“The Ambulance”
“The doctor arrives by ambulance to transport his patient, a common practice due to the distances between the hospital and the three camps… Poston Hospital provides some basic dental services such as tooth extractions, fillings and general healthcare physicals and immunizations… But the hospital is greatly understaffed and lacks many supplies and equipment to support the large population (xx,xxx incarcerees tk).”
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“Run to the Women’s Toilet”
“… my mother races for the bathroom with arms pumping in a runner’s stride. The women’s communal flush toilets are inconveniently located and fitted with army issue toilet seats designed for soldiers. Mothers with children, the sick and elderly suffer greatly. Small children must be supervised for fear of falling through the seats to land in a raw sewage pit.”
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“Our First Meal – Not Out Kind of Food” 2/13/1943
“… an Issei man sits on a bench at a wooden picnic table and grimaces in disgust at the thought of eating hot dogs with catsup on Wonder Bread for his first camp dinner.”
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“The Train – Issao and Mutsushi See the Desert”
“… as they endure the thirty-hour train ride (from tk to the Poston prison camp) Gene is dressed in a suit. His signature forelock is swept to the right, as he looks out the window with his brother, worrying about their uncertain future.”
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headline, The Seattle Daily Times, April 16, 1942, p. 2
Copyright 1942, The Seattle Times. Courtesy of The Seattle Times.
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Jean Sogioka La Spina with “Dust Storm” by Gene Sogioka
photo: Kimiko Marr, 10/31/2017, Tequesta, Florida
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Gene Sogioka, 1942.
“Minnie Sogioka Nursing Cecile on the Train to Poston, Arizona”.
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Cecile’s handmade vaccination record from Poston.