On this day in history...

1942 - War Relocation Authority established in the U.S. which eventually rounded up 120,000 Japanese-Americans and transported them to barb-wired relocation centers. Despite the internment, over 17,000 Japanese-Americans signed up and fought for the U.S. in World War II in Europe, including the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit in U.S. history.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared Executive Order 9066 earlier on February 19, 1942, stating that all Japanese-Americans were to be rounded up and sent to live in an internment facility. Given a mere 48 hours, families had to either sell or abandon everything that could not fit in a backpack and begin the journey of a bleak existence. Japanese-Americans had to board trains with no idea of their destination, bringing only what they could carry.

These facilities were not called concentration camps, but “War Relocation Centers.” Two were located in California, and eight were spread across the desert areas of the Southwest. Their neat rows of long wooden huts were guarded by floodlights and watchtowers with machine guns. There were hunger strikes and riots in several camps. Tule Lake, California was sealed by tanks and put under martial law for three months.