Fort Missoula

Born of perceived military necessity and local economic boosterism, “the beautiful little post on the Bitterroot” provided a home for the US Army in Montana from 1877 onward. Called into service almost by accident for the 1877 Nez Perce War, Fort Missoula hosted African American Buffalo Soldiers, aviation pioneers, early military automobile mechanics, Civilian Conservation Corps workers, World War II Italian and Japanese national internees, US military prisoners, and a variety of US Army and Navy units. The base bequeathed to its community a level of sophistication and a connection to the national story unique to the American West. Fort Missoula’s architectural legacy also reflects the nation’s journey from frontier settlement to world power as an assortment of log structures evolved into “the Million Dollar Post.”

“Please don’t cry,” wrote Iwao Matsushita to his wife Hanaye, telling her he was to be interned for the duration of the war. He was imprisoned in Fort Missoula, Montana, and she was incarcerated at the Minidoka Relocation Center in southwestern Idaho. Their separation would continue for more than two years. Imprisoned Apart is the poignant story of a young teacher and his bride who came to Seattle from Japan in 1919 so that he might study English language and literature, and who stayed to make a home. On the night of December 7, 1941, the FBI knocked at the Matsushitas’ door and took Iwao away, first to jail at the Seattle Immigration Stateion and then, by special train, windows sealed and guards at the doors, to Montana. He was considered an enemy alien, “potentially dangerous to public safety,” because of his Japanese birth and professional associations. The story of Iwao Matsushita’s determination to clear his name and be reunited with his wife, and of Hanaye Matsushita’s growing confusion and despair, unfolds in their correspondence, presented here in full. Their cards and letters, most written in Japanese, some in English when censors insisted, provided us with the first look at life inside Fort Missoula, one of the Justice Department’s wartime camp for enemy aliens. Because Iwao was fluent in both English and Japanese, his communications are always articulate, even lyrical, if restrained. Hanaye communicated briefly and awkwardly in English, more fully and openly in Japanese. Fiset presents a most affecting human story and helps us to read between the lines, to understand what was happening to this gentle, sensitive pair. Hanaye suffered the emotional torment of disruption and displacement from everything safe and familiar. Iwao, a scholarly man who, despite his imprisonment, did not falter in his committment to his adopted country, suffered the ignominity of suspicion of being disloyal. After the war, he worked as a subject specialist at the University of Washington’s Far Eastern Library and served as principal of Seattle’s Japanese Language School, faithful to the Japanese American community until his death in 1979.

Personal recollections and official documents record the history, service, exploits, travels, traditions, and battles with racism experienced by one of the units comprising a black infantry regiment from 1869 to 1926.

NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRODUCT. Significantly reduced price. Overstock List Price Examines the World War 2 era restrictions imposed on individuals of Italian ancestry. Describes the provisions of Public Law 106-451 and the findings of Congress. Addresses arrests, detentions, internments, the confiscation of property, and the effects on fishermen and railroad workers, all within the context of wartime orders, proclamations, and directives. "