Fenced In

The internees were told they were being put into the camps for their own protection. While there may have been a small bit of truth in this, the question came up time and time again; "Why are the guns on the towers pointed in, not out."

The loss of freedom for many was humiliating and devastating to many. Fred Hoshiyama said that he became so depressed that he began thinking that perhaps he really had done something wrong... just by being Japanese-American. It must have been worse for many others, as Fred is one of the most upbeat positive people I have ever met. This feeling of depression became a kind of catalyst to help others in the camps by helping start hundreds of programs."

Some of the guards sympathized with the internees, and actually weeped. Others thought of the Japanese-Americans as "the enemy," and were hostile. Several internees were shot and killed for getting too close to the fence. Many soldiers fighting overseas were enraged by what was happening in the camps, and wrote letters to the gov't asking "Why the freedoms they were fighting and dying for were denied to their fellow Americans?"  Policies were changed and relaxed a bit as the war progressed, and Japanese-Americans could apply to live in work in other parts of the U.S., so long as it wasn't the west coast.

Above: Families that moved out of the camps would often visit relatives when they could.