<Begin Segment 28>

RP: You were just talking about visiting Lone Pine and Independence a few years ago and how they, those communities had changed. What were your, I'm curious to know what your impressions were of those two towns when you were at camp Manzanar?

RD: To me, I would have never recognized it because, like I remember this time, part of town, there was a bar there, and didn't seem like there was much in that town, you know, and they were in the middle of, on the other side, on the right-hand side going through down there was a liquor store down there. And I can remember that and I couldn't recognize anything there. And even in Independence, I didn't recognize nothing, that one little place that we used to meet, that wasn't there, and the town had grown up, pretty good-sized town there. And I didn't recognize anything except for, like I said, we went to camp Manzanar, and after we got to driving around in there, I kind of recalled some of the places and stuff. But there was actually nothing left there.

RP: What were your impressions of the people in those towns? Did you get to meet a lot of folks?

RD: Oh, yeah. The ones I met were the ones in the bar there, you know, but they were all pretty nice. They all treated us real nice, especially down there, town of Independence, we never ran into too many other people there except the one guy that took care of that social house or whatever it was. Met some people there, and we went to the restaurant across the street there, a little, small restaurant there, we visited there and had something to eat once in a while. But outside of Independence, we didn't meet too many people there, neither. But heck, I'd venture to say that there wasn't... I wouldn't think there'd be five hundred people or so in that town, it seemed like to me, you know, at that time, or a thousand people. And I don't remember what the population in... Lone Pine was. It was a lot bigger, it was ten times bigger than what, what Independence was.

RP: Russell, from your conversations at the bar or everywhere else in town there, did you get any ideas of what local people's attitude was towards the camp Japanese Americans?

RD: Not really. I mean, they were all glad to see us, they knew, you know, that, what was going on and everything. And like I said, when they were there making a movie or something there, the extras came to town and we got a free ride in there. But we got along with the people real well, and they were all friendly in there. The only problem I had, like I said, when we snuck down to Bishop, California, I went in the bar there and ordered a beer. He says, "How old are you?" I said, "I'm old enough." He says, "You've got to be twenty-one to drink in here." "Hey," I said, "if I'm old enough to go fight for your war, I'm old enough to come in here and get a beer." We got in a hell of an argument so I finally had to leave. He wouldn't serve me.

RP: That was the only time that happened?

RD: Yeah. Only time I ever went into a bar and got turned down, some guy down there in Bishop. I know we had a, when I was at Barnes General Hospital, we were there at Vancouver, and just across the bay was Portland. Well, in Vancouver, you went in a bar there, unless there was a seat, you couldn't get served unless you'd sit down. So we got a liquor license in Vancouver and went over to Lone Pine and filed for one over there, and they wanted proof of my age. So he called the hospital and he talked to the major. He says, "Anybody that comes in this hospital is twenty-one years or older. If they come in, if they want a liquor license, you give it to 'em." I just wanted to buy a bottle. It was rationed once a month. There was some little old lady in Vancouver there, us guys were from the hospital, she'd give us an extra bottle or two every month, punch our same hole in the card, you had a punch card. It was all together over in Portland. You could lay on the floor and drink over there. But as far as the bars went, you had to bring your own bottle and check it in and buy it back. They furnished the mix and the ice, and we had to pay fifty cents or a dollar for your drink. And everybody had to... all liquor was rationed up there, so it wasn't like you're down here in California, you could buy it anyplace you wanted to.

<End Segment 28> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.