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Carla Romero
Lbs 375
April 20, 2015

Farewell to Manzanar
The bombing in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by the Japanese, would forever
change the lives of the Japanese Americans living in California. The bombing of Pearl Harbor
would be the beginning of U.S. involvement in WWII. In February 1942 President Roosevelt
signed Executive Order 9066 which gave the military authority to relocate anyone considered a
threat to national security. Executive Order 9066 brought negative repercussions to many
Japanese families. One of those families, the Wakatsukis were among the many families that
were relocated to internment camps. The bombing on Pearl Harbor left many Japanese families
feeling alienated in a country they called home for years. This essay will analyze the feelings, of
the Wakatsuki family in regards to the war.
The morning of December 7, 1941 Jeanne Wakatsuki and her family were in Long Beach,
California. Jeanne Wakatsuki refers to her father as Papa, a fisherman of Japanese descent.
Papa was among other fishermen who were preparing for a fishing trip. Waving good-bye to
Papas boat, We watched until the boats became a row of tiny white gulls on the horizon (p 5).
However, it wasnt long before the boats returned, an event that was highly unusual leaving the
Wakatsuki family confused. Soon after, the news spread quickly- the Japanese bombed Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.
Papa burned a Japanese flag, and other documents to avoid any connection with his
native land. In fact, it wasnt long before the FBI apprehended Papa. He was suddenly a man
with no rights who looked exactly like the enemy (p 8). With the patriarch of the family gone,
the Wakatsukis relocated to Terminal Island were they remained for two months, later relocating

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to Boyle Heights and later to an internment camp. The government orders the Japanese to move
to the relocation camp at Manzanar, California. They are placed in wooden barracks in Block 16 ,
where they receive two sixteen-by-twenty-foot rooms for the twelve member family. Life at the
camp was not easy; the internment caused the family to disintegrate.
When Papa returns to Manzanar he speaks very little of his nine month stay in Fort
Lincoln, he became a bitter, drunk, angered man. He was a man without rights, without a home,
without any power to change his destiny. He spent five months in isolation, until the Loyalty
Oath was brought forward by the government in February 1943. The Loyalty Oath becomes a
topic of debate in camp, and between the Wakatsuki family. Papa lectured Woody about true
loyalty. When a soldier goes into war he must go believing he is never coming back. This is
why the Japanese are such courageous warriors. They are prepared to die (p 83). Woody is torn
between two countries; one country which he has never been to and a country where he has lived
his entire life, which is also a country that has taken away all his rights. Woody wants to join the
army to end the war sooner. The sooner the war ends, the sooner his family can leave the
internment camp. Papa feels a deeper connection with Japan; he has the upmost respect for
Japanese warriors. Papa feels betrayed by a country where he has lived for thirty-five years; he
has been stripped of his job, his home, his life, the last thing he wants is to be stripped a son.
Many Japanese Americans decided their fate with two answers; YES, YES or NO, NO.
The first question asked the Japanese if they were willing to serve in the U.S. military; the
second question asked if they were willing to swear allegiance to the United States and renounce
allegiance to Japan. These questions were not easy to answer, especially because of the harsh
living conditions the Japanese Americans were experiencing at this time. In spite of this reality I
think the Japanese at Manzanar camp were better off by answering YES, YES. The Wakatsuki

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family answered YES, YES which caused much controversy among the Pro-Japan supporters.
Pro-Japan supporters do not want to fight against their own people, nor do they want to declare
loyalty to a country who has imprisoned them unjustly. The Loyalty Oath raised an AntiAmerican sentiment in the camp. Pro-Japan supporters organized a massive resistance of a NO,
NO vote in the camp. Papa defended his YES, YES answers because he knew America would
win the war, and he also knew the alternative NO, NO would be much worse for him and his
family.
Although Jeanne Wakatsuki was only seven years old when her family was sent to live at
Manzanar camp, she was able to document the harsh realities thousands of Japanese families
lived during at Manzanar camp during WWII.

Works Cited Page

Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki., and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar; a True Story
of Japanese American Experience during and after the World War II Internment. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1973. pg.5-8, pg.80-83.