The BraceletBy Yoshiko Uchida

Vocabulary and context

evacuatedverb

Removed from an area

…every Japanese person on the West Coast was being evacuated by the government to a concentration camp. (p.150)

internedverb

Imprisoned or confined, especially during a war

Or maybe the messenger would have a telegram from Papa, who was interned in a prisoner-of-war camp in Montana… (p.151)

aliensnoun

foreignersThe government thought they were dangerous enemy aliens. (p.151)

forsakenadjective

Abandoned; deserted

But the garden looked shabby and forsaken now that Papa was gone and Mama was too busy to take care of it. P.152)

The bombing of Pearl HarborDecember 7, 1941

Japanese Americans and World War II

During World War II, America fought against Japan. At that time, the U.S. government grew paranoid about Japanese Americans.

Japanese-Americans were forced to shut down their businesses…and eventually…

They were sent to internment camps like this one. 120,000 Japanese Americans ended up in these camps.

Camp HarmonyPuyallup, WA

The camps finally were all closed by 1945. Now, the U.S. government is very sad about what had happened, but many people will never forget those days.