Democratic Party events 2013 and after

[eridani]

23. Sam Matsui speaks on his experience at Camp Minidoka; Burien 5/13

Evergreen Democratic Club

Angelo’s Restaurant
601 S 153rd St
Burien, WA

May 13, 1914
11:30am-1:00pm

Lunch ordered at 11:30am, presentation at 12pm
601 S 153rd St, Burien, WA


Join us for a special presentation by Sam Matsui of the Nisei Veterans Committee Speakers Bureau on his experiences in World War II. After being sent away to the Minidoka Internment Camp, he volunteered to serve in the US Army, where he served in the Counter Intelligence Corps.


As we slowly lose members of the Greatest Generation, let’s work hard to preserve the memories of that era.

If you are not a regular member of EDC, please RSVP to [e-mail] so that we can make sure there are enough seats


Camp Minidoka

"...These people are living in the midst of a desert where they see nothing except tar paper covered barracks, sagebrush, and rocks…. The impact of emotional disturbance as a result of the evacuation…plus this dull, dreary existence in a desert region surely must give these people a feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, and despair which we on the outside do not and will never fully understand."

--Arthur Klienkopf, Superintendent of Education, Minidoka Relocation Center

The Minidoka Relocation Center, 15 miles north of Twin Falls and 150 miles southeast of Boise, was also referred to as the Hunt Camp. Minidoka was considered a model environment because of its relatively peaceful atmosphere and population that got along well with the administration. Because it was not within the Western Defense Command restricted area, security was somewhat lighter than at most other camps. But when the internees first arrived, they were shocked to see the bleak landscape that was to be there home over the next three years.

Located on the Snake River Plain at an elevation of 4000 feet, the land is dotted with sagebrush and thin basaltic lava flows and cinder cones. The internees found the environment to be extremely harsh, with temperatures ranging from 30 degrees below zero to as high as 115 degrees. They also had to contend with blinding dust storms and ankle-deep mud after the rains.

Minidoka was in operation from August 10, 1942 to October 28, 1945. The reserve covered more than 33,000 acres of land in Jerome County. The camp’s peak population reached 9,397 by March 1, 1943, and it became Idaho's third largest city. Five miles of barbed wire fencing and eight watchtowers surrounded the administrative and residential areas, which were located in the west-central portion of the reserve.

Most of the people interned at Minidoka were from the Pacific Northwest: approximately 7,050 from Seattle and Bainbridge Island, Washington, 2,500 from Oregon and 150 from Alaska, including children or grandchildren of Eskimo women and Japanese men.

Our speaker Sam Matsui was interned there, as was one of our long-time members, Lily Shitama, who suggested Sam as a speaker. Member Rachael Levine grew up on a farm south of the Snake River. Her mother brought donations of coats to “the folks from the coast,” and wondered why the internment, since their own Japanese American neighbors were not interned. The official excuse was that these Japanese needed to be protected from a possible invasion of the enemy Japanese, because they could not be identified as Americans during such an invasion.