Hanna Sato-Sugitani: Interned at Rohwer, Arkansas
Hanna Sato-Sugitani was born in Loomis, California in 1927. She was a freshman at Loomis Union High School when Executive Order 9066 was issued.
Her family was sent to the relocation center at the Stockton Race Track. They remained there for six months while the children attended High School. It was in the Relocation Center that Hanna’s older sister graduated High School. Her family then boarded the trains heading to Rowher Camp in Arkansas several thousand miles away.
The journey was long as the trains carrying the internees was forced to pull off the tracks multiple times to allow other trains to pass. The family remained in the camp for three years, from 1942 to 1945.
During that time Hanna spent most of her days at High School and eventually graduated in the camp. When they were released Hanna and her family made their way to Bacon Island in California. There they made their living as farmers.