<Begin Segment 18>

MN: And so the kids are coming, you're running your father's business, but then you quit in '62 and then you moved back to Los Angeles and you're working for the Los Angeles County Public Health Department, is that right?

IH: That's correct. I had to find a job, so I got a job as a health education assistant, working in the Watts community.

MN: And you were in the Watts community when the riots happened in '65. What was that like?

IH: Well, it was a terrible time for that community because I could see it coming. And when it did happen, it was so devastating that... and you could understand the feelings in the community, the way they methodically went about burning down certain businesses that were exploiting those people for many years. And, of course, the police, their attitudes toward the black people were terrible for many years. Public relations was awful. But having worked in the public health sector, I got to know a lot of the local leaders, people, community people, and they were all good, understanding people, and appreciated what the public health system was trying to do. We undertook a program of immunizations for the kids. So there was no damage or harm directed toward the public health clinic there. I guess I understand why... it was an eye-opener, but not unexpected.

MN: Now after the Watts riot occurred, though, did your wife ask you to quit working in that area?

IH: No. I worked for, I think it's... I must have done that for another year. But I did get another job, I don't know why, in Hollywood. Worked for Unemployment Insurance for a year.

MN: And what kind of people were you interacting with?

IH: Well, I worked in the Hollywood office where people in the entertainment industry would come by and get their checks. You had to work at the window, you had to interview them, and then you approve their checks. But it was an interesting experience because... well, first of all, we learned something about actors and actresses and how vain they are. [Laughs] Interesting people.

MN: Are you free to name any names, actors and actresses you met?

IH: Yeah, I remember... I don't recall the lady's name, but well-known actress. When I told her that, "I loved you," in this certain film, she'd just glow with flattery, getting such flattery. They're so vain, they love to be... especially if they're sort of, you might say, has-beens, living in the past, the glories of the past. But some actors and actresses, their character is quite different than what's portrayed on the screen. They're not easy people to talk to.

MN: Now how did you get involved with the foreign service?

IH: Oh, yeah. That was quite an accident. I think, just a newspaper article shortly after the beginning of the Vietnam War, and recruiting people for the State Department. And I said, "Well, looks interesting." So I followed up on it and went down and had an interview, I guess it was at the Biltmore Hotel, with a recruiter. Usually a well-known, a seasoned foreign service officer that knew a lot about the service and the kind of people he was looking for. He interviewed me and then he set me up for a series of interviews in Washington.

MN: And you got the job.

IH: Uh-huh.

MN: So once you got the job, did you have to move to Washington?

IH: Just for a period of weeks for that orientation. I don't know how long I was there, maybe a couple weeks.

MN: And then you go to this orientation, and then you were sharing that you had to go through a training, is it six months of training?

IH: Yeah, well, at that time, they were recruiting for Vietnam, specifically, so I was to be assigned to Vietnam. So I started a language training program, but that took place really, they selected Hawaii as the place for that, 'cause they felt that being in the environment in Hawaii would make the transition a little easier from living in a typical American community. So we did, spent six months, I believe, intensive language training, every day, learning Vietnamese language, the different dialects. Also learning about the... we had a number of guest speakers that talked about Vietnam, the war, the culture, number of things, political aspects of it. So, theoretically, we were pretty well versed in what we were getting into. But some of that training, the last two months that I recall, we moved the training over to the Big Island of Hawaii and lived in an actual sugar plantation town, a little village that was abandoned, you might say. So we lived in actual shacks, these were literally shacks. They were built up on stilts, we had chickens below. The chickens were still there, and you could see the chickens through the cracks in the floor. [Laughs] Anyway, so we, there again it's supposed to make your transition to Vietnam, but that wasn't the case. Anyway, it was an interesting experience.

MN: And these people that you were training with, were they also Asian Americans?

IH: Oh, no. Most of... again, seventy-five percent were Caucasian, maybe five, ten percent were Latinos. Blacks, we did have several, maybe ten percent black, African American, so we had pretty much across the board.

MN: Did people expect you to know a little bit more just because you had an Asian face?

IH: Yeah, I guess they did. I never really emphasized that. I did have a remark once from a seasoned foreign service officer, and I think a lot of Japanese Americans have had this same question asked, said, "You speak English very well." And I said, "Yes, I believe I do." And I was rather surprised, because this guy was a veteran, and to have him not know that, not know that I was born and raised in the United States, to me, really surprised me to hear that. Anyway, yeah, I think it was good training, prepared, 'cause we all worked in the provinces, and we had to use the language every day.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.