Memories from Heart Mountain

Stanley Hayami kept a diary during the time his family was incarcerated at the Heart Mountain Camp. The following excerpts reflect the complex emotions this experience evoked.

“May 14, 1943 - Friday. Today marks the end of one year in camp for me. I shall remember that day that I was evacuated for the rest of my life. I shall remember how I stood on the corner of Garvey and Atlantic with about a thousand others - then the busses (sic) came and whisked us off to camp. I shall remember the lump which came into my throat as the bus went down the street and when some of the people on the sidewalks and Mexican laborers in the field, waved at us.

“I shall remember the barbed wire, the armed guards, the towers, the dust, the visitors, the food, the long lines, the typhoid shots, my busboy job, my messenger job, the crowded barrack, the nightly talent shows, the good friends I made, my judo lessons, bed count, and finally the leaving on the train to here [Heart Mountain].

“I shall remember the train ride, the sleepless nights, the deserts, the mountains, the beautiful scenery. Now that I am here I think of the cold whether (sic) I have gone through, the dust storms, and the rest of my hardships. But I will also remember all the friends I made here, the tough school I went to and I feel no bitterness to the gov’t for the evacuation - though I still feel that it wasn’t right.”

Postscript - Stanley Hayami enlisted in the United States Army from Heart Mountain in June 1944 and was killed in action in Northern Italy on April 23, 1944. He was 19 years old.

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Memories from Heart Mountain