The Dehumanization Of Japanese-Americans In Unbroken By Miné Okubo

War can be a heartbreaker, a loss of connection, or a big realization. It does not just affect the soldier, but the family, friends and colleagues of the individual. In World War II, Japanese-American citizens in the United States and U.S. prisoners of war in Japan experienced horrific trauma that made them feel invisible, although many resisted. A Japanese-American named Miné Okubo was a typical citizen who was deployed to a internment camp because on February 19, 1942 Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt and was put into law. Mine’ Okubo had been exiled to an internment camp during World War II along with thousands of other Japanese-Americans. In Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, a hero named Louie Zamperini exhibited incredible

Unfortunately, the Olympics were canceled and so were his dreams. The onset of World War II changed Zamperini’s life. Throughout the internment camps in Japan, POWs were denied their basic human rights, cut off from the outside world, and beaten on a regular basis. Although the American POWs and Japanese-Americans were treated brutally, they still fought dehumanization and isolation. Okubo, a United States citizen at birth, was well-known for her stunning art talent. Her and her brother Toku had a Japanese heritage which caused their lives to change drastically. She, like many internees, was denied her freedom and right of being an United States citizen. Okubo’s positive mindset led her to a hopeful future. When president Roosevelt signed the executive order the Okubo’s were informed on April 23,1942 that they had three days to pack their belongings and report to an assembly center. The two internees were only allowed to bring what they could carry. They had to leave all their personal belongings behind like their home, pictures, pets, jobs, but most of all her old self. When the two had left they were not sure if they were going to return. When the family got to the center

The Okubo’s fought through being called number 13660. When the internees were bussed to their internment camps they realized that the government was trying to isolate them from the outside world by taking them to camps out on the West Coast. By putting the prisoners out in the mountainous states and in the arid desert they had little resources. In the Map of Japanese-American Internment Camps, it shows that the camps were together so that it was easy to keep track of all the prisoners, but they were still away from the city. Along with makeshift homes and camps the Western states provided little resources. Okubo explains that they were kept in horse stables that were filthy and small. During the day it got extraordinarily hot and at night it was freezing. At any point in the day they were exposed to rattlesnakes and unsanitary conditions. The camps were fenced in with barb wire and guards were on duty all day. It was impossible to reach freedom. By the United States government losing trust in the internees they suffered humiliation. The internees were