As early as the 1910's, Japanese
men were recruited to come and work at the Eatonville Lumber Company.
These men labored worked hard and embraced their little town beneath the great
mountain. Soon, these men brought their Japanese wives and raised their
children here. Many of their children were born in Eatonville and were
American citizens. Those of Japanese
descent worked right along side other mill workers for the same pay.
Sakura Family at home in Eatonville |
“The Japanese lived in make-shift shacks because most were
not allowed to own their own houses. Their homes were clean and
orderly with beautifully kept yards. The kids used to marvel as even the
dirt was raked in front of the homes. The Japanese kept to themselves and
never were about town much at all. They went to work for the Eatonville
Lumber Company and only shopped at the company store next to the mill”
(Brown) .
In 1915, Japanese men
demonstrated their love for the town as they rushed into the burning hardware
store and removed the dynamite stored in the back.
Japanese Eatonville Lumber Company Baseball Team |
The Japanese enjoyed
life in Eatonville and working for the Lumber Company. The company even
sponsored a winning baseball team.
Japanese children attended Eatonville schools where they
learned and played together with the white students. It made no
difference that they were Japanese. Many Japanese were class representatives, ASB officers, and
school athletes.
The Japanese were involved
with the town of Eatonville but still maintained traditions. There were
sumo matches, a community hall, Japanese school, and even printed their own
"Even in a remote
lumbering mill camp like Eatonville, Washington, the Japanese community managed
to publish a coterie literary magazine, Kyomei meaning Resonance (Kumei)."
Japanese Players on the Basketball Team |
EHS ASB included Japanese Students |
Then, the unthinkable happened: Attack on Pearl Harbor in
1941. On a Sunday, the Nation of Japan executes an attack of a navel base
with thousands of unsuspecting American troops bringing the death toll of
2,390.
Because of the practice of sending
Japanese children to Japan for a few years to strengthen culture and existing
close family ties, all people of Japanese descent are deemed suspect.
Immediately after the attack on
Pearl Harbor, “State Patrolmen searched the homes [in Eatonville] of the
Japanese and took away all firearms, some of which were stored in the town hall
for a long time.” (Engal).
Signs from the Sumner Anti-Japanese Group |
The Order sanctioned the
removal of all Japanese to "camps of concentration," as Dispatch
Publisher Eugene Larin wrote at the time.
Children, elderly, infants, none was allowed to remain in their various
communities. It mattered not if the
people were American citizens or loyal to the United States. They lost everything but the clothes on their
backs and the few belongings they could carry.
People were given 48 hours to prepare for this terrible
experience.
Type of truck that transported Japanese out of Eatonville |
May 16, 1942: the day the Japanese were taken from
Eatonville, Washington. The sound of many, The Japanese were hastily loaded. As the loud trucks roared out of town and
down the hill, the Japanese looked at all those watching. Both could only
stare. “The children were stunned; in shock. The homes still had
most of the Japanese families’ belonging since they were only allowed two
suitcases per person. All else was left behind. An Eerie
site.” Lois Daly Brown
large Army Transport trucks
were heard coming up the hill. The massive trucks with large wooden
slates and no cover blustered down the road to where all the Japanese families
lived.Miss Stinnette's 5th Grade Class (notice the boy with the "Remember Pearl Harbor" sweater 2nd row 3rd from the right |
The Japanese children and all the
other children of Eatonville knew each other as they went to classes and played
sports together. Lois Daly Brown was shocked as all of her Japanese schoolmates
were gone: Teddy, Bobby, and all the well-kept little girls, gone.
“Teachers were crying and the children kept asking why; what happened?
Many adults would not or could not talk about it for days.” Brown stated that Japanese were
such good people and it was a horrible, dark day she remembers clearly 69 years
later (Brown).
"There are about 62 men of Japanese
origin employed by the Eatonville Lumber Co., of whom almost exactly half
are American-born citizens, a number of them born in Eatonville and lived here
all their lives. The mill workers among them are members of the Lumber &
Sawmill Workers Union.”
"Eatonville's Japanese settlement had been here for about 30
years. About 100 Japanese, including
women and children, were here recently. The
maximum at any time was about 150, it is stated (Dixie Walter).”Puyallup Fairgrounds "Camp Harmony" LOC 10617 |
Excerpt from Chet Sakura's first letter to the Eatonville Dispatch June 5, 1942.
…Camp Harmony is directly under the
Wartime Civilian Control Authority (WCCA) Supervision, with details carried out
by our own camp staff. Chief of Staff is
the well-known editor of the Japanese American Courier, James Y. Sakamoto. Under him is a capable staff and many workers
among which, of course, are many Eatonville people. We police the camp with our own police force
and among them are Mack Nogaki, Isa Saito, Kaz Naito, and Ken Nogaki.
“In the kitchen clean-up crew, we find a number of
Eatonville Hi boys, Pete Yoshino, Hiroki Hosokawa, Taro Kawato, and Mas Kudo,
and of the others there’s Sumitani, Nakatani, Hashimoto, and Takeda (Setter). Everybody gets in and digs here, in even the
lowest jobs. In the children’s mess hall,
I found Jerry Kurose, the head dishwasher, with Shorty Nozaki his assistant. Of course, all the sanitation and general
maintenance is kept up by our own crews and we find Sam Kumata one of the
foremen of a work crew.”
