by Cynthia Kami, Carolyn Loughlin, and Diane Kami
Dr. Carl Hirota, our grandfather, was not your typical enlistee. The day after Secretary of War Henry Stimson announced that Japanese Americans would be eligible for military service, on February 1, 1943, the 33-year-old San Francisco dentist volunteered for service from Block 12 in the Topaz Relocation Center. He was determined to put his skills to use in the Army’s dental corps.
Born in 1909 in Port Blakey, Washington, Carl was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry. Before the War, he was not only a practicing dentist with an office on Post Street in Japantown, he was also a clinical instructor of operative dentistry and became a staff member of the Department of Oral Diagnosis at UCSF. He was also the president of the San Francisco chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL).
With the signing of Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, Carl made arrangements for his wife, Uta, and five-year-old daughter, Joyce (our mother), to relocate to Salt Lake City, where they lived with the Asahina family, and later, the Hoffmans, a Mormon family. Carl stayed behind in San Francisco to assume the chairmanship of the JACL Bay Area Coordinating Council, serving the Japanese American community during the hectic months prior to the Japanese evacuation in April.
Along with countless Japanese American families, Carl was incarcerated in Tanforan Assembly Center on April 28, where he established a makeshift dental clinic, which he ran until everyone was transferred to Topaz in September.
Assembly Center, July 27, 1942.
Despite his credentials and specialized skills, it took Carl five months and letters of recommendation to persuade the Army of his “honest Christian temperament” and “unwavering loyalty.” After several “misplaced” applications, he was successfully commissioned as first lieutenant of the medical detachment of the 442nd Infantry Regiment at Camp Shelby, Mississippi on July 7, 1943. He served 30 months, as captain and dental officer at Fort Shelby, four months as a Japanese language interpreter in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and several more months as a dental officer at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin. During this time, he was awarded the American Theater Ribbon and the World War II Victory Medal.
Carl’s loyalty and optimism are reflected in this quote from a War Relocation Authority news item:
“If we prove ourselves loyal during the war and good citizens after the war in civilian jobs, I think the hatred on the West Coast will fade away.”1
Our grandfather was finally able to rejoin our grandmother and mother back in San Francisco in April of 1946. He reestablished his dental practice, and in 1964, our father, Saburo Kami, DDS, joined it. Today, it continues to flourish as Carl’s eldest granddaughter, Cynthia Kami, DDS, is the third generation in the Hirota practice, which continues to serve many of the same families and their descendants.
1 Online Archives of California. http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft1489n6f0/?order=2&brand=oac4. Accessed 8/9/2021.
About the contributors: Dr. Carl and Uta Hirota have three granddaughters and six greatgrandchildren. His granddaughters, born in San Francisco after the War, shared this story. Cynthia Kami continues her grandfather’s dental practice in San Francisco; Diane Kami teaches middle school in Los Angeles; and Carolyn Loughlin does photography and volunteers at a music Academy in Massachusetts.
Copyright 2021, Cynthia Kami, Carolyn Loughlin, Diane Kami. All rights reserved.
What a legacy! A wonderful family of capable dentists, grateful patients, and many dear family members and friends. Thank you for including this inspiring story of forgiveness and loyalty.
Lauren, Thank you for reading my grandfather’s story & your kind words.
His legacy is not forgotten & reflects so often in my dental practice.
Thank you so much for sharing this family story and how dentistry has been such a part of your history. A very dedicated dentist certainly shines through the story. A special history and legacy to carry on!
Pat, Thank you for your thoughtful reply…I was so glad you were able to share some of my past family history with me at the exhibit at The Presidio too!