<Begin Segment 17>

RP: So Sumi worked at the hospital.

MN: She worked as a...

RP: As a lab...

MN: Lab tech, lab technician.

RP: And your other sister --

MN: Rose.

RP: Rose Etsuko.

MN: Etsuko.

RP: -- also worked there as a shift nurse?

MN: She was working as a nurse's aide.

RP: And your other sister?

MN: Hisako, no, she's the one that had the brain damage.

RP: I'm sorry.

MN: So she wasn't able to, we had to, somebody had to more or less be with her all the time. And then my mother finally, it was too hard to always somebody be with her, and we, you know how some children are very, when they find out you're a little bit not as normal as the others, they were starting to tease her and things, and then some of the young fellows, so then my mother decided, well, she, we made arrangements to have her go back to, at the time it was called Spadra, but it's called now, let's see, it's a state hospital and she was there for years, out in Pomona. What's it called now? What's the name of that place? It's right near the college.

Shari: Lanterman.

MN: Lanterman. Lanterman State Hospital.

RP: So she actually left Manzanar and was sent down there?

MN: Yes. Because she, over there she got very good care. In fact, she, we would, when we were living out here we would bring her home sometimes. But we found out that if we let her stay too long she didn't want to go back, but she was intimidated by public, people that didn't understand, and she seemed very happy there. She was there for years and years.

RP: How long was she at, with you in Manzanar before she was moved down to...

MN: Not very long. We tried. I mean, my mother wanted her to be, but it was too hard trying to keep the public from...

RP: Intimidating her.

MN: Right. Because when she got intimidated she got very angry, and we were afraid she'd be hurting someone, 'cause she was strong. And it was only when she was angry, she would pick up something and throw it, or hit someone. So before something might happen... and it wasn't her fault. Physically she's a normal, she was normal, but when you talked to her, it was hard 'cause part of her brain was paralyzed through this illness. And at that time, apparently there was nothing medically that would help her. They, doctors didn't know what happened. So she was, but she was very happy over there at Lanterman. They did, they did a wonderful job. They took care of, good care of her.

RP: Did your personality change as a result of your camp experience? Did you see any changes in how you responded to situations?

MN: I learned to speak up. [Laughs] Really, I learned to speak up. Not, I mean, if I knew I was right or if something was wrong. But other than that, no, we kind of, my mom says keep to yourself, but when you know something is wrong...

RP: So can you give us an example of a situation where you did that?

MN: Well, later, even in, well not in camp as much, we didn't get as much, but I know when we came out and things were said to us, and you know that I had to say, tell 'em what was right because I didn't feel it was right, that they had the wrong impression of us. And we had to be very careful when we went -- Glendale, we just stayed away from Glendale for a long time.

RP: Even when you came out of camp?

MN: Yes. I don't know what it was, something with Glendale that, there were rumors that we weren't very welcome there. Then later I found out there were several friends from Glendale, but I don't know what happened to them. They never went back there.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.