Rural Cody, Wyo., offers important lesson on Japanese American history, injustice

'Why are they doing this? We haven't done anything wrong. I don't want to go...'

This cacophony of voices buzzed in my ears and the glare of a stark lamp post set me on edge as I stepped into the low set tarpaper barracks. Fortunately, my momentary confusion was replace by a friendly greeting from the receptionist of the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center. Located 13 miles east of Cody, Wyo., the Heart Mountain National Historic Site retells the story of the improper confinement by the U.S. government of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

'We want visitors to walk a few steps in their shoes,' said Executive Director Brian Liesinger, to absorb 'the depth of the injustice without depressing visitors.' The stories told in first person, indeed run the gamut of emotions and ultimately embody the resilience and hope of loyal citizens in the face of government-fueled racist discrimination. Thousands of Japanese-American citizens gracefully endured the injustice of relocation in a desolate area lying in the shadow of rocky Heart Mountain. Here, they built community during a bleak time in U.S. history.

Throughout the introductory film and tour of the camp set in the remote sage steppe, the juxtaposition of my being a 'tourist' and 'incarceree' wrestled with each other. I felt the fright of prejudice from neighbors who had been friends just days before the Pearl Harbor Attack, agonized over what to carry in the one allotted suitcase when ordered to leave, mourned the death of a pet that had been left behind, despaired when entering the barren barrack 'home,' and marveled at how the families made do and created a new home.

Administered by The Heart Mountain Foundation, the story comes full circle. While dense with information it is lightened with three-dimensional displays, interactive kiosks and documentation of restitution. The displays trace the background, the trauma of removal, life in camp, the industriousness of the people, how they protested treatment and worked within the imposed system for change, and the valor of the Japanese-American soldiers in the European front. The first person accounts and prominently displayed Fifth Amendment to the Constitution bring the message home: Violating citizens' civil rights is wrong. 'No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.'

Background: Opportunity for a better life had brought many Japanese immigrants to Hawaii and the west coast of the United States since the mid-1800s. In spite of early prejudice and exclusion from voting and owning land, the Issei, 'first generation' Japanese, flourished through hard work. They toiled on farm and in oil fields, fished commercially and established businesses. Their American-born kids, 'Nisei' attended school and generally assimilated into typical mid-1900s American life.

With a knack for horticulture and brilliant business acumen, the Japanese-Americans introduced new rice strains and formed marketing cooperatives. Much to the envy of their Caucasian counterparts, these industrious citizens coaxed nutrients from the seemingly reluctant earth producing amazing vegetables and flowers. That changed on Dec. 7, 1941. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor left all Americans, including Japanese-American citizens, reeling. Succumbing to fear mongering, President Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 authorized the military to create zones of exclusion that forcibly relocated thousands of Japanese-American citizens to 10 Relocation Centers in the west, southwest and Arkansas.

So, with little notice or ability to secure their possessions, Japanese-Americans were told to pack 'That which we could carry,' herded to 'assembly centers,' then shipped off to remote locations, 'for their own safety.' Bewildered, these families loyal to the United States obeyed. Later internees said, 'We had no notion that the government thought we were dangerous.'

On arrival

Originally, Japanese immigrants settled mainly along the west coast and Hawaii, enjoying the mild climate, plentiful seafood and opportunity to make a better life — to live The American Dream. What Japanese-American families found stepping off the trains at Heart Mountain was a high desert devoid of trees and long lines of tarpaper barracks. Each barrack had six apartments: two 16 x 20 foot, two 20 x 20 foot and two 24 x 20 foot. A few mattresses, a pot-bellied stove and a bucket for coal in each apartment were the furnishings. Incarcerees were unprepared for Wyoming's hot, dry and dusty summers and windswept, bone-chillingly cold winters. They had no jobs initially and no privacy. Here they lived for the next three years. That the adults created nurturing homes for their children is testament to their resiliency and their spirit to endure with dignity. The simple statement 'shikata ga nai' reveals their philosophy: 'It cannot be helped.'

Life at Heart Mountain for kids was pretty much normal. In winter they skated and sledded, in summer they played ball and swam. Kids attended and graduated from school, were active in scout troops, gave fashion shows, participated in sports like basketball and sumo wrestling. Their football team lost only one game in two years. Today's children, returning as adults, realize their parents 'carried the weight of the burden' so that they could lead as normal a life as possible.

Adults eventually found work in the hospital; were hired in towns; dug irrigation ditches and harvested gardens, filling large root cellars with awesome produce; documented their lives through photo-journalism and published The Heart Mountain Sentinel. Many Japanese-Americans joined the war effort and fought valiantly in the European front. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was composed mostly of Japanese-Americans. Ironically, many had families in the internment camps. The 442nd fought in Southern Italy, France and Germany and was the most decorated unit for its size and length of combat in the history of the United States Army.

Some incarcerees actively resisted their treatment — forced to live behind barbed wire with armed guards, live in inadequate housing and rely on low quality medical services. The resisters called the government out on its hypocrisy — the insistence that loyal citizens pledge allegiance to a government and join the military while treating them like criminals.

