The daily monitor leader., 1945-11-02
Nun, Freed from Jops.
Is 'DeIiriousIy Hoppy'

to brief listings of her name as
on internee.
Madame Dunham spent her
youth in this city, and was grad
uated from st. Mary's High
School. After obtaining her certi-
ficate as q teacher, and enter
ing the religious life, she taught
for brief period at the Cath
olic parochial school in Mount
Clemens, and in Crosse Pointe,
before taking her final vows in
New York and going to Japan
in 1899.
TRAPPED IN JAPAN
When hostilities broke out,
she and other Sisters were trap
ped and interned near Tokyo.
Excerpts from her letter to Mr..
and Mrs. Dunhafh indicate the
suffering and forced marches to
which the nuns were subjected
by the japanese, yet she COM
plains little.
Parts of the letter sent by
special messenger and an mail
are as follows:
II want to let you know that
l am we'll and deliriously happy
to be back home again in the
quickest possible way, so l am
trying ordinary mail as we'll as
extraordinary mail.
II can scarcely believe that
I am not dreaming; but I ain
not, and each minute makes 1t
truer The last three and
& half years have been years If
real suffering, especially the
two years and IL months of in
ternment.
"The last three months were
physically the hardest, with ra-
tions down to 10 ounces of bread
and a spoonful of spinach. (Ac-
tually, we had little more, for
Reverend Mother had this per-
mission, and used it, to send us
food to supplement what was
given us. But even with her
kindness, I can assure you there
was no indigestion from over
eating.
THANKS RED CROSS
Always too, the Red Cross
helped with their American gen.
erosity. Interment has given me
an entirely different idea of the
Red Cross. Contribute to it
whenever you can, for it GER
tainly saved your daughters lie
on many occasions during the
past three years.
Food, clothing, medicines
even toothpaste, brushes and
wash cloths-would have been
wanting If the Red Cross had
not supplied them.
"Our need Is all the greater,
as we were burned out twice.
On March 10, the wooden build
ings Of our school were bombed
The Convent caught from that
and both schools and convent
burned to the ground.
SEMINARY BURNED
ION May % our camp caught
fire from the Cathedral (for
Sekiguchi is the Catholic cathc-
oral church of Tokyo, and we
were living in the Little Semin-
ary.) The seminary itself caught
fire from other burning build
ings, and that night the wind
was a veritable cyclone. Our
buildings caught fire more than
an hour and a half after the All
Clear signal was given, so you
see how far away the bombing
must have been.
1.-The school and convent
caught so quickly that those at
home were able to save practic-
ally nothing except what had
previously been stored in con-
crete buildings.
"When we were taken away.
we were allowed to take nothing
except what we could carry-so
beds, bedding, furniture, clothes,
books, typewriters, china, kitten
en- utensils, ETC., were all want
ing to us.
Although we had packed be-
forehand "in CASE, at the crucial
moment ordinary necessities
were forgotten, such as scissors,
needles, thread, pens, rulers,
towels and soap (the latter the
most precious thing in existance,
for, except for the Red Cross
we would have had none.) One
Sister forgot her spectacles, and
now 1t may be year or two be-
fore opticians can fill orders.
TREATED KINDLY
But / didn't mean this TO be
list of costs and damages. 1t
is all over now! We were freed
on Aug. 10, 1945. Nice birthday
present, wasn't 1t? We were the
second camp to 60 because We
had been treated so kindly tina.
we didn't have to wait to put
our complaints before the Amer
leans.
AT any rate. we fully expect
TO return to- Tokyo before the
end of September, and begin
work again soon."
Mount Clemens friends who
wish to write to Madame Dun