Thursday, November 3, 2011

Day 7-- A sober ending to wash day: Manzanar, Sunday, October 30, 2011

On awakening in Mammoth Lakes, Kathy announced that the first order of the day HAD to be washing clothes! So we headed in to the business district and found a laundromat. This activity used up much of our morning (yes, we don't always get up and around bright and early; which should not be a surprise to those that know Kathy! ;-) ), so we didn't get to0 far during the day's drive.

Remember the really OLLLLDDDD sequoia trees we saw a few days ago? Well, Chris was very interested in seeing some REALLY old trees, so when we saw the turn-off to go to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, we simply had to go. A winding road up took us, eventually, to the Visitor's Center administered by the US Forest Service.

Chris decided to to hike up some of the trail toward some other, older trees than what we had already seen and photographed on the way in to the site. He stopped at a fallen tree that had been 3200 years old when it fell in 1676! The plaque at the site also said the rings are so compact that one inch can contain 100 yearly rings! The oldest known bristlecone pines are over 4,000 years old. The oldest one (exact site undisclosed) is named "Methuselah."

If you compare the photos at of the bristlecone pine on the left to those of the sequoia on the right, you will see that just because you are tall and stately doesn't mean you will win the aging race! Being shorter and rather gnarly seems to work....













After returning to the main highway, we continued toward Kathy's "must-see" location on the trip: Manzanar National Historic Site, or the Manzanar War Relocation Center. Many readers of this blog may not be familiar with Manzanar. Manzanar was just one of several "relocation centers" (internment camp!) set up by the federal government beginning in 1942 for Japanese Americans.

Remember that this was shortly after Pearl Harbor had been attacked. American feelings were high and the war with Japan was escalating. In order to "protect" Japanese Americans from anti-Japanese discrimination (and to round-up potential "enemies"?) Japanese-Americans in the western 1/3 of the United States were sent to one of the camps with very little notice. Many either lost their businesses, homes, and belongings (they could take what they could carry only) or had to sell or have someone watch over their property for an undetermined length of time.

These centers were behind barbed wire and had guard towers with armed soldiers looking IN, not OUT, so they actually were little less than "prison camps" in many ways. Families often had to share a barracks (one big room) with strangers. They later split up the area with blankets so they could have more privacy).

The one difference from the usual prison camp it was attempted to have this community at Manzanar continue as "normally" as usual. Since several generations were living at Manzanar, there were schools for the kids, complete with sports teams, cheerleaders, bands, etc. Because they internees could not leave, other teams would come to the camp to play ball games (so Manzanar ALWAYS had the "home court advantage!" Teens from the nearby communities would come out for dances and some of the local high school students even petitioned to allow the Manzanar teens to attend the local high school. This didn't happen...

The community of around 10,000 residents also had factories they worked at, newspapers, and other aspects of American communities. Since residents could not leave, however, recreation was an important part of life. Some citizens made beautiful Japanese gardens for everyone's enjoyment (remember, this area is basically desert surrounded by mountains), but baseball was the big activity. They camp included 100 baseball teams, in twelve leagues! (Ansel Adams picture of a game.) Both men and women's teams were available.

The older generations at Manzanar were often immigrants from Japan since the late 1800s when emigration from Japan was allowed. However, the younger generations were mostly United States citizens!

This is the tragedy and the shame of the internment camps, as far as I am concerned. (and many others) Although our Constitution gives us some many rights and freedoms, all of these U.S. citizens had those rights violated! Big time.

There are no proven cases of espionage or sabotage by Japanese Americans during World War II, I believe. On the contrary, eventually many of the Japanese (both immigrants and next generation citizens) were allowed to join the armed forces and served gallantly in the European theater. A group of Manzanar detainees were deported because they would not, or could not, answer certain questions about loyalty during this time. Some were because of principles, some because the questions confused them or seemed to contradictory.

Before touring the museum and grounds (most of the buildings are gone now), a film is shown, Remembering Manzanar. The film is very informative and Kathy left with tears in her eyes; from sympathy, anger, and shame for the U.S. Chris also found the film moving.

Since it was late in the day, we really didn't get to view the museum completely. Kathy will be adding the book Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, to her reading list! [readers using Pathfinder Central can place a hold there!-kdr]. We did follow the driving tour of the grounds and got to read the informational signs before it got too dark.

Explore the link for the National Park (several paragraphs above) to learn even more about the history of this important site in American history.

We spent the night in a very nice RV park south of Manzanar near Lone Pine, California. Boulder Creek RV Resort had good facilities, a large store, even a jacuzzi. Chris especially liked the large community room; it had many nice groupings of sofas and comfortable chairs, as well as TV and tables to eat at. A free muffin and coffee breakfast is served. The showers were also very nice (yes, we seem to be somewhat obsessed with shower facilities!!)Link

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