Heart Mountain

Japanese Americans boarding a train to a relocation camp. Photo Credit: Library of Congress.

Soon after the riots, we left Santa Anita and were sent to Heart Mountain, Wyoming. Heart Mountain was really out in the middle of nowhere, and even if we did get out of camp there really wasn't anywhere you could go. Yet the camp was still surrounded by a fence and guarded by military police.

To give you an idea of how strictly the camp was guarded, I have a story about how a game almost got me into trouble. One time, my friend Eddie Kimura and I were sledding. It was great to get into a big box in the wintertime, find a little hill, and just go tumbling down, letting the slippery snow and the wind push you down. This time, as we were sliding along, we wound up sliding right under the fence! So there we were, two 11 years olds, being picked up in the jeep by the military police, and accused of trying to break out of camp. We were scared out of our wits! We were taken down to the brigade, where I remember sitting and crying and promising, "No, we won't ever do it again." They made my dad come down to pick us up. He didn't punish us, but he thought we ought to be more careful, otherwise, we might get shot.

Think About It
What would it be like to be picked up by the military police and arrested just for sledding?