ABSTRACT
Mary Yano was believed by many to have written to President Johnson in the course of her illness, asking the president to help her obtain medical aid. Because of President Johnson's letter," Mrs. Yano claimed, "the medical care was free. In Hiroshima, the difference in climate took its toll, and the Yano children were constantly sick. The A-bomb was dropped while she was riding in a streetcar near Tera-machi. Mary worked for a while as an interpreter for the occupation in Kure, but soon returned to the United States. Soon after the family was reunited and started rebuilding the life that had been destroyed by the war, Mary's health began to deteriorate. "President Johnson's letter" may have been an illusion, but the belief that she was the "president's patient" appears to have sustained Mary Yano emotionally. In any case, Mary Yano died as a hibakusha, believing, to the end, that she was the "president's patient".
