Leaving with confusion
Although the Japanese-Americans’ eventual internment destinations were named “relocation centers” by the government, these had not yet been completely built so the internees were temporarily housed in assembly centers in California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona. As Betty Matsuo waited to be transported from her home to the temporary relocation center, she confessed: “I lost my identity, (the authorities) gave me a… number. That was my identification.” Many did not know the suffering that awaited them at these camps. A young boy named Sato Hashizume recalled: “I don’t know what I expected but as a kid… I was really excited about going and thinking that maybe that this is going to be an adventure. It was an adventure but certainly not the kind that I had anticipated.”
Soldiers aboard the train kept the destination a secret from the passengers. There was mass confusion among the prisoners: “they never told us where we were going. They never told us… what the charges were! Why were we going? We’re American citizens! Why were we going to this place?” Upon arrival at their assigned assembly centers, the internees viewed their prison for the first time: barbed wire; huge searchlights; and tall guard towers. The gates’ closing was the moment Japanese Americans’ freedoms were stipped away. Mary Tsukamoto recalls, “The sound of the camp gates closing behind us sent a searing pain into my heart, I knew it would leave a scar that would stay with me forever. At that very moment my precious freedom was taken from me.” The American government took the Japanese-Americans’ freedom and dignity.
Soldiers aboard the train kept the destination a secret from the passengers. There was mass confusion among the prisoners: “they never told us where we were going. They never told us… what the charges were! Why were we going? We’re American citizens! Why were we going to this place?” Upon arrival at their assigned assembly centers, the internees viewed their prison for the first time: barbed wire; huge searchlights; and tall guard towers. The gates’ closing was the moment Japanese Americans’ freedoms were stipped away. Mary Tsukamoto recalls, “The sound of the camp gates closing behind us sent a searing pain into my heart, I knew it would leave a scar that would stay with me forever. At that very moment my precious freedom was taken from me.” The American government took the Japanese-Americans’ freedom and dignity.