Today I’m taking a post written by Elmer Potts on the Eatonville History Facebook page.
For those of you going to Glacier View cemetery tomorrow, you may wish to consider these thoughts that I am posting in honor of the Nisei boys from around here who served with honor in WWII: The dates on the Japanese graves in the NW corner of the cemetery start, I believe in the early 1900’s and stop shortly after Pearl Harbor.
The Asian folks that lived here were mostly Japanese-Americans, were citizens, were interned initially on May 16th, 1942 at Camp Harmony, a.k.a. the Puyallup fair grounds, and were later moved inland to other camps. I have attached a link, below, to an excellent history of the Japanese in Eatonville. The thing I would like you to consider is the fact that while interned (imprisoned) with their entire families, almost all of the Japanese-American boys volunteered for service in the armed forces, and many served with distinction and bravery in the 442nd division in Italy. Some folks say they did it to prove that they were as good as anybody else. I say they did it because they loved their country just like the rest of us.
I think we, as a community need something here that tells the story of the Japanese-American folks who used to be our neighbors, and who helped make this place what it is today before most of us were even here. http://eatonvillejapanese.blogspot.com/p/eatonville-evacuation-internment-of.html
Eatonville To Rainier 