Interned Scouts hold rare reunion. 60 years ago: Barbed wire surrounded them as they got merit badges
Article from The Salt Lake Tribune (6/12/05), originally published in The Washington Post: Interned Scouts hold rare reunion. 60 years ago: Barbed wire surrounded them as they got merit badges The Boy Scouts of Troop 343, no longer boys by any measure, met here last week for their first reunion in more than 60 years. A little older, a little grayer and a smidge wiser, they greeted their fellow Scouts with delighted grins. This was their chance to remember the good times - the camp-outs, the flag-raising ceremonies, the stew they cooked in tin cans. But it was also a time to reflect on the circumstances that brought them together. As Scouts, they did all the things that other Boy Scouts did: They earned merit badges and learned the Scout pledge. And they did it all living behind barbed wire. The boys, now in their 70s and 80s, were among the 120,000 Japanese Americans sent to live in internment camps during World War II. Their homes were wooden barracks in Heart Mountain in Wyoming and Manzanar and Tule Lake in California. Their campgrounds were muddy fields watched by armed guards. To read the full article, go to: http://sltrib.com/nationworld/ci_2797646. |
