Wase Time!

Wase Time! is an autobiography of my teen age years in Gila River Internment Center Arizona. I tell my story in the first person and I include much of the humor and conversation that was popular at that time. My story begins with the aftermath of Sunday December 7 1941. On Monday the 8th I was relieved of my 6th grade job raising the American flag. On March 28 1942 my family and I moved to Del Rey California which was in the Free Zone. In July we were told all those of Japanese ancestry would have to leave California. On August 6 we were evacuated to Gila except for my mom who was 8 months pregnant. Gila was a big center made up of two camps: camp 1 (Canal) and camp 2 (Butte). We lived briefly in Canal then moved to Butte because of my dad's job. I made friends with my neighbors and Hank introduced me to many youth who were from the French Camp/Stockton area. I became a member of the Ramblers a team which played may sports and we won the championship of the Southwestern Football League in 1943-44. Other happy memories were my mom and sister's arrival from Fresno Assembly Center movie night the warehouse gang the Boy Scouts and my getting a response to a fan letter that I wrote to Maureen O'Hara. Sad memories include Hank's departure to Tule Lake Relocation Center my being called a nigger and what I did with the letter and photos of Maureen O'Hara. On March 28 1945 my grandfather and I left Gila to go to Chicago Illinois to visit relatives. I was send out of camp for being an unsavory character according to my mom. On the train ride I thought of all my experiences in camp. Was being in camp wase time?