Multi-media drama shows students internment camps

In a time when Americans are debating the value of freedom versus national security, Eagle Valley Middle School students got an up-close look Wednesday at another time when the country faced the same dilemma.

Images of Japanese Americans being rounded up and deposited into internment camps flashed across the screen in the school's gymnasium. The film was synchronized with a performance in which Mona Leach acted out the life of a fictional character, Emmy.

"Many people back then thought something like this could never happen," she said. "It gradually came about."

The play chronicled the life of Emmy and her family as the father was taken to prison and the rest of the family was taken to an internment camp in Idaho.

They were among 120,000 people of Japanese descent who were confined during World War II under Executive Order 9066.

Of them, two-thirds were American citizens and more than half were under the age of 18. None was accused of any crime.

Emmy dreamed of becoming a teacher and, at one point, was called to teach fifth-graders in the camp.

"We began each day with the Pledge of Allegiance," she said. "I found it hard to recite, especially the part about liberty and justice for all."

She told of meeting a small child in camp one day who longed for her old life.

"I want to go back to America," the young girl lamented.

Emmy's life was based on true-life accounts gathered by playwright Ken Mochizuki and brought to life in the drama, "Within the Silence" performed by the Living Voices theater company.

At the conclusion of the performance, Leach spoke with students, encouraging them to find relevance in their own lives.

She told them the racism she saw in Seattle, where she lives, against Arab-Americans after Sept. 11.

And she asked them to put themselves in the story, first relating it to her own life as the daughter of a Filipino emigrant in the United States.

"Can you imagine your parents being treated this way?" she asked the students. "It would break my father's heart."

Adam Haney, 13, drew a connection between World War II and today's War on Terror.

"I think it could happen again," he surmised. "To help not do it, I think we should get out of their country. We already caught the major leader."

And he has advice for people at home.

"You need to treat all people with respect - they're Americans too."

Guidance counselor Warren Wish arranged for the performance to coincide with an already-scheduled performance in Lake Tahoe for a convention of state judges hosted by the Nevada Supreme Court.

"If you don't learn from history, you're bound to repeat it," he said. "In this time of uneasiness, we have a lot to learn. We have to come together and preserve the Constitution even in times of crisis."

Contact Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or at 881-1272.