Jimmy Hoffa –Photo by Corbis

A tranquil fill

It was 1970 and in the midst of the Vietnam War, I worked part time on freight docks and drove freight trucks locally in the Kansas City area to help pay my expenses. I was preparing to graduate from the newly constructed dental school and in accordance with Federal law, I had been deferred from the draft for my four years of undergraduate work and my four years of dental school. On the day of graduation, I would be a 1-A- immediate induction into the service. One of the instructors in the dental school had served 27 years in the U.S. Public Health Service and recommended that I apply. He gave me a good reference, and I was accepted into the U.S. Public Health Service and stationed at the Northeast Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa.

I was a general dentist working on the inmates. One day I was informed a very important patient was scheduled, and I was shocked when I saw a short, thickset man in an ironed and starched set of prison kakis, as it was exceptionally unusual for inmate clothes to be pressed. As I stared at him, he appeared to have a visible aura around his persona, which startled me. I instantly knew who he was and invited him to sit in the dental chair. After the initial exam, I informed him that he needed a filling and explained a local anesthetic would be provided. He stopped me, went into a self-induced hypnotic trance before asking me to proceed. He never moved while I prepared the tooth. When I finished, I shook his shoulder and said, “Jimmy, it is time to wake up.” He woke up, shook my hand and thanked me. That patient was Jimmy Hoffa.

Saunders Steiman
B.A. ’66, D.D.S. ’70

It’s easier being green
Right direction

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