Prisoners of War in New Mexico Agriculture
Abstract of Interview
CONSULTANT:
Petra Estrada
TAPE NUMBER: RG2000-075
DATE
OF BIRTH: April 3, 1928
SEX:
Female
DATE(S)
OF INTERVIEW: July 11, 2000
LOCATION
OF INTERVIEW: Pressler residence, Lordsburg, New Mexico
INTERVIEWER:
Mollie Pressler
SOURCE
OF INTERVIEW: NMF&RHM__x___OTHER_________
TRANSCRIBED: YES__x_____
NO_______
NUMBER
OF TAPES: One
ABSTRACTOR:
Sylvia Wheeler
DATE
ABSTRACTED: April 20, 2001
QUALITY
OF RECORDING (SPECIFY): Good
SCOPE
AND CONTENT NOTE: Describes activities of prisoners of war at Camp Lordsburg.
DATE
RANGE: 1940-2000
TAPE
ONE, SIDE A:
Petra
Estrada’s family moved from Columbus, New Mexico, to Lordsburg. Prior to their
living in Columbus they had lived in Mexico.
Her parents ran the Green and White tourist camp in Lordsburg during World War II. Many soldiers or their wives came through and rented there. A camp for Japanese internees had been built just outside Lordsburg. She recalls a visit made by the Japanese internees to her school during which they explained bonsai tree cultivation.
(Eventually
the camp was utilized as a prisoner of war camp.) Italian POWs also visited the
school, singing opera. German POWs
visited and explained their art. While
students knew the POWs were enemies, they were young and unafraid.
The POWs also seemed to accept their status and did not act angry.
She saw an arts and crafts fair in town where prisoners displayed their
crafts, and their diaries of daily activities.
She felt that the POWs were well treated and wondered about her brother
and cousin fighting in Europe and the status of POWs over there.
Later,
her young husband joined the navy, and was serving on the USS Missouri (earlier
the USS North Carolina) in Guam when the Enola Gay dropped the bomb on Japan.
She
recalls learning to knit wool scarves of different colors: olive green, white,
and navy for U.S. soldiers. The colors indicated the area in which the soldiers
were fighting. She remembers saving
scrap metal, turning in grease, and rationing.
Everybody pulled together during that time, she says.
She recalls being given a small bag with oranges, or raisins in it, to have in case they had to go downstairs during a raid. She also remembers hearing the camp sirens in case of trouble there. Growing up during the war was interesting, she feels.
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