal State Fullerton, they interviewed me.

AL: How did you feel the first time someone approached you and said they wanted to talk about it?

AS: I said, "Okay." Yeah, and then I started crying.

AL: That's understandable. Were you expecting the publicity that came?

AS: Uh-uh, no. No way.

AL: Would you have done it if you'd known that that was gonna open up your life as it has?

AS: Uh, I probably would have. The only thing is that, because it appeared in L.A. Times which is very widely read, I'm surprised that my father's family didn't recognize... because the name Shiraishi and then, and then my mother's name being Shiraishi, that they, they didn't connect. They probably didn't connect the two.

AL: Uh-huh. But your father's name is mentioned in the book, Twice Orphaned.

AS: Right. But when you had the oral history I just put "N/A" 'cause I didn't want it, I didn't want it appeared on internet or whatever, his name, full name.

AL: Right, right.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.