Rohwer War Relocation Center The Rohwer War Relocation Center was a World War II Japanese American internment camp located in rural southeastern Arkansas , in Desha County . It was in operation from September 18 , 1942 until November 30 , 1944 , and held as many as 8 , 475 Japanese Americans forcibly evacuated from California . The Rohwer War Relocation Center Cemetery is located here , and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992 . History . The largest remaining structure is the high school gymnasium / auditorium , which was added to and was in service with the local school before it closed ( July 2004 ) . The tallest structure is the smokestack from the hospital incinerator . Neither of these is marked in any way to indicate historical significance . The rail line used to bring internees and supplies to the camp remains , though it is apparently abandoned . Some of the rails date back to World War II and before . This rail line also served the Jerome War Relocation Center , which was located southwest of Rohwer . Various building foundations , walkways , culverts and other improvements are still visible and some are still in use by the local residents . Trees planted by residents have grown tall . The camp cemetery survives as the only site still identified as having been part of the internment center . It was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1992 . It has a monument to Japanese American war dead from the camp , and also a monument to those who died at the camp . The camp site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 . A tank - shaped memorial , made of reinforced concrete , guards the cemetery , commemorating Japanese Americans who fought for the United States at Anzio and elsewhere in Italy and France during World War II . Thirty - one who came from Rohwer died in action , and their names are inscribed on the memorial , as well as a later memorial raised nearby . In its National Historic Landmark summary on the Rohwer Relocation Center Cemetery , the National Park Service writes : Rohwer Relocation Camp was constructed in the late summer and early fall of 1942 as a result of Executive Order 9066 ( February 19 , 1942 ) . Under this order , over 110 , 000 Japanese Americans and their immigrant parents were forcibly removed from the three Pacific Coast States — California , Oregon , and Washington . In all , ten camps were established in desolate sites , all chosen for their distance from the Pacific Coast . Over 10 , 000 evacuees passed through Rohwer during its existence , and over two thirds of these were American citizens . The monuments found within the camp ' s cemetery are perhaps the most poignant record of this time . " In its summary on the Rohwer Relocation Center Cemetery , the National Park Service indicates that the cemetery ' s condition is threatened due to deterioration of the grave markers and monuments , but that ownership of the site is unclear . Deterioration is visible in photographs of the site . Deterioration is discussed in a report from the National Park Service to the President . The cemetery is located west of State Route 1 , approximately northeast of McGehee , Arkansas . Signs identify the graded road which goes from the highway to the cemetery , where there is room to park automobiles . Shooting of residents by a civilian at Rohwer . M . C . Brown , a tenant farmer on horseback on his way home from deer hunting , came across some Japanese Americans from the Rohwer camp , on a work detail in the woods . He fired his gun , and one of the Japanese American men was struck in the hip by a pellet while another was wounded in the calf of the leg . The Japanese Americans were working in the woods under the supervision of a government engineer when the shooting occurred .