Andrew J. Mayeshiba Papers

In this letter, Andrew's older brother Ed writes to him from the Army. Ed urges Andy, who is a high school student, to take care of their father and step up and be the "man of the family". At the time this letter was written Andy and his father were still living in their home in Los Angeles and had not yet been incarcerated at Heart Mountain.

This letter was written by Ed to his brother Andy while Andy and his father are being held in the War Relocation Authority's  Pomona Reception Center. Ed cautions Andy not to get taken advantage of if they decide to sell the family car. Many Japanese American incarceree families like the Mayeshibas had no choice but to sell their belongings at a loss.

This letter, written by Andy's friend Jim, makes it clear that Andy is missed by his Caucasian friends back in Los Angeles. Yet even among friends, there was a lack of awareness about the conditions being endured by the Japanese American incarcerees at Heart Mountain.

From this letter, we know that despite being incarcerated, Andrew was able to send Christmas cards to his friends back in Los Angeles. Andrew had apparently sent Mr. and Mrs. Marks the Heart Mountain Sentinel newspaper and asked them to send him some lamp cord and aerial wire. For those incarcerated Japanese Americans that had sympathetic Caucasian friends, maintaining contact with them was a way to get items sent to Heart Mountain.

From this letter, we know that Andrew's father had been a gardener in Los Angeles and is now working at a mess hall in Heart Mountain. Cornwall is a sympathetic friend, and writes "Many of us wish, and I think there is a plan under way, that our good Japanese neighbors could be released." In fact, there was no U.S. Government accepted plan to release Japanese American incarcerees in March of 1943.

In this letter, Ed tells his brother Andy that he will be able to take a furlough leave from the Army to visit Andy and his father at Heart Mountain. This was not an uncommon situation. Approximately 33,000 Japanese American men served in the U.S. military during World War II, while at the same time their family members were incarcerated for being Japanese American.

In this follow-up letter from Ed to Andy after Ed's visit to Heart Mountain, Ed counsels that Andy "try not to spend too much money". Ed promises to send some of the things their father has requested to Heart Mountain.

While at Heart Mountain, Andy was in an accident and taken to the Heart Mountain Hospital. After he was released from the hospital, he sent flowers to the girls in hospital ward seven. Yuki Tamura wrote this letter in thanks. Flowers were a rarity in Heart Mountain, and it's unclear where the flowers came from - perhaps from a garden planted by the internees?

This letter, written by Andy's friend Hayao Yano, provides insight into the work some Heart Mountain incarcerees did. Yano has been sent to work outside Heart Mountain for a farmer in Lingle, Wyoming. Yano misses his friends and family who are incarcerated at Heart Mountain.

This letter is written to Andrew by a friend in Los Angeles after Andrew sent the Heart Mountain Sentinel newspaper to her. Andrew had also apparently asked to have his telescope sent  to him at Heart Mountain. In her reply, the friend asks if Andrew and his father want to sell the gardening tools that they left behind in their garage in Los Angeles.

This letter, written by Andy's friend Hayao Yano, expresses Yano's desire to return to Heart Mountain. Yano has written to his relocation officer to request that he be allowed to leave the farm he is working on. Yano also asks Andy to send him the Heart Mountain Sentinel newspaper.

In this letter Yano asks Andy about what is being done "to further the segregation program" and mentions that he sometimes wishes he were going to Tule Lake. By the middle on 1943, Tule Lake Relocation Center in California had been designated as a segregation center for Japanese American incarcerees who had been deemed "troublemakers" by the War Relocation Authority.

In this letter Yano mentions that most of the members of a club he had belonged to at Heart Mountain had been sent to Tule Lake Relocation Center in California. He expresses surprise that so many club members were pro-Japanese, but also notes that "maybe they're just mad at the whole evacuation setup."

In this letter Yano notes that he has been working alongside Italian prisoners of war that had been sent to Lingle, Wyoming to pick potatoes.

In this letter Kishiyama writes to Andy about his experiences after he was moved from Heart Mountain to Tule Lake Relocation Center in California. It is unclear from the letter, but it is possible that Kishiyama was transferred to Tule Lake because he had refused to sign the loyalty oath to the U.S. and was therefore considered to be a "troublemaker" by the War Relocation Authority.

In this letter, Andy's friend Helen, who had formerly been incarcerated with him at Heart Mountain, writes of her experiences at the College of Wooster in Ohio. She was one of the fortunate students who managed to gain admission to a college not located on the West Coast and she was permitted to leave Heart Mountain to attend.

Andy's younger sister Akemi writes to inquire if he has joined the army. While Andy was sent to Heart Mountain, Akemi was sent to the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas.