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Show INTE I TI i~ , J Y Autun , 1.42 H1Atory came sud~enly into the livP.s of all ~mericans 1th the bo bs that f ,.,ll on P.P-rl Harbor, and though they ·_rere drop eel thous n~s of miles dista.1 t , thlfr;y ricocheted into the homes of I) · cif!c Co st resident.J f Jap nese lineage. h. rly in ~~larch , 194:-'. Lieutenant Gener ~1 John L. e 1 tt defined! ilit ry • rea Jo . 1 , bro1.d str1. alonft the ~est Co at va.ry1~ , fro ~ 60 to 1 '10 mi 1es in cle th , A-nd set up the artime Civilian ont1~o:t ~ dministrq.tion to ha.n..=ue the evacuation fro . that re .,ion of all ern)le of' Jtip nese ancestry, aliens and c1t1- · zeus alike . y June first the ..... xodu~ was pr.oct1cally co "let~d , and 1 o, ~ao eo le ha be ~ n moved to temporary Assembly Centers or to loc tion Are~s . · early 2 r' m .. mbers and alumni of the Berkeley International House vere am9ng those affected by th~ evac1~t1on orders . At this .ri ting \ ~e· tember 2f,) some are a.lreac~y in Reloc· tion re:..s , buildinr u ~ ·~ ne com~1nity life there ; others are still in Asse~ l)ly Cente1~s awaiting their· remo al to rtelocH.tion re~.s . As students and gra.du .tes of the University of , lifornia, th~y have taken Dlaces of leadershiD in their new surroundinF.a . In the follo :ing ex(}erpts from their letters t'hey tell some of the chang s that the wa.r and the evanuatlon hav'9 brought into their lives . (Only a ~ev of the letters are include~ and these , re limite tQ those ·ri tten from J~ssembly Centerc:! . Acloi tional letters may be · l)Ublishecl in the 1inter Isst.te • . <Jd. ) " Y lA ~ (1842) , A3se bly CPnter at ~.,resno , in July : My first impression of thP, C.enter? Well- - maybe I wa.s re-j udic ~d . You e H, e ·~ er~ evacuated on May 13 , and 4a.y 13 gas the day on •rhich I rr~s to be ;tr. iiu ted from th, Uni Vf7r. i ty ••• I could.n 1 t helo b t notice the contra t bet-een the t n oc~~~ions . At any :rn .e, m.r main im-r:Jr(~ssione were of heat and dust . By now, .of course th ,lace 1s more f a111ar , rn( such As it 1 , is home. It'~ stran~e hat •to for&:'et . o soon the feelin~ of utter desol t1on that \ e lB.d J.e11 e first came . c.·o to rene_ my 1m ressions , I looked back in my r1iary , and I find , " ill the wind never stop blowinrz the dust around ln this miniature dust bo 11 The (~ust seer~s into my clothing, the blankets, and even bet ecn my teeth! - Ju~t t·o days since I ~ashed my h 1r an'l it ' e ali'e&dy stiff !lith rlust . And on ton of' thA.t , the tra from th mattresses insistQ on leakin out onto the tl~or ! d An· the n<:xt day: "I'm beg1nn1n -~ to un erstand the meaning of the ord ' ~tern1 ty. ' It SPems as if' we t ve been here forever, and it 1 s only been four days . · t i: ill :l. t se m like when e • v be~n here for a cou le of months?" |
