Japanese Internment Center Revealed

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By Penny Preston

Story Published: Dec 20, 2009 at 6:23 PM MST

Story Updated: Dec 20, 2009 at 6:23 PM MST

WYOMING - The Heart Mountain Internment Center put thousands of Japanese Americans behind barbed wire in Northwest Wyoming during World War II.

People who vow to never let it happen again are building an interpretation center nearby. The construction is in its final phase now. The winter wind blows across monuments commemorating the military service, and sacrifice of Japanese internees from Heart Mountain.

When the first families arrived here in 1942, the winds were much colder. The Director of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, Dave Reetz explains, “These barracks that were built were actually built in less than an hour. They weren’t insulated when the internees came here, and they came here in August through November, and it was one of the coldest winters on record.”

The Heart Mountain Interpretation center looks like the barracks on the outside. Among the exhibits planned for the inside are two different barracks. Reetz said, “We’re going to feature two barracks.

One will be as they appeared as the first time they saw a barrack, an internee. So it will be a simple bare light bulb, a wooden stove, a cot, and a mattress.”

The last phase of construction is underway now. Reetz explained, “We’ve constructed 7,000 of 11,000 square feet of the shell of the building. We’re now constructing the remaining 4,000 square feet.”

Foundation Board Member Pete Simpson said, “Well over half to three quarters of the money that’s needed has already been raised, or committed.”

Simpson is just as excited about the project as Reetz. He and his brother Al Simpson visited the relocation camp as youngsters, when their scoutmaster insisted they join the jamboree there.

Simpson remembered, “He says they swear the same oath, they wear the same uniform and we’re going out.” The brothers both made friends. Simpson said, “I befriended a guy who I thought was funnier than Bob Hope. But, Al kept in touch with a friend he later served in Congress with.” That was Norm Mineta.

Simpson remembers seeing his friends, American citizens, behind barbed wire, and surrounded by armed guards. He, and Reetz hope the center will teach our nation to never let it happen again.

Many of he internees joined the armed services and fought for the United States in World War II. Fifteen of them died in combat.

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Takashi Hoshizaki said on Monday, Dec 21 at 7:03 PM

For the very fact that Guantanomo came into being is why the story of Japanese Americans placed in ten concentrations camps in United States during WWII must be told so it will never happen again. Apparently our WWII story is unknown for the majority of Americans. The Learning Center being built in Wyoming is an effort to educate the public so it will never happen again.

Anonymous said on Monday, Dec 21 at 8:20 AM

The people who "vow never to let it happen again" have apparently never heard of Guantanomo Bay Cuba. Hundreds of interns guilty of no crime and determined to be of no threat to the U.S. or its interests have been held there for years at a time.

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