One group of 200 left for Tule Lake, California, last week, among them Ken Nogaki, Kaz Naito, Tak Yamaguchi, and Eddie Nakamura. Another group of 13 left for the Montana beet fields, with them Jack Nagaoka and family. They left as a trial group and reports are so favorable that more are going soon. Howard and Alice Sakura and Mack Nogaki have signed to go with the next group. We’re all anxious to be permanently settled and view each announcement with great interest. Well, there’ll be more next week, with additional details of work and recreational programs, so, until then, Your correspondent, Chester Sukura P.S. - I just received the Dispatch this evening and it seems strange to see my letter in there. It seems as though I should be there in Eatonville, helping with the local war efforts, but I guess I just have to wait now. But my hopes and wishes go with your efforts.” (Walter).
One group of 200 left for Tule Lake, California, last week, among them Ken Nogaki, Kaz Naito, Tak Yamaguchi, and Eddie Nakamura. Another group of 13 left for the Montana beet fields, with them Jack Nagaoka and family. They left as a trial group and reports are so favorable that more are going soon. Howard and Alice Sakura and Mack Nogaki have signed to go with the next group. We’re all anxious to be permanently settled and view each announcement with great interest. Well, there’ll be more next week, with additional details of work and recreational programs, so, until then, Your correspondent, Chester Sukura P.S. - I just received the Dispatch this evening and it seems strange to see my letter in there. It seems as though I should be there in Eatonville, helping with the local war efforts, but I guess I just have to wait now. But my hopes and wishes go with your efforts.” (Walter).
Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation |
In the June 12, 1942
issue of the Eatonville Dispatch, Sakura writes:
We have had a few visitors from Eatonville and all of us
certainly enjoyed the visits. Fred
Roeder and family visited last Sunday and brought some household goods to us. They also brought a few flowers that were
greatly appreciated. After having a
garden full of flowers, we certainly miss them and tell any other visitor that
flowers will be very welcome.
“Butch” Snyder dropt
[sic] by and we saw Ray Nadeau and family at the gate too. It seems strange to see people outside the
gate wanting to get in and people inside wanting to get out, all for the mutual
interest of friendly visits. We wonder
which side of the gate is which and why there should be a gate there with so
many visitors. There are visitors at the
gate at all times and on Saturday and Sunday, the gate is jammed. All this indicates that the American people
are the friendliest people in the world and makes us all feel good inside.
June 18, 1942
“It’s rather hard to start a letter this week after reading in the Dispatch of
another
I knew Chuck Biggs well (killed in action in Alaska at Dutch Harbor
during the Japanese attack there on June 3.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Biggs, Sr.) well and saw him grow
from a little lad like my boy, to be a soldier.
And now, as those close to us make the supreme sacrifice, we feel more
determined in doing the things Uncle Sam asks us to do willingly to help with
the war efforts.”(Walter). Eatonville's Japanese population was taken to Minidoka internment camp in Eden, Idaho after spending time at "Camp Harmony.” It is a stark contrast from the green forest and foothills of Mt. Rainier.
“Dust was everywhere, in the
house, in our clothes, in our bed, and in our mouth. The wind blows it up in clouds, and it’s very
uncomfortable to say the least. When the
wind blows, the dust comes in through the slightest crack, especially around
windows and doors. But now, the
Engineering Department has been sprinkling the streets and eventually the dirt
will be packed down. The bright spot of
all this dust is the grass planting program, as soon as water is available.” Chet Sakura September 5, 1942 (Walter)
John Bigelow Hunt, Idaho. 3/12/43. The Bancroft Library. University of Cal, Berkeley |
Left to right All the children, except the baby, belong to
Chester.
are, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Sakura and their baby, Frederick Scott
Sakura, 10 weeks old; Chester is holding Jr., age 2; John David, age 7, is
standing in front of Mrs. Chester Sakura; Gerald, 3-1/2, is in front of Kenny;
Mrs. Misa Sakura, mother of the Sakura brothers; and Ted.In October, Sakura and several others went to the beet fields, where they averaged $5 a day. In his letter to the Eatonville Dispatch Sakura said, “I would still rather be in Eatonville working as a common laborer at $6.60 [sic]. I often think of work and things back home and at the same time compare with the locations we’ve been settled in.” Sakura had been a radio repairman in Eatonville (Walter).
Chester Sakura Radio Repairmen. Former
resident: Eatonville, Washington (Walter).
|
During their time at Camp
Minidoka, the Japanese ran schools, governing committees, social functions,
weddings, funerals, and churches. They tried to make life as normal as possible.
Several Japanese enlisted for duty in WWII.
The main
fighting group of Japanese was the men of the 442nd. They were a self-sufficient fighting force
and fought with uncommon distinction in Italy, southern France, and
Germany. The unit became the most highly
decorated regiment in the history of the United States Armed Forces, including
21 Medal of Honor recipients. The
families of many of its soldiers were in internment camps.
At war’s
end, the camps closed. To return to home “someday” never came for Chet
Sakura, or other Eatonville Japanese who wished to return to town. Upon
investigation they found their return would not be popular with some of the
local people. An “Anti-Jap Association,”
with headquarters in Sumner, had a branch in Eatonville. Even the
veterans of the war entitled to their former job status, did not return
(Walter).
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