THE JAPANESE EXPERIENCE
IN WWII ARKANSAS
After the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, the United States was plunged into WWII against all the Axis powers of Japan, Germany, and Italy. Military and civilian authorities believed that the west coast of the US was succeptible to attack from Japan, and those of Japanese ancestry living in this area were considered a security risk, despite no acts of sabatage or espionage. So in early 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed executive orders #9006 and #9102 authorizing the evacuation of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry to "relocation camps" at ten sites throughout the country, including two in southeast Arkansas - Jerome and Rohwer, that were chosen for their access to railroads but otherwise isolated from security targets. One third of these people were Issei - foreign born, many of which had not been allowed to apply for citizenship because they were over 50. The other two thirds were Nisei - US citizens born in America, the majority of these under the age of 21.
LIFE IN THE CAMPS
Evacuees were given just days to either sell or make caretaking arrangements for their homes and businesses. Then they were instructed to pack a single suitcase and report to assembly centers, one was even housed at horse stalls at the Santa Anita racetrack, before they were boarded onto trains bound for destinations in California, Arizona, Idaho Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Arkansas where they would be incarcerated for an indefinite period of time. When they arrived after days on a train, they found tar paper barracks with canvas cots and wood stoves where three to six families would live. They shared communal bathrooms, laundry, cooking and dining facilities with all the other internees, which undermined parental authority and family values.
Earning money was a critical need within the camps because many adults were making payments on the properties and business that they left behind, and everyone needed money for basic necessities such as clothing and shoes. If possible, people found jobs in their previous field at significantly lower wages, but if not, they were put to work as farm laborers which grew food for the camp. Children went to school taught by both local and internee teachers. They worked hard to learn so that when and if they were able to return home, they wouldn't be behind.
At Rohwer there is a cemetery that is the final resting place to some of the 168 people who died in the Rohwer and Jerome camps who chose burial over cremation. Among them are three infants and many elderly people. In the cemetery is a beautiful memorial written in both English and Japanese that honors all those who died, including those who were cremated. Also remembered in the cemetery are the young men of the camps who were lost in Europe as part of the 100th Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
THE 100th BATTALION / 442nd REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM
These units were made up of Nisei soldiers from Hawaii and mainlander volunteers who where internees in the internment camps, and once they arrived in Europe, they consolidated together. The 442nd was formed in 1943 and trained at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. At first, there was a lot of hostility between the Hawaiians and the mainlanders, each assigning derogatory names for the other. The Hawaiians called the mainlanders "katonks" because the said it was the sound their heads made when hitting the ground during fights. The mainlanders called the Hawaiians "Buddhaheads" possibly because the Japanese word "buta" means pig as a reference to their stubbornness. The Hawaiians were loud, rowdy, and spoke in a Hawaiian pidgin, while the mainlanders, who never discussed the camps with the Hawaiians, were considered serious, cheap (because they were sending money to their families the camps), and spoke standard English, and the difference between the two groups and the lives of their families was a stark contrast. The infighting became a barrier to their unit training until the Hawaiians were invited to an overnight visit and dance at the Rohwer camp, just a few hours drive away. One of the Hawaiians, Daniel Inouye, who would later become a US Senator, described the visit this way:
"And we thought well, we're going off to Rohwer and there's a large Japanese community -- we didn't know the community was in a camp. And so we got ourselves all gussied up, getting ready for a weekend with the young ladies. We had our ukuleles with us, and our guitars, and we left Mississippi early in the morning because it was going to be a long drive into Arkansas. Then I remember when we turned the corner, the bend of the road, and the valley came into view, and what we saw was row after row of barracks. Now, we thought this was a military camp and that we going to pass that to go someplace else. But no, we came up to this camp and stopped. High barbed wire fences and there are machine gun towers all around the camp with men there with machine guns. And greeting us at the camp, at the gate, were men in uniform with rifles and bayonets. We are in uniform and I thought, "What in the world is happening?" Then you look into the camp and there they were. And then it dawned on us what had happened, and at that moment thank God the men had the good sense not to search us. I can imagine if the guards began searching us. I think we would have had some bloodshed around there. But then the gates were opened and we were escorted in. And we found that these barracks had been vacated by families who either doubled up with other families so that we could stay in the barracks. And we said no, we'll sleep in the trucks or in the mess hall. And we tried our best to be happy and sociable, but it's not easy realizing what was happening there. And when we left, the atmosphere was totally different. Because when we arrived, we were all singing and playing ukuleles and having a great time, and when we left, it was absolute silence all the way to Mississippi. No one talked. And I can imagine what was going through their minds, and I think almost all of us must have asked ourselves -- would we have volunteered? That's a good question. Then when we got back, we could hardly wait to tell the fellows. And this is what they anticipated and so overnight the regiment was formed. Next morning you had the 442nd."
The 442nd began their deployment in Italy, with success at Salerno, Naples, Montecassino and Anzio. Later they moved on to France, rescuing the 141st Texas Regiment who had become the "lost battalion" cut off behind German lines. In all the 442nd suffered 800 casualties to rescue 200 from the Texas battalion, and inspired Texas governor John Connally to make every soldier in the unit and honorary Texan in 1962. By the end of the war, the combined 100th / 442nd was, and remains, the most decorated unit in the history of the US Army for its size and length of service, including thousands of Purple Hearts and Bronze Stars, 560 Silver Stars, 21 Medals of Honor, 7 Presidential Unit Citations, and in 2011 the Congressional Gold Medal. Their motto of "Go For Broke" reflected their willingness to risk everything for victory.