To read about internment several decades removed from the situation, is one thing, it's another to experience it — even vicariously. A poignant moment of loss came when I read about the pet dog that died from loneliness after the family had been removed. My most startling moment was a trip to the latrine. The lack of privacy was driven home when stepping into a stall. I saw multiple toilets stretching along the wall — an illusion created by mirrors that reflected the stool image. While in reality the stall was a modern private one, the effect was disconcerting.

Lessons learned

When World War II ended, the camp closed in a matter of months. For some families, the aftermath was even more difficult than incarceration. They were given $25 and a ticket to relocate. Because of unpleasant memories of their time in Wyoming, most left the state. But, when they returned to their former homes, many found their houses and land had been raided, traded and stolen. While many families did manage to re-create their lives once again, some never recovered from the disruptions. Fortunately, some neighbors took families in and returned their possessions. The Buddhist church of San Jose converted the building to apartments to help with housing until families could get back on their feet. No matter the camp they came from, many Japanese-Americans rebuilt their lives and went on to serve their country in peace time. Some became renowned paleontologists and rocket scientists. Doris Matsui and Mike Honda are U.S. representatives from California. A notable Heart Mountain incarceree is former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta.

It took the United States Government 43 years after the camps closed to formally acknowledge the injustices and apologize '...on behalf of the nation for 'fundament violations of the basic civil liberties and constitutional rights' of people of Japanese ancestry.' President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 stating, '...we must acknowledge that the internment of Japanese Americans was ...a mistake.' and President George H. W. Bush issued the first redress checks in 1990. One Japanese-American internee stated that the apology was important because 'It allowed us to acknowledge what happened. The government admitted we were not guilty. The apology changed the way many of us viewed ourselves.'

Some of the other internment camps are in various stages of development to tell the story. Manzanar in California is run by the National Park Service. Liesinger explained that Heart Mountain is unique because it is a non-profit. While it works closely with the National Park Service, funding and operation are private. At 20 years old, the foundation is dedicated to documenting this time to remind us all of the '...relevance to the preservation of liberty and civil rights for all Americans today.'

The idea for the foundation was decades in the making as former incarcerees aged and their children realized the importance of telling the story of injustices in a manner that can inspire visitors to resist 'guilt by association' discrimination. Liesinger, shares in his TEDxCody talk how Sam, a former incarceree presents about his 'Heart Mountain Hardship to '...move people with his story to inch our world a little bit closer to one in which this sort of injustice never happens again.'

One of the first acts by the foundation was restoring the Honor Roll of the more than 800 men and women who served in the military. Since then, a Walking Tour, Interpretive Center, Victory Garden, an original root cellar, restoration of the boiler house chimney and an original barrack have been added. The barrack has had varied uses and direct connections to Iowa. After World War II, it was transported to eastern Wyoming for returning veteran housing. Then, Iowa State University bought and moved it to Shell, Wyo., for the Geology Field Station.

Today at Heart Mountain as executive director, Liesinger finds his family ties to Heart Mountain Relocation Center ironic. His grandparents settled in the area and scavenged materials from the site when it was closed. Essentially, they helped dismantle it. Liesinger's role is to help preserve the site, by restoring it and interpreting the experiences and lessons for today's visitors. His commitment bubbles over when he talks.

Each July he and staff welcome families of Japanese-American ancestry to the Heart Mountain Pilgrimage. Here they share memories and continue to build bonds. This mostly joyful reunion has helped 'Nesei' open up and talk about that time. It relieves the guilt and grief of incarceration.

But all of us must remember the injustices as told at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. Dr. Richard (Dick) Thomas of Cedar Rapids, maintains that the lessons are relevant today.

'It was a constitutional crisis,' he explained; we slid towards in the 'Communist scare' time of the 1950s and we are at risk of sliding towards it today with anti-Islamic rhetoric. His sister-in-law was unjustly interned and this personal connection fueled a passion for justice. He has researched and studied with experts in the area. And, for over a decade, Thomas, former chaplain at Cornell College, taught a course 'When the Constitution Failed.' Thomas poses a troubling question to drive his point home. 'Tell me about the world where you (any group) have no personal rights; (where someone else has decided) the Constitution does not apply to you. When there is any effort to discriminate, we all lose out.'

As I gazed at the cheaply constructed barrack I could only hear the rustle of a desert breeze weaving through dry tumbleweeds. In my imagination I heard a baby crying inside the shack and distant calls of kids in the fields. Although only in my mind, these sounds once did carry over this lonely land. The message resounded: Let us remember and avoid repeating the same type injustices today as immigrants come to the United States seeking the American Dream. As Liesinger's staff and Thomas' course model, let us work to 'Shape misery into inspiration.'

If you go

What: Heart Mountain National Historic Site

Where: 1539 Road 19, Powell, Wyo., 82435 (located between Powell and Cody, Wyo., at Highway 14A and Road 19)

Hours: May 15 to Oct. 1 open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Other visitation by appointment

Contact: (307) 754-8000

Cost: Adults $7, senior/students $5, free under 12