Remembering Manzanar

Vast Emptiness at Manzanar National Historical Site

As we stood in the middle of this vast emptiness, we felt the coldness ( well, it was really cold with temperature in the 30s or near freezing) and the isolation. Can you imagine living in the middle of this desert emptiness, so hot in the summer ( temperature soars up to over 100s F or high 30s-40s C) and freezing cold in the winter, living in barracks where sands from howling winds could get in, where the holes on the wall and roof could not protect you from the searing heat and biting cold?

In 1942, about 120,000 Japanese Americans were uprooted from their homes and were given about one week to dispose of whatever they owned, except what they could pack and carry for their departure by bus...to this vast desert valley, at Manzanar.

Entrance of the Internment Camp (click here to see pictures of barracks before that were all gone now)

The relocation of Japanese into this internment camp also uprooted the Pauite Indians and early settlers of Owens Valley from their homes.  Though Owens Valley is a vast desert region, but the snow capped Sierra Nevada Mountains produces so much small streams that creates surprising regions of riparian green habitat that allowed easy farming for early Pauite Indian settlers to raise cattle, sheep, fruit, wheat and other crops.

Snow Capped Sierra Nevada Mountains to the West

Snow Capped Desert Mountain to the East of Manzanar

Manzanar is the Spanish word for "apple orchard", and the town of Manzanar was developed as an agricultural settlement beggining 1910. Early settlers grew apples, pears, peaches, potatoes and alfala on several thousand acres surrounding the town.

 

 What Remains of the Farm and Apple Orchard

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began acquiring water rights in the valley, and by 1920, Los Angeles owned all of Manzanar's land and water rights. Within five years, the early settlers and farmers were exiled from their town. Manzanar became an abandoned town.

Road to Nowhere? This bareness gave a chilling shock imagining how vast, isolated, and brutal the conditions were for Japanese who were interned here. 

In 1941, Japan's attack on Pearl harbor led the US into World War II and radically changed the lives of 120,000 Japanese American living in the United States. In 1942, the US Army leased 62,000 acres at Manzanar from Los Angeles to establish a center that will hold Japanese Americans during World War II. This is where the Japanese were brought to be isolated from the rest of the Americans.

Manzanar National Historic Site was established to preserve the stories of the internment of Japanese in the US during World War II and to serve as a reminder of the fragility of American Liberties. Though this historic site is now bare throughout the grounds, and the few structures left were concrete foundations, ruined water system, 

Japanese gardens, 

Some of the Japanese Garden in the Internment Site

I was told in the Visitor Center that the garden in the above picture won 3rd place based from the records of Japanese internees. To fight off the isolation, Japanese enjoyed nature by having garden contests, availed of the vast area by playing baseball, etc.

and cemetery.

Cemetery

The short 22-minute film, "Remembering Manzanar" is shown at the visitor center every 30 minutes. The film is very powerful in sending the message of the painful experiences of the Japanese who lived here in the camp surrounded by barbed wired-fences. Up until now, I still can almost hear the voice of the man who were sharing his first night at the camp.

 "The first thing we were asked to do was to fill the sack with straw. That would be our bed. Night came and I saw holes up the roof. I saw stars, so BEAUTIFUL. Morning, we woke up with sand all over us. The desert, it is so brutally hot in the summer, bone chilling cold in the winter, and there was always the sand and the WIND."- some words that haunted me after watching "Remembering Manzanar."

 Manzanar National Historic site is one of more than 380 parks in the National Park System. The National Park Service cares for these places saved by the American people so that all may experience America's natural resources, history and heritage.

I could not help but feel sad while walking in the trails of Manzanar, sad and inspired that despite the difficulties of the Japanese people at that time, they continued to be strong, and loyal to the country they still feel they belong, the United States of America. 

One of the exhibits that brought so much tears of inspiration, were American teachers who worked with the education of children in the camp, because, these children were also children of America. 

American Teachers for Japanese Children Continuing Education

Teachers recruitment and retention were difficult then considering the isolation of Manzanar but a few chose to remain moved by so many children uprooted from their normal lives. The teachers who remained dedicated themselves to bringing hope for better future.

The words above were so powerful for me that my heart became congested and eyes misty. The mistakes of the past is painful and heart ripping, but am glad the nation's history acknowledges this mistake that serves as a touching lesson. Forty six years after the Japanese internment, in 1988, congress passed, and signed by then President Ronald Reagan, a legislation which apologized for the Japanese American internment in behalf of the US government. The legislation said that the government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.". The US government eventually disbursed more than $1.6 billion in reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned and their heirs.

The Park is along Hwy 395, about 13 miles North of Lone Pine or 6 miles South of Independence. If you are interested to revisit this part of history, Manzanar National Historic Site should be an easy find if you are visiting the Eastern Sierra, where you can access two National Parks: Yosemite National Park to the West and Death Valley National Park to the East.

♥♥