Bo T. Sakaguchi: From Manzanar to a Career in Dentistry

Manzanar National Historic Site publishes short "ID booklets" on Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. This is Bo T. Sakaguchi's first-person account, retold in hubnx's own words.

Family No. 3751 · Manzanar, California · Address 11-7-3

A farm family

Bo Sakaguchi's parents came to the United States in 1913 and farmed vegetables. He was the youngest of seven, all born in California; his three older brothers and three older sisters were studying medicine and dentistry at university. Bo was at North Hollywood High School, a past president of the scholarship society, just elected to a service club.

Losing it all

The family had about a month to sell. Their planted crops and farm equipment went in a forced "sale" at a heavy loss, and the personal belongings they stored in the farm shed were later stolen in a break-in. They were told to bring what fitted in one suitcase, including warm clothes. Hardest to leave behind, Bo says, were his childhood school friends — and his freedom.

The family was split up: one brother went to Gila, Arizona, one to Jerome, Arkansas, and one was at Marquette University in Wisconsin. Bo, his parents and his three sisters went to Manzanar. It began to rain as they boarded the buses, and a woman standing nearby said even the sky was crying. The long ride was silent; no one knew what to expect.

Camp

At 11-7-3 the room was dusty and cramped, shared with another couple, with army cots and straw-stuffed mattresses. There was no privacy in the showers or toilets, and everyone queued at the common mess hall. The school fell far short of his old one — unqualified teachers, poor facilities — and Bo, a quiet, above-average student, lost his enthusiasm. He enjoyed his classmates and "block friends", and knitted three sweaters listening to the radio at night. His senior class adviser, Janet Olincy Goldberg, kept urging the students not to give up.

Second-class citizens

Bo left camp to go with his father to Salt Lake City for cancer treatment; there, children shouted slurs at him to go home. At 18, though a U.S. citizen, he was classified 4-C, enemy alien, for the draft. He later joined his brother in Chicago, passed an Army physical in 1944 but failed another at Fort Douglas, Utah, and was classed 4-F — until he was drafted a week after VJ Day.

His parents pushed education. Bo was admitted to UCLA for the summer of 1945; Asian students could not join any dental fraternity on the West Coast. He graduated from the University of Southern California School of Dentistry and practised for 42 years.

For decades the family tried to forget the camps, until the redress movement reawakened the memories. Even after his degree and career, Bo says, he felt like a second-class, inferior citizen — and only felt equal when the letter of apology signed by President Reagan arrived. His great regret is that so many died before the government apologised for their shabby treatment, despite the rights the Bill of Rights guarantees.

His advice to students: life brings hardships and challenges; aim high, study and work hard, give your best, and you should succeed.

Sources

• National Park Service, Manzanar National Historic Site, "Bo T. Sakaguchi," an ID booklet. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/bo-t-sakaguchi.htm
• More: Manzanar ID booklets.
• Words on this page from people and organisations outside the federal government are paraphrased; rewritten in hubnx's own words.