100th Battalion

442nd Regimental Combat Team

Merging of 100th and 442nd

Military Intelligence Service

522nd Field Artillery Battalion

Camp Shelby

The Lost Battalion

Battle of Bruyere

Rescuing at Dachau

Italy

Mistreated/Internment Camps

On December 7, 1941, Hawaii was bombed by the Japanese military soldiers. The Japanese that lived in Hawaii and the Continental United States as well, were then mistrusted and suspected by the American government and by many in America. Fear and suspicion grew throughout the United States because many feared the Japanese that lived in America would would help the Japanese military.

All over America, there were signs saying "Japs, move on!"

This meant that only Japanese Americans could not go into certain places like restaurants, barber shops and parks. But still, the Japanese lived in America and they believed that they were true Americans. They were incarcerated in ten "internment" camps, which were located in the western states of Utah, Montana, Arkansas,Arizona, California, Colorado, and Idaho. These ten camps served as prison cities. Approximately 10,000 to 18,000 people lived in each camp.

A map of the Contintental United States showing internment camps

Outside of a Japanese Internment Camp

Now, the Japanese Americans in America were no longer viewed by other Americans as hard-working, immigrants. They were now seen as enemy aliens. No trials, no hearings to prove innocence or guilt were made. The government, as well as many people of the United States assumed Japanese living in America to be the enemy, even if they were American citizens!

They became prisoners merely because of their race. Japanese-Americans were told that they were required to sell all their property. This included their homes, real estate, businesse, and anything else that they could not carry into the internment camps. Because of this, Japanese Americans lost their homes, property, and communities. In many cases, families were separated. They were only allowed to take what they could carry with them to camp. The houses at the camp were not fully built. They were all built of wood andthe security stuffed about five families into a very small room. There were barb wires all over and guns pointing

60th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Attack:
http://starbulletin.com/2001/12/08/news/story1b.html

Japanese-Americans Internment Camps During World War II:
http://www.lib.utah.edu/spc/photo/9066/9066.htm

Behind Barbed Wire:
http://www.du.edu/~anballar/BehindBarbedWire.html