Description
Edward Carrasco was born in El Paso, Texas. He moved to Oakland when he was seventeen, in order to get a job in the Kaiser shipyards with his brother. While there he got a draft notice, but was deferred after a physical examination and later joined the Coast Guard. He tells of the Mexican American communities in El Paso and Oakland, reactions to the Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles, and socializing in the dance halls of Oakland. He remembers working as a driller in the Kaiser shipyards, meeting his wife at work, and the diversity that the shipyards brought together. Carrasco also discusses the dangers of work at the shipyards, playing dice on the train to Richmond, and reactions to the internment of Japanese Americans.