Foreword

WhenwefirstconsideredwritingabookabouttheinternmentofJapanese

AmericansduringWorldWarTwo,wetoldaNewYorkwriterfriendaboutthe

idea.Hesaid,“It’sadeadissue.Thesedaysyoucanhardlygetpeopletoread

aboutaliveissue.Peopleareissuedout.”

“Iknowit,”myhusbandsaid.“I’missuedoutmyself.Theissueisn’twhatwe

wanttowriteabout.Everybodyknowsaninjusticewasdone.Howmanyknow

whatactuallywentoninside?Iftheythinkanything,theythinkconcentration

camps.ButthatconjuresupPolandandSiberia.Andthesecampsweren’tlike

thatatall.”

Sowesetouttowriteaboutthelifeinsideoneofthosecamps—Manzanar—

wheremyfamilyspentthreeandahalfyears.Webeganwithataperecorderand

anold1944yearbookputtogetheratManzanarHighSchool.Itdocumentedthe

entirecampscene—thegraduatingseniors,theguardtowers,theJudopavilion,

thecreeksIusedtowadein,myfamily’sbarracks.Asthephotosbroughtthat

worldback,Ibegantodredgeupfeelingsthathadlainsubmergedsincethe

forties.IbegantomakeconnectionsIhadpreviouslybeenafraidtosee.Ithad

takenmetwenty-fiveyearstoreachthepointwhereIcouldtalkopenlyabout

Manzanar,andthemoreItalked,thecleareritbecamethatanybookwewrote

wouldhavetoincludeagooddealmorethanday-to-daylifeinsidethe

compound.TotellwhatIknewandfeltaboutitwouldmeantellingsomething

aboutourfamilybeforethewar,andtheyearsthatfollowedthewar,andabout

myfather’spast,aswellasmyownwayofseeingthingsnow.Writingithas

beenawayofcomingtotermswiththeimpacttheseyearshavehadonmy

entirelife.

Tocompletethisbookwehavehadtorelyonagooddealbesidesmyown

recollections.Manypeoplehelpedmakeitpossible,morethanwecanname

here.Weareespeciallygratefultoallthemembersofthefamilywhoshared

theirmemories,andtothesefriends:JackandMaryTakayanagi,DonTanzawa,

andMaryDuffield.Weareindebtedtothenumerouswritersandresearchers

whoseworkshavebeenindispensabletoourownperspectiveontheperiod.And

wethanktheUniversityofCaliforniaatSantaCruzforaresearchgrantthat

madeitpossibletobegin.

Becausethisisatruestory,involvinganextraordinaryepisodeinAmerican

history,wehaveincludedalistofdatesandlawswehopewillmakeiteasierto

follow.Itneedssomehistoricalcontext.Butthisisnotpoliticalhistory.Itisa

story,orawebofstories—myown,myfather’s,myfamily’s—tracingafew

paths,outofthemultitudeofpathsthatleduptoandawayfromtheexperience

oftheinternment.

—JeanneWakatsukiHouston,SantaCruz,California,March1973

Farewell To Manzanar

Keeping 13 Boys Of Tommen 2 By Chloe Walsh Pdfread.Net