<Begin Segment 13>

RP: You started working at the dental clinic?

MI: First.

RP: And what was that like?

MI: Well first of all when we thought, "We can't do just nothing, sitting around." My friend Marie Hisamaine, who also went to Sacred Heart with me, and I decided that we're gonna work with the sick. So we went to the hospital and my mother said, "No. You are not gonna work with...." So Marie went and worked. But there was another opening which was at the dental clinic. And I said, "I don't know beans about dentists." And they said, "Well, we'll teach you." Well, then I had to be a dental receptionist and a secretary. Which meant that as the doctor worked on the patient, I had to take notes. And you know, I never knew what a central or a first bicuspid was from a molar. And I had to learn all that. Which was a, you know, that's part of the spice of life. I learned something.

RP: Terminology.

MI: Yeah, really. But the dental clinic is another story, I'll tell you.

RP: Tell us.

MI: Okay. There was a Dr. Nakamura, Yoshio Nakamura, Dr. Fred Iwasaki, and there was one other doctor, Dr. Kikuchi, he was the head. Yeah. Dr. Kikuchi... then the dental clinic split, and it, one became one up at the hospital and one down at the, I think, Block 1. Or not, is it, yeah, Block 1. And it was just a room not quite as big as this living room. My desk was right here and then there was a doorway and again there's this partitioning with bedspreads. And the doctors worked on... no plumbing. And I went, "Oh gosh, this is terrible." And everybody sat out here, you know, to have their teeth worked. And we did the sterilizing of the equipment on that side of the wall. That was... we had at least electricity. And we had two intern dental students. So, the only way we could manage was, as the doctor worked on it, you had to discard the blood and all that stuff. So there was this kidney pan... you still want to hear this?

RP: Oh, yeah.

MI: Oh, I, it took me a while to get used to that. But anyway, there was this kidney pan and that's where they all spit their whatever. And the doctor worked on them. And at the end of the day these two internees, that was their job, to take the soup out. That's how primitive it was. And there were times when they were short or help, and they wanted to mix the filling and I had to learn how to mix the silver amalgam with mercury. Well, we didn't know mercury was that dangerous at that time. So, anyway, I learned how to make silver filling.

RP: Did you do cleanings too?

MI: I did learn it. I did it on one guy and I thought, "Oh, that's it. This is not my thing." Dick Izuno. I still remember it. "Oh gee, Mary, thanks a lot." He said, "My teeth feel so good." I go, golly, I hope I didn't, you know, mess up his whole teeth. [Laughs] And we had one, two, three, I think four dental nurses who were very, very efficient. 'Cause they came from family of dentists and worked in their uncle's dentistry. So that was a redeeming thing. So that's my experience with the dental. So, I'm kind of varied. And finally I just said, "Oh God, I've had it here." And then that's where the evacuee property job opened up.

RP: Just opened up.

MI: And Dave... well, I can't remember how it was. But Dave said, "I want you to come over," and work for him. I said, "What am I supposed to do?" He said, "Well, you sit there and you kind of keep the eye on the desk and keep a record of people who want their stuff shipped in." And I go, "Oh, that doesn't sound too bad. Better than seeing all that blood every day." You know, so I went over there.

RP: That was over in Block 1?

MI: Yeah. You know, as you go into the camp today, you see the, where the guard, that little building that Louie Kado's dad built? And you go up and then they say the post office is on the left. And as you go to the right, that corner was the evacuee property office.

RP: The whole barrack?

MI: No, just one end of it. And then next door was the shipping department and Helen Ealy, is it Ealy? Helen...

RP: Helen Ealy Brill?

MI: The one, she lives in, in your way. Or she did. She's an old pioneer from over there.

RP: Oh, Helen Gunn?

MI: Gunn, yeah, 'cause the, she would always say that her boys call her "Teppo." Teppo means gun in Japanese. She would always say, "Oh, these are my boys." And the boys would say, "Yeah, she's my teppo." What is that? Oh, her name is Gunn. [Laughs] Yeah. Oh, she was very possessive of those guys. Very good to them. So they, she was right next door to us.

RP: So you were responsible for property that was being shipped into the camp?

MI: Yeah, people wanted certain things that they had shipped, I mean, stored somewhere, and they wanted back in the camp with them. And so we had to make arrangements for that. And I think we had a warehouse in camp somewhere where some of that still was stored or, if they couldn't keep it in their barracks. Something like that, yeah.

RP: Right. And, so I'm very curious about your relationship with Dave Bromley. Perhaps you can share some impressions of him. I remember that you said that at first this guy didn't come off too well in your mind but later on you kinda grew to love him a little bit.

MI: I grew to love a lot about him. The reason why with Dave was, he was active in the American Legion. And the American Legion was one of the most voracious vocal group wanting the Japanese evacuated. So I just hated 'em. I just said, "They're for the birds." And then it turns out he's active in the American Legion. And I thought, okay, that's his choice, that's okay. But Dave had a softer side which was he was a poet. Did you know that?

RP: Yes.

MI: And he even had a book printed. And I read his poems, 'cause I've taken heavy English at the parochial school, I realize that there was this big, there was this depth in this man's thinking. He was not like the American Legion guys that I thought he was going to be. And so my feeling about him just completely turned around. And he was basically like, you know, like a second father. I'm pretty sure he says, "Oh gosh, she's so young. She still hasn't been around. I need to guide her." Blah, blah. I am pretty sure that, I am pretty sure that crossed his mind. But he was always very patient. Yeah, and, and I really grew to respect him.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.