Colorado. A Most Shameful Act: Remembering Camp Amache
Did you know that during World War II, the U.S. government forcibly relocated and incarcerated more than 120,000 people, two-thirds of whom were born in the U.S.? Without trials or due process, internees were forced to live in crowded camps surrounded by razor wire. Many lost their businesses, homes, and property. The decision is widely considered among the most shameful government actions in U.S. history. Today, four former camps are protected by the U.S. National Park Service: Manzanar and Tule Lake in California, Minidoka in Idaho, and Amache in Colorado. These places tell stories of Japanese Americans who lived in the camps and racism that influenced U.S. policy in the early 1940s.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and the subsequent U.S. declaration of war on Japan, Japanese Americans were viewed with suspicion. Without evidence of espionage or even sympathy towards Japan’s war objectives, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which called for the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans living near the U.S. West Coast. Among ten inland sites selected to serve as relocation camps was an isolated place in eastern Colorado, about two kilometers southwest of the town of Granada.
Unlike nine other relocation camps that were built on government property, land for the eastern Colorado camp had to be purchased for local farmers and ranchers. The camp’s final size was 40 km2 with about two-thirds used for residential and other buildings and the remainder reserved for agricultural projects. Construction began in June 1942 with buildings assembled from fiberboard and topped with roofs made from asbestos shingles. Building foundations were made from concrete and brick. Along with barracks, the camp had mess halls, recreation rooms, and bathhouses equipped with toilets, showers, and laundry facilities. Outside the perimeter fence were eight guard towers and a barracks for military police. When fully operational, the camp had more than 450 structures.
Camp Amache (aka Granada Relocation Center) opened on August 27, 1942, with most of its residents coming from California. Among the internees were engineers, doctors, factory workers, scientists, and farmers. The camp was governed by a council of residents that also supervised an internal police force and fire department. At its peak, Camp Amache held 10,000 Japanese Americans. Following its closure in October 1945, the camp’s agricultural land reverted to private farming and ranching with most buildings being sold or demolished. A small museum in the town of Granada was the principal source of information about the camp and its history until Amache National Historical Site was established in March 2022.
Driving west on U.S. Highway 50, we passed through Granada before reaching the turnoff to Camp Amache. The main gate is located about six kilometers from the highway. Although there are relatively few interpretive signs, a QR code posted near the entrance serves as a link to a narrated audio tour. We passed the concrete foundations of the camp hospital and continued south before stopping at the old water pump house. Amache had 30 residential blocks, each having 12 barracks, a mess hall, a recreation building, and a bathroom with toilets, showers, and laundry facilities. With a capacity of 250 people, the mess hall in each block measured 12 x 30.5 meters. Some recreational halls were adapted for other purposes such as churches, schools, and meeting places for youth groups. Although Amache was well-constructed, the arrangement of buildings was disruptive to families and a hardship for the elderly who had to walk outside to use showers and restroom facilities.
We stopped a few times to walk among the foundations of former buildings. Adjacent to Block 12H is the reconstruction of an octagonal-shaped guard tower. Behind it we could see the camp’s original water tower that has been renovated. Painted brown, we inspected the exterior of a reconstructed barracks building. A few structures are original such a portion of the green recreation hall in Block 11F. The building was discovered in Granada’s city park and donated to the Amache Preservation Society in 2017. On the camp’s southwest corner is a cemetery that holds the graves of 120 residents who died during their internment. Nearby, a plaque recognizes Japanese Americans who were interned at the camp and 31 residents who gave their lives serving in the U.S. military during World War II. A total of 441 camp residents volunteered with most serving in Europe. One former Amache resident, Kiyoshi Muranaga, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his action fighting in Italy (regrettably, Muranaga was killed in action).
More than 80 years later, it’s difficult to comprehend the pain experienced by Japanese Americans who were stripped of their rights and forced to move hundreds of miles away from their homes. In 1988, the U.S. Congress paid reparations of $20,000 to former internees who agreed to releasee the government from future claims. With many having passed away, only about half of Japanese Americans who had been stripped of their civil liberties received compensation.