<Begin Segment 18>

RP: Just to back up a little, how did you feel about one, this opportunity, and two, leaving camp finally? This was something you probably wanted to do a long time.

MI: Oh, I thought it was great.

RP: And also you're not only leaving but you have a job at the other end in Los Angeles.

MI: Yeah. I worried about... 'cause I was gonna be all by myself. But I had the satisfaction of knowing that if I got in trouble or I needed help I could go down to Maryknoll. The father would be right there, the nuns would be right there. And they know me. They know my family really well. So there's that...

RP: Safety net.

MI: Yeah, that safety net there. And not only that, I'm staying with Mrs. Ogura. That's another safety net. Besides, when I went down there they probably thought I was Chinese anyway, you know, 'cause there were, there were no Japanese there at that time. But I just wanted to get out of camp and get going. I thought this was so stale, yeah.

RP: Also the other thing is that you were helping again.

MI: Yeah. I was, I thought I was doing something that... well, I loved to meet people for one thing, you know. And I don't have any problems with that. So, when that opportunity came I said gee, it'd be crazy for me... and I talked it over with my folks and they said, "If you feel comfortable, go." I'm pretty sure my mother and dad had their trepidations, but still... so I went.

RP: Who did you work for?

MI: For Earl O'Dea.

RP: Tell me about Earl.

MI: Earl O'Dea used to be the former city editor of the Daily News, which is a big paper. And he took over. And he worked for a while and then after that, I can't remember whether he got ill or something, and Eddie Eckles came in. Eddie Eckles, oh, he was a sweet guy. Gosh, he was so sweet. He was connected to the movie industry. He had a lot of little connections. And he was so much fun and his family was so good to me. But the heavy part of the work, I have to admit, fell on Earl O'Dea, 'cause, see, that was so new to have the Japanese coming back and the public has to be notified. How do you do that? How do you do that in a diplomatic, in a way that it doesn't incense the public? But he knew. He knew how to... and he knew all the reporters. And I got to know the reporters, and that was fun.

RP: You said you also met people?

MI: Oh yeah. I've had a lotta... there was one man that I can't remember his name but I heard that he was a very famous writer for the American, the quote, the name of the title, American Magazine. That's why there's a photograph of me in there on "American Day." And then, when you say meeting people, are you talking about that Chinese guy?

RP: You knew I was gonna tell...

MI: I know, I can tell you were workin' up to something. There was this guy when I was working on the... WRA was on the ninth floor. And then there was one I think on the fourth floor for the returnees to come to seek information, jobs, and possibly a place to stay. So this guy would always be in the front of the building waiting for me. At first I didn't think it was that... he was smiling, you know I thought it was... and then the minute I came he would follow me and wait 'til I got in the elevator. Thank God there was a whole bunch of people in there. And that was going on kind of a couple days, and then he would walk and then he would follow me to where my office is. And I thought... you know, after about a week or so you go, oh gee, what is it with this guy? And so finally I got very uncomfortable, I told Mr. O'Dea. I said, "There's this guy that keeps following me and all he does, not say a word, but he just looks at me and smiles. And I'm getting uncomfortable." So he told me, he says, "Okay, we'll put a check on him." Well, of course, I didn't know what that check meant. That's when I found out that the OSS office was on the same floor as us. Office of Strategic Services, and they're somehow connected with, you know... so the head man says, comes over and says, "Hey Mary, don't worry. We'll take over. We'll, check out this guy and see if he's okay and if he's harmless." And it turned out he works for them. Which was the irony of the whole story. I thought that was so funny. And I thought, I don't know whether to laugh or cry, I thought it was so funny. And he says, "Oh, yes. He's been given strict instructions to stay away from you, or else." I never saw him after that. You know what I think it was, according to what's his name at the OSS, "Mary, he's very lonely." I said, "Yeah, well, just tell him to stay away from me. I'm not that lonely." [Laughs] I'll find my own guy. But anyway, that was that story.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.