AFTER CAMP: REMEMBERING AND LEARNING
June 30 1944, the Jerome Japanese Internment Camp became the first of these centers to close due to declining population and unrest over poor working conditions. It would later become a German prisoner of war camp for the remainder of the war. By 1944, only one officer and 13 guards remained at the Rohwer camp, and in January of 1945, it was announced that all the camps would close and evacuation of the internees began that summer, with the last leaving Rohwer on November 30, 1945.
Returning home was not the ticket to paradise, however, as many of these people suffered lingering racism and prejudice and in many cases had to start over with nothing. Camp internees lost around $400 million dollars in property. In 1948, $38 million dollars in reparations were made, and in 1988 each living internee was awarded $20,000 each.
To the internees, reparations were important, but even more important was education so that this type of racial prejudice did not happen again. Today the Jerome-Rohwer Interpretive Museum and Visitors Center is housed in the south end of the McGehee railroad depot, featuring a short film and an exhibitions illustrating the history of and what life was like in the camps. The musuem was the coordinated effort of local leaders, the Japanese American community and former internees, and Arkansas State University. George Takei, who starred as Mr. Sulu in the original Star Trek series, was an internee in Rohwer starting when he was five years old. Not only did Mr. Takei lend his voice to the audio tour at the Rohwer site, but he also wrote a Broadway musical, Allegiance, which told the story of families in the internment camp and the young men who left to join the 442nd.
One of the biggest takeaways from this chapter in history and a big motivation for the museum is to prevent this sort of prejudice from ever happening again. I grew up in neighboring Drew County and never knew anything about southeast Arkansas's role in the dark chapter of our history, and I wanted to do something to change that. (Notice that the cache hide date is the 80th anniversary of the closing of the Jerome camp.) I hope that by doing the tasks in this virtual cache that you have learned something new.
LOGGING INSTRUCTIONS
There are two paths to logging this cache and which one you choose may depend upon the time that you choose to pursue the cache. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should this cache be attempted at night! The camp sites are near private farms and / or have gates that lock at dark. Law enforcement may be summoned, leading to an arrest for trespassing. Please be respectful of the landowners so that geocachers maintain an honorable reputation in the community.
This cache has a difficulty rating of four because it will require the completion of seven tasks (A,B,C,D,E, F and G) regardless of which option you choose. I specifically chose tasks that require effort and a fair amount of travel because I want you to grow in understanding about the Japanese American experience during WWII in Arkansas. Therefore, I urge you to make a plan when visiting this cache so that you know exactly what your tasks are for each option and choose accordingly. It is not intended be something that is completed in 10 minutes and you're on your merry way. If you choose Option 1, I also strongly encourage you to visit the cemetery at the Rohwer camp site. It is a powerful experience.
Please be sure to send you answers through the messaging system and don't include photos that would disclose answers.
If you are logging this cache as part of a group, please include the name of all members of your group so that I don't inadvertently delete their log for not completing the tasks.
OPTION 1: Jerome-Rohwer Museum and Visitor's Center (aka The Fast Pass) at the posted coordinates.
This option is only available during museum hours of 9:00-4:00 each Thursday through Saturday. An admission fee of $5 is required and information to answer the questions is only accessible within the museum.
1. Watch the film available just past the lobby. (The museum staff will help you.) (A1) What is the title of the film?
2. Near the back of the museum there is a display titled "After Camp" which highlights one family that chose to remain in Arkansas. (B1) What is their surname & the names of the four family members mentioned in the display? (C1) What type of business did they open?
3. In the section about the Camp School, there are several preserved autobiographies written by high school students in the camps. Notice their beautiful handwriting. Find the autobiography of eleventh grader George Kobayashi. (D1) According to his biography, when and where was he born? (E1) What was his father's occupation?
4. What is a "katonk"? (F1) (Hint: read the cache page.)
5. Attach a picture that includes your face, a piece of paper with your caching name, or some other personal item with a museum exhibt that you found significant. Be sure to avoid spoiler photos that would give away answers to the questions. (G1)
OPTION 2: Visit the camp sites at both Jerome and Rohwer listed in the additional waypoints. (These are about 30 miles apart.)
1. At the Jerome site you will find a stone memorial. To the right, you will see a brick smokestack, the last remant of the camp hospital. (A2) What is the color and condition of this smokestack?
2. When arriving at the Jerome memorial, you will turn off of Hwy 165 onto a small road which leads to a farm. (B2) What is the name of this road? (Hint: It is not Big Six Loop for all of you Googlers. I'm looking for ______________Farm Rd.)
3. At the Rohwer site, visit the cemetery. Here you will find the graves of three infants and many older residents of the camps who died while interned there. You will also find three large memorials: one which features both English and Japanese script, one gray granite honoring the members of the 100th battalion of the 442nd regiment who gave their lives in battle, and one that is shaped like a tank. (C2) What is the name of the first infant who died at the Rohwer camp and when did he die? Look at the memorial with the Japanese inscriptions. (D2) What month and year was it dedicated?
4. At the Rohwer site, visit the waypoint labeled "A Look Back in Time". The audio tour (scan the QR code if the button won't activate the recording) narrarated by George Takei indicates that this was near the tar paper barracks where his family was detained. In the wooded area behind the field, you will see yet another hospital smokestack. What is its color and condition, and how does this compare with the one at Jerome? (E2)
5. From the reading above, what bonded the soldiers of the 442nd during their time at Camp Shelby, MS? (F2)
6. Attach a photo of yourself or a personal item at something that made an impression on you at the Rohwer site. (G2)
For more information please visit these links:
Rohwer Heritage Site (astate.edu)
Going For Broke: The 442nd Regimental Combat Team | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans (nationalww2museum.org)
Home - Densho: Japanese American Incarceration and Japanese Internment
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.