Remember those who died in camp and honor the soldiers who served while their families were unjustly incarcerated.
Stop 9 Audio
Transcript
None of the 107 deaths at Amache were from violence, foul play, or conflict between us and the camp guards. We were known as the Loyal Camp because we never had any riots or major confrontations with the military. But Amache had an unusually insightful set of administrators who listened to our concerns and made adjustments in War Relocation Authority policies. Loyalty had little or nothing to do with the daily activities of the camp. Loyalty was, however, an issue amongst our community and families. Differing opinions were strong enough to sometimes end friendships and divide families. There were those who believed we didn’t owe any loyalty to a country that would willingly imprison its own citizens.
Others believed that we needed to prove our loyalty, and many young men volunteered for the military in order to do this. The Nisei boys that signed up for the military served in the segregated all Japanese 442nd Regimental Combat Team or the mostly Hawaiian Japanese 100th Battalion. The 442 suffered the most casualties by any American unit in World War II and to this day is still the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in United States military history. An Honor Roll monument at the entrance of the camp was built in 2021. It is a replica of the monument erected by incarcerees in 1944 honoring the 953 men and women from Amache who volunteered or were drafted for military service during WWII.
At the Amache Cemetery, the Amache Honorable Monument honors the 31 Nisei soldiers from Amache who died in combat while their families were still incarcerated here. Located inside the small brick structure is a stone monument left by incarcerees shortly before the camp closed in late 1945. The grass and trees you see were recently planted here and are cared for by the students from the Amache Preservation Society, creating an oasis in the midst of high plain scrub vegetation that did not exist while we lived here.
The lives of the soldiers killed in combat and those who died in camp are still honored every year during Buddhist and Christian ceremonies held at the cemetery during the annual Amache pilgrimage. The pilgrimages are open to everyone, and they give us a chance to share our stories with new generations, to meet people from other camps, and to return to the place where we were forced to live for more than three years.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS: To continue to Stop #10, exit the cemetery using the same road you drove in on. When you reach the T, make a left and drive north for about a tenth of a mile. On the right (east) side of the road you will see a wayside panel about the Boy Scouts. This will be Stop #10.