Manzanar - How Everyone Was Impacted: Life as an Innocent Prisoner

On December 7, 1941, the United States entered World War II, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Therefore, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which gave the War Department the authority to designate military areas and to exclude from these areas anyone who might threaten the war effort (Wakatsuki-Houston and Houston xiv). This order was meant for all of the Japanese and Japanese-Americans that were living in the United States during this time. They were sent …

…much during her life, Jeanne becomes a strong, successful woman. She is able to go back and remember her life as a prisoner and after their release and understand why this had happened to her and countless other Japanese-Americans. She writes down her memories for others to share, something that had to be difficult to do. She realizes the importance of her heritage, family bonds, the impact of war, and the cruelty of racial divisiveness.