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My name is a Dollfus Beckles. I was born in the Panama Canal Zone in the city of Rick Tank. I lived there for about four years and we moved through the city of Paris. So in the canals Oh, where I lived the entire my entire life for 27 years.

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I went toe Paris high School. Uh, Paris, a secondary school, Paris A high school. I graduated in 1961 and I worked for the Navy as a, uh, accounting technician. Until I left for the United States. I would say that it probably was the one off the great wonders of this world.

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Um, I would call it the probably wonder of the world building of the Panama Canal, which, uh, transfers ships from the Pacific to the Atlantic and save as much as probably a day or two rather than going around the quit around South America life in the canal zone.

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I would say waas for me. A very a very enjoy. A very joyful time in that in our communities everyone knew everyone. If you came toe Parisot and acts anyone for someone they would know because we were so close knit the communities. The Panama Canal Zone symbolized to me in my home that was home to me.

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I was born in Canada Zone. I went to school in the canna zone. I was I worked in the canal zone. So to me, can a zone was my own, I would say probably some of the customs that we have in Panama. Oh, yes, the foods we brought with us, the foods and also of the custom off respect because in the canal zone are in the in Paris where we grew up.

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If you, uh, we're doing something wrong since everybody knew everyone by the time you got home, your parents would know, you know, that you were doing wrong and we were all taught to respect our elders, whoever they were. So our elders could tell us what to do.

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And we had to do it because they were held Er's and they got the permission from our appearance toe. Keep us in line. If memory I have is ah, one time we were not supposed thio go swimming and we went swimming and my father found out about it and he came looking for for me, and I was putting punishment for a week because I did something that I wasn't supposed to do.

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And I remember that very much. I would say it was a period of elation because, uh, the United States, in my opinion, did not use the Panama Canal as as as, uh, toe increase their economy or as a money making thing. So when did when the canal was turned over to Panama, they could use it as a economy of a way of, uh, of making money.

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So when the United States had the canal, there was no transit at night. Uh, no. That has the canal. They have changed it. The light put up lights so that they cannot can operate 24 hours. They and I was very pleased with that. Well, to me personally, um, I don't know whether it was a good idea for me personally because I, like I was born in canals.

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Um, I was raised in Kansas on went to school work, so I didn't have too much experience in the city of, But I my itself I would tell them that Panama is a great place, good place to live. Whether is good. Three only one of the main reason that I came to United States was because of employment.

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After I graduated, there wasn't that much, you know? Oh, jobs. So most of us that graduated in in the canal zone came to the States to either further our education or employment, I would say that we had a pretty good relationship with the, uh, angle Americans that you know are the whites, as we call them.

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We had a pretty good relationship relationship. There was no in the canal zone. There was no termer. You know, everybody was friendly with everybody. The only the only separation was that, uh when when I was small, there was a commissary in Bob, or Panamanians could not go to the commissary and Bob Oh, they had to go toe commissaries in Paris or Gamboa, one of the local, But then it changed, and they open it toe.

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Everybody that lived in the canal zone was privileged toe Use those facilities. My grand parents, you know, my grandfather were, you know, building the canal and way had, you know, we live in the canal zone, right? Of course it was separated by I would say, Americans and Panamanians because most Americans were white, but they were Afro American Panamanians.

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I mean, Afro Americans in Panama that lived among the Americans. And then the Panamanians lives on a separate in separate communities. I didn't see anything wrong with that because, you know, we all you know, intermingle We just didn't live in the same communities. I would say, um, as a Zuni in it was the only thing I knew of Amazonian was the American way, because that's what they taught us in school.

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And that's what we knew. And I would say that I am very happy for the United States because off myself personally, the United States United States taught me, schooled me, and they employed me after I got I got out of high school. So for the United States, it's like it's like I'm American and, uh, something I'd like to mention is that the the people are the Panamanian that lived on the canal zone.

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We were called zillions, and even the Panamanians called Zonen's. So that's why we were Zonen's. We were born there and grew up there, and some of us lived all our lives on the canal. So