<Begin Segment 26>

RP: You had some, you had some very strong relationships with one particular family at Manzanar, the Sakaguchis.

TM: Yeah, we were in the same block, see. But, not with the family. I just, I was a good friend with Obo, Bo's oldest brother.

RP: And he was a dentist in the camp?

TM: Yeah. He was a dentist in camp. Every one of 'em was a Bo huh? Obo, Chibo.

RP: Chibo.

TM: And then the youngest was, that's Bo.

RP: There was a Sambo, too.

TM: Oh, Sambo, yeah. He was a MD. Yeah, they were all doctors. Yeah. They were smart kids, I guess.

RP: So you went to Obo for, for dental care in the camp.

TM: Yeah. Well, the reason I went there is because these girls I knew, and then I met Obo. And, we started hanging around. And then that's when I met Fudge. Fudge used to hang around with... Fudge was in the hospital doing something and I guess that's how he knew Obo.

RP: So you, you were interested in these girls who were the dental assistants?

TM: Yeah, right, right. [Laughs]

RP: So did you ever date any of 'em, or...

TM: Oh, yeah, I used to go to dance with them. And yeah, yeah.

RP: Parties and...

TM: Uh-huh. And we used to have our own parties.

RP: Oh you did? In Block 11?

TM: No we had, we get the recreation... hey had that recreation hall in every block right. And we get one of, access to one of those and, and we used to have our own party instead of a group party.

RP: Oh, okay. Private party.

TM: Yeah.

RP: You got some records? People had records?

TM: Yeah.

RP: Loud, or a turntable and a speaker?

TM: Yeah.

RP: Oh. Neat. The dentist... you were showing me some pictures about the, the early dental office was in a barrack room.

TM: Uh-huh.

RP: Uh-huh. Did, did Obo have any, other than hand tools, did he have a drill and some of his own equipment there?

TM: Yeah, they had, yeah.

RP: It was adequate enough to work on you.

TM: Uh-huh.

RP: So did that influence you at all in going and becoming a dental assistant or a dental tech?

TM: Dental technician, yeah. So when I went to Chicago I just went to look for a dental technician job, yeah. And then I stayed, I stayed only a year there. Then I went to Seabrook. I worked at it for a couple years. Then I went into the service. And in the service I did that for two years. But by that time I got tired of it.

RP: Tell us about your service experience. Where did you train?

TM: Oh, I trained at Fort Dix, New Jersey. And, and so I was a dental technician. I didn't even stay to the, complete my basic training. They shipped me out to a medics in Virginia.

RP: That was Fort Lee?

TM: Yeah. Yeah.

RP: Judging from all the pictures you have in your album, you met a lot of friends, new people. And some of 'em you kept in contact with for a long time.

TM: Uh-huh.

<End Segment 26> - Copyright (c) 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.