After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawai’i, in December 1941, anti-Japanese sentiment hit a fever pitch, as fear and suspicion swirled that Issei and Nisei posed a threat to national security. In response, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, which authorized the military to designate areas from which “any or all persons may be excluded.” The order made no mention of race, but its target was clear. EO 9066 would result in the mass incarcera- tion of people of Japanese ancestry across the country—two-thirds of them American citizens. There were no charges of treason or disloyalty against any of these citizens, nor was there a way for them to appeal their incarcer- ation. Instead, like the Miharas, they were herded into far-flung and isolated camps like Rohwer in Arkansas, Manzanar in California and Heart Mountain in Wyoming. Resilience and Resistance In the fall of 1942, just like children all over the country, the children of Heart Mountain started school. Except their school was in a ram- shackle barrack with few books, few supplies and a plank of plywood “A lot of the people incarcerated lost everything; they lost businesses and farms.” — Ray Locker, Director of Communications and Strategy, Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation
painted black for a chalkboard. But the material conditions weren’t the only factor that hampered education at the camp. “The problem was the teach- ing staff,” said Mihara. “Among the prisoner ranks, there were very few certified teachers.” The children were grateful to have their Boy and Girl Scout programs, which had been a big part of Nisei life prior to the war. Heart Mountain’s remote setting provided for myriad outdoor activities like camping, hiking and swimming, as well as jamborees with troops in nearby Cody and Powell. Nisei were also permitted to have jobs, working in the mess hall or for the camp’s police and fire departments and making up to $19 a month. “The government tried to create conditions that were some- what normal,” Mihara explained. But for Issei, normalcy was elusive. “A lot of the people incarcer- ated lost everything; they lost businesses and farms,” said Ray Locker, director of communica- tions and strategy for the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, which owns and operates the interpretive center. Being stripped of their homes, careers and
freedom “wreaked havoc on their self-esteem and mental health.” Still, Issei persevered. They launched a newspaper—the Heart Mountain Sentinal —which was dis- tributed to 6,000 camp households every Saturday. They also cleared thousands of acres of sagebrush to create the most successful agri- cultural program of all the prison camps, despite Wyoming’s unforgiv- ing climate, growing crops that had never been successfully cultivated in the region. More than 800 incarcerees from Heart Mountain served in the military, becoming members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit in U.S. mil- itary history relative to its size and length of service. Fifteen men from the Wyoming prison camp were killed in combat, and two received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award. Heart Mountain was also the site of the largest single draft resis- tance movement in United States history, when more than 80 incar- cerees—many of whom had once been deemed “unfit for military ser - vice” by the U.S. government based on their Japanese heritage—declined to report for their military induction physicals. Almost all the men were tried for violation of the Selective Service Act and sent to prison.
Rails to Trails MAGAZINE | FALL 2025
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