Enclosed by barbed wire, monitored by soldiers in the towers along its parameters, and with two armed soldiers patrolling in a jeep, I knew that I was a prisoner, and wondered if "the land of the free" which we sang so often in the classroom was nothing but a farce, augmenting confusion and frustration with anger, hostility and rebellion. I visited my friend, Frank, the following morning and as we sat on his barrack doorstep, a jeep passed by. "F--- you!", I yelled, followed by a middle-finger gesture.

The soldier brought his jeep to a quick halt and walked toward me, and his fellow armed MP, with a rifle in his hand, followed.

"What did you say?", the driver asked. His partner, intending to scare me, had me looking up into the barrel of his rifle. He succeeded because truthfully, I was "scared to death".

"Nothing,” I lied. In retrospect, I am glad that I had expressed my feelings, but I am also ashamed that I had acted like a coward and lied.

 It was now 10 o'clock, exactly 24 hours since setting foot on the soft dusty sands of Manzanar, and there remained three more years, with gradual metamorphosis taking place with each passing day … gradually shedding the confusion, the aggression and the mixed emotions of a mixed-up teenager.

MANZANAR

Manzanar WRA Stories of A Mixed-up Teenager

 

Manzanar War

Relocation Authority

 

                    An instant community, ten thousand strong, sprung up on the foothill of the Eastern Sierras in spring of 1942. It was named Manzanar, and just as abruptly, it became a ghost town in 1946. Today, many decades later, Manzanar is but a memory to us who shared the hopes and dreams of the better days to come.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

GRANDEUR ONCE DENIED- Two teenagers “escape” from Manzanar to explore the nearby Alabama Hills in search of western movies in the making.

FORGOTTEN HEROES- Recalling some of the cherished moments at Manzanar High and the teachers who taught there.

FIRE - Manzanar’s only major fire. With the warehouse containing tons of roofing paper going up in flame, the Nisei teenage roofing crew was soon out of work.

FROM PARADISE TO PEWKIN’ HELL- Ditching school and drinking shochu (Manzanar-brewed Japanese whiskey) leads to teenagers’ nightmare.

MANZANAR, THE PHANTOM CITY- Manzanar, once a bustling community of ten thousand, is now a ghost town filled with secrets and memories that no one can ever unveil.

FROM MANZANAR TO MT. WHITNEY- Vowing that he will climb Mt. Whitney when he becomes a free man, Hank Umemoto finally makes the trek up the big one after 57 years and at the age of 71

WORLD BEYOND THE BARBED WIRE FENCES- Four teenagers leave the comfortable womb of Manzanar Relocation Center and face the harsh reality of the outside world..

FROM MANZANAR TO SKID ROW- Adjusting to the new environment of Los Angeles’ Skid Row creates another set of challenges for the author.

SAYONARA, SKID ROW- A sad sayonara, indeed, for who would have thought that departing Skid Row was such a depressing occasion?

CLOSURE - Declining the redress payment. “Instead of being considered a victim of injustice, I would rather have the Japanese Americans go down in history as a proud and a patient group who endured that wartime incident peacefully with dignity and determination, and hope that someday, there will be peace all around us and that mankind can forever live in harmony without hatred or prejudice.”

Nisei Adventures at Manzanar War Relocation Center

 

By Hank Umemoto