A 92-Year-Old's Fight to Preserve the Legacy of Japanese American Internment

At the age of 92, Sam Mihara revisited the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming, a place that holds significant meaning in his life. He returned not out of a desire to relive the past, but to ensure its memory endures. His goal is to educate and remind all Americans of the events that transpired there.

Mihara's family was among the more than 120,000 Japanese Americans forcibly removed from their homes in 1942 and sent to internment camps. This occurred following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Mihara was just nine years old when his family was uprooted from San Francisco and sent to Heart Mountain. He recalls the profound losses suffered by many, including the loss of homes and farms.

Mihara views the internment as a racist act, highlighting the fact that Japanese Americans were targeted while Italian Americans and German Americans were not. Heart Mountain was one of ten such camps, where over 10,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned for approximately three years.

Retired Judge Lance Ito, whose parents met at Heart Mountain, echoes the sentiment of the camps' impact. He emphasizes the anguish and discrimination faced by those released from the camps. Ito's own career path was influenced by his family's experiences, leading him to pursue law.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan formally apologized to Japanese Americans for the internment. Mihara now travels, sharing his story through lectures. He emphasizes the importance of upholding the Constitution and ensuring that the denial of liberty and justice experienced during the internment never happens again.