During World War II, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were ordered out of their homes and incarcerated at various internment camps across the western US. Near Chandler, the Gila River Internment Camp held 16,655. Their crime? Looking like the enemy.

This poignant exhibit highlights how the Japanese value gaman-enduring the seemingly impossible with patience and dignity-guided these American citizens’ experience of loss and incarceration in the Arizona desert.

Japanese American Citizens League Arizona Chapter Essay Contest