Internment – Time of Remembrance – Bob Uyeyama
Bob Uyeyama was born in the Sheldon, California, in 1935. He attended Enterprise Elementary School for 1st grade. When World War II broke out, he was sent to Jerome and Rohwer internment camps. Following the War, he attended Sierra School. After graduating from Lodi Academy, he went on to Pacific Union College and also served in the Air Force for four years. He retired as Court Administrator of the South Sacramento Municipal Court District in 1998. He continues to be an active member of the Florin Japanese-American Citizens League (JACL).
Bob Uyeyama Interview
00:00 Introduction
00:18 Clip 1: Description of family when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
01:20 Clip 2: Loyalty oaths and “No, No’s” can compare to loyalty oaths during the McCarthy trials. Dad was taken to Tule Lake Detention Center for not signing oath. Dad was separated from family until the end of the war.
03:46 Clip 3: Released from camp and sent back to their homes with $25, everything was taken away, home and farm was gone, lived in Camp Kohler near McClellan Air Force base, lived at Japanese Methodist Church.
05:49 Clip 4: School experience when they returned to Florin from camp and his former friends would not accept him.
07:04 Clip 5: Starting all over from scratch. Family had nothing.
First-Hand Accounts of the Internment Experience
It is our hope that these stories will build on the work and legacy of the late Mary Tsukamoto, who devoted her life to promoting social justice for all, regardless of race, creed, or ethnicity.
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For more information about the Vietnam War, please visit: http://blogs.egusd.net/tor/interviews/vietnam-war/
