Mary Tsukamoto

In the following essay, Mary Tsukamoto, a resident of Florin, California, at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, recalls her experience during the evacuation of Japanese residents from the West Coast. As a member of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), Tsukamoto tried her best to help Japanese residents comply with relocation orders, despite the confusing and often conflicting instructions issued by government officials. In addition to coping with her own fears, Tsukamoto offered spiritual comfort to other members of the Japanese community suffering from the stress of having to leave their lives behind. Tsukamoto describes the grief endured by the Japanese community when it was learned that neighborhoods and communities were going to be split up in the coming relocation.

Ido remember Pearl Harbor day. I was about twentyseven, and we were in church. It was a December...