I was aware of the Japanese internment camps from the time I was about 12, which would mean for about a half a century now. One of the, Minidoka, was located only about 75 miles from where I now live and I know people who were there during the war. In fact, the woman who hired me for the position I now hold was born there.

We -- the people around here of all ancestries -- are currently fighting with the Federal Government and some land "developers" who want the site: the government to sell it and the "developers" to "develope" it. I know of no one who favors this idea!

I also know some of those who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was composed mostly of Japanese-Americans, mostly Nisei:

The 442nd RCT became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history for its size and length of service, earning it the nickname "The Purple Heart Battalion." The 442nd RCT received 7 Presidential Unit Citations (5 earned in one month), and its members received around 18,000 awards, including:

    * 21 Medals of Honor (the first awarded posthumously to PFC Sadao Munemori, Company A, 100th Battalion, for action near Seravezza, Italy, on April 5, 1945; the others upgraded from other awards in June 2000)
    * 52 Distinguished Service Crosses (including 19 Distinguished Service Crosses which were upgraded to Medals of Honor in June 2000)
    * 1 Distinguished Service Medal
    * 560 Silver Stars (plus 28 Oak Leaf Clusters for a second award)
    * 22 Legion of Merit Medals
    * 15 Soldier's Medals
    * 4,000 Bronze Stars (plus 1,200 Oak Leaf Clusters for a second award; one Bronze Star was upgraded to a Medal of Honor in June 2000)
    * 9,486 Purple Hearts

And not all Japanese-Americans were interned. Here in Pocatello, Idaho, for example some were and some weren't. Those that weren't usually had skills necessary to the war effort. Some here worked in the Naval Ordnance Plant making guns for ships, others worked on the railroads and in the railroad shops, and others actually taught at the air base here. I have at the Library a newspaper photo of a young girl of Japanese descent receiving a book as an award during the Summer Reading Program; the date on the photo is 1944, and it confused me until I learned that more than a few Japanese-American families here were NOT interned.

Also, the farther from the West Coast you went the more likely you were to find Japanese-Americans not interned. The fear was for the Pacific ports, I believe.

Still doesn't excuse it, though.