When June came around, some high schools sent a representative out to Tanforan to hand out diplomas in the grandstand. There was no ceremony, no speeches—just a distribution of documents.
San Mateo High School was the exception. Perhaps because Yon was a member of the school’s marching band, the band teacher, Eugene Brose, came with some band members to play “Pomp and Circumstance.” Also attending, according to an article in the Tanforan Totalizer (the camp newsletter published by internees), were the school principal, W. T. Van Voris; the athletic teacher, Arthur Smith; and a PTA committee, headed by Mrs. H. Kaplan, that provided not only cupcakes, but white gardenias for the women and red carnations for the men.
Their act of kindness in dark times is still remembered.
“It was quite a surprise and a great honor for us graduating seniors,” Yon recalls. ”“It was pretty nice.”
Sources:
Interview with Yoneo Kawakita, December 16, 2018
Tanforan Totalizer, June 20, 1942
Yamada, Gayle K., and Fukami, Dianne. Building a Community: The Story of Japanese Americans in San Mateo County. AACP. 2003.
About the contributor: Yoneo Kawakita grew up in San Mateo, CA, where his father worked for the Leslie Salt Company. He was a senior at San Mateo High School when the internment order came through, and missed his graduation. He was incarcerated in Tanforan and Topaz before joining the military. He and his wife Yoriko settled in San Mateo after the War. Yon passed away in 2021.
Copyright 2018, Yoneo Kawakita. All rights reserved.