A Fence Away From Freedom
Grade 7 Up-Loss of property, liberty, and in a few cases, life for Americans of Japanese descent, was the result of Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in February of 1944. More than 110,000 people were removed from their homes along the West Coast and moved to makeshift facilities in the interior euphemistically labeled "relocation camps." Levine has gathered together the personal testimony of 35 survivors, all of whom were children or teenagers at the time. These moving stories clearly demonstrate the depth of racial hatred present in the U.S. even before Pearl Harbor. That little or no protest was raised by the majority of Americans at the time doesn't seem surprising. What is astonishing, however, is how loyal most of the Japanese Americans remained to the U.S. government. The testimony gathered here tells of many young men who volunteered for the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team and fought with distinction in Europe. But readers are also told of those who resisted the government and the price that they paid for it. Conditions in the camps are described in great detail, including the many adaptations that people came up with to cope with internment and try to carry on a normal life. This is an excellent source of information about a period of our history that is just beginning to be fully examined.David N. Pauli, Missoula Public Library, MTCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.