<Begin Segment 18>

DG: So now you're married and your husband, did he have a practice?

MH: Yes. It was in Los Angeles, a dentist.

DG: On Sawtelle?

MH: Yes. And Sawtelle people is USC group. All the store men and shop, they have a shop and those people all graduated USC and then doctors, too. So when we went to the camp, first time such a good recommendation, whole town is Dr. Homma. That's what they said.

DG: So was it a mostly white community along Sawtelle?

MH: Some Japanese, yes. Those people are most Japanese gardener.

DG: Okay. And where did you live?

MH: Sawtelle.

DG: Next to the office?

MH: No, this office is a town, Santa Monica Boulevard. My right side lady is college, let me see... Spanish teacher at the college, and then my next door is a Japanese, Japanese school, language school teacher. And then the next door is a psychology professor at the college, and then they had bulldog, cute dog. Morning he ate the breakfast, comes to our yard, and play with the children because my children, three children, and then across the street and then back door, the children all comes to play in our yard.

BF: So it was a mixed neighborhood, a lot of, racially mixed neighborhood.

MH: Yes.

BF: And sounds like everyone was very friendly if the dog...

MH: But the war start, somebody killed the dog. A few days dog isn't coming so I went there and asked what happened to the bulldog and somebody kill, gave it poison. Oh, she was mad.

BF: And she thought it was because the dog would visit the Japanese families?

MH: That's what I... otherwise don't have to kill. And then we found out across the street person is FBI. And then one patient came to six month, man was also FBI checking my husband.

DG: In your husband's office? Right, one of the patients.

MH: So my husband was out of state.

DG: Right. So he didn't have to go early like a lot of the professional people.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.