Manzanar - "Soul Consoling Tower"
In the middle of the desolate, windy and quiet Owens Valley in the Eastern Sierra, the U.S. government created a War Relocation Center in 1942 and incarcerated nearly 11,000 Japanese people, many of whom were 1st or 2nd generation American citizens. None of the 110,000 Japanese people interned in the camps throughout the west were ever tried or accused of any war crimes. President Reagan signed a reparations act in 1988 and disbursed $20,000 to each of the living former internees. It marked the end of a sad and embarrassing chapter in American history.
The Japanese inscription means "soul consoling tower"; there are colorful paper cranes tied to the posts and a few pair of shoes left nearby.
Nothing remains of the large encampment in the desert other than the stone foundations of the buildings, an interpretive center and this beautiful monument. It's well worth a stop if you're driving by on U.S. 395.
Manzanar - "Soul Consoling Tower"
In the middle of the desolate, windy and quiet Owens Valley in the Eastern Sierra, the U.S. government created a War Relocation Center in 1942 and incarcerated nearly 11,000 Japanese people, many of whom were 1st or 2nd generation American citizens. None of the 110,000 Japanese people interned in the camps throughout the west were ever tried or accused of any war crimes. President Reagan signed a reparations act in 1988 and disbursed $20,000 to each of the living former internees. It marked the end of a sad and embarrassing chapter in American history.
The Japanese inscription means "soul consoling tower"; there are colorful paper cranes tied to the posts and a few pair of shoes left nearby.
Nothing remains of the large encampment in the desert other than the stone foundations of the buildings, an interpretive center and this beautiful monument. It's well worth a stop if you're driving by on U.S. 395.