[radio broadcast] United States of America... -December 7th, 1941... - ...was suddenly and deliberately attacked... - Japanese Americans shared in the horror of millions of Americans.

- ...by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

- As the Empire of Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

My story begins on Bainbridge Island.

I'm seven years old.

Lilly, get kindling ready for Papa's bath.

He'll be home soon.

Mama's stressed.

Everyone seems to be.

[PHONE RINGING] Hello?

Oh, hi, Mr.

Friedlander.

Oh!

That's Papa's work.

Papa works across the water in Seattle.

He's their best salesman.

What do you mean?

Arrested?

Oh.

Oh... Oh, yes.

Yes, I understand.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Friedlander.

This farm originally belonged to my grandparents.

My grandpa was late to find property to become his farm and so the only available place with any acreage was here on Fletchers Bay on Bainbridge Island.

This is our farm.

And that's me.

The very first Bainbridge Island Japanese immigrant that we can track to the US census arrived at Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island in 1883.

So, that means by 1942, the longest standing families on the island could have been there for 60 years.

And that could have been two whole generations.

Bainbridge Island is about halfway down Puget Sound, and it's about a 35-minute ferry ride from Seattle.

Among Japanese American immigrants, most were mill workers at the world's largest sawmill at the time at Port Blakely Mill.

When the mill closed, the majority stayed on Bainbridge and became farmers.

Bainbridge, oddly became the world's largest producer of the Marshall Strawberry, so there are many strawberry farmers, and some of the farms were expansive.

Hundreds of acres.

Bainbridge Island is a little bit different in its isolation and its kind of limited size, and the fact that everybody was really integrated together.

I often marvel because when I have been interviewed and I'm asked about my experience and, and I would honestly have to say that at that time I was a child and I had no idea that there was a war, or that it was such a terrible, traumatic time for the adults.

In today's news, we hear daily about the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

That was the driving force of the first round of forced removal, which was of Japanese immigrants, our first generation, who were rounded up by the Department of Justice and the FBI.

No hearing, no charges.

Many fathers just picked up leaving families without the father, mother with their small children.

Taking these men away and putting them in Department of Justice camps.

Japanese Americans became very frightened.

If these people who had not done anything wrong were being taken away, could I be next?

And so they started destroying everything that they had in their house that would tie them to Japan.

Any letters from family in Japan.

Any books with Japanese writing.

They were scared.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the popular press, legislators on every level of government called for the removal of persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast.

President Roosevelt heard those calls and issued Executive Order 9066, authorizing General John L DeWitt, who was the commander of the Western Defense, to issue a series of orders.

The first was an order designating the western halves of California, Oregon, and Washington and parts of Arizona as a military zone.

He then issued a curfew order that applied to German immigrants, Italian immigrants, and Japanese immigrants, but in addition applied the curfew to persons of Japanese ancestry who were American citizens.

So, it was really the only American citizens that the curfew applied to were American citizens of Japanese ancestry.

After that, there was a freeze order that he issued that said that persons of Japanese ancestry, citizens and immigrants alike could not leave the area.

And the next set of orders that came out was a series of 108 Civilian Exclusion Orders ordering Japanese Americans in neighborhood after neighborhood across the West Coast to report for removal.

Bainbridge Island was the first order that was issued that required persons of Japanese ancestry there to report for removal.

March 24th, 1942.

The Army brought posters to downtown Winslow on Bainbridge Island and literally posted the Exclusion Order Number One, calling all Japanese persons, "both alien..." "...and non-alien," to report for removal.

When you say "alien," you know that it means "immigrants."

And when you say "non-alien," it stands for "citizens."

"Evacuation."

"Evacuation" has the implication that we are taking you to safety.

And that's going from a dangerous place to a safer place.

And that was totally not the case when we were quote, "evacuated."

You weren't given a choice and you were going to be removed, torn from your home.

It's not evacuating you to safety.

That is the most convoluted way to avoid admitting that you are unconstitutionally telling people without due process that they're to report here, whether you're a "non-alien" or not, meaning whether you're an American citizen, or not.

You had to leave your homes, your jobs, your farms, your businesses.

You were going to be sent somewhere in the United States but where was going to be.

The night before we were to be going, Mama said, tomorrow we're taking the ferry to Seattle and it'll be like a vacation.

We're going on vacation.

- Is everything okay, Mama?

Hey, you know what?

I forgot to tell you?

We're going somewhere tomorrow, Lilly.

We're going on a ferry.

-What?

-A train.

It'll be like a vacation.

Yay!

This would be the last time I would see my home for three years.