Inscription on the Amache relocation camp monument,
sponsored by the Denver Central Optimist Club, 1983
—Dedicated to the 31 patriotic Japanese Americans who
volunteered from Amache and dutifully gave their lives in
World War II, to the approximately 7,000 persons who
were relocated at Amache, and to the 120 who died here
during this period of relocation, August 27, 1942 -
October 15, 1945.

Poject Director James G. Linley was a proponent of the internees and spoke out frequently on their behalf. The internees, with the exception of the Issei (first-generation Japanese), made up the camp’s governing body, and representatives were elected from each block to serve on the Block Managers Assembly. Five of these representatives were chosen to serve on an executive council withthree WRA administrators. The council passed laws and regulations, in addition to the WRA regulations, and appointed the judicial and arbitration commissions.  Moreover, the highly successful Amache Consumer Enterprises oversaw the camp’s retail stores and services. The public was allowed to come into the camp on weekends to trade at the coop, and gross sales brought in more than $40,000 per month.

The barracks at Amache were sturdier and slightly more attractive than those at the other camps. The foundations were made of concrete slab and brick, and used with fiber board or asbestos siding, the construction provided more protection from the cold weather and blowing sand. Amache had 30 residential blocks, and each one included twelve barracks used for living quarters, one for recreation, one for the mess hall, and a multiple-use building with laundry area, latrines and showers. Many blocks used their recreation barracks as community centers that housed groups such as the Red Cross, Boy Scouts, YMCA, nursery schools and churches. 

About one-quarter of Amache’s population were school-age children. Classes were taught at several schools in the camp by both Caucasian and Japanese-American teachers in cooperation with the Colorado State Department of Education. The carefully planned high school, with its brand new auditorium/ gymnasium, was the most expensive building in Prowers County at the time, much to the displeasure of local townspeople. There was also a wide variety of adult classes held at night in subjects such as typing, shorthand, English, dressmaking, drafting and the arts.

Life in the camp was bustling but the many inconveniences undermined the family structure. Privacy was nonexistent. Meals were a combination of American and Japanese dishes served cafeteria style that were generally unappetizing and made the traditional family mealtime a bygone practice.  But there were some modern conveniences, such as the water system installed for the camp, which was later used by the nearby town of Lamar.  There was also a rich and varied recreation program that included movies, the theater, concerts, clubs and sports. The fine arts also flourished, showcasing the internees’ talents in wood carving, Japanese calligraphy and flower arranging. 

The camp’s newspaper, the Granada Pioneer, published a popular comic strip called "Lil’ Neebo" which was created by artist Chris Ishii, who had previously worked for Walt Disney. The cartoon character provided comic relief for readers by chronicling the life of a little Nisei boy living in camp. Ishii himself tried to join the U.S. Army twice before he was finally accepted and sworn in.

Nearly 10 percent of the people at Amache volunteered for military service—the highest percentage of all the camps. Forty-eight men reported for induction into the army when the first notices were served. In all, 953 Amacheans joined the armed forces; thirty-two became language instructors in Army intelligence, and in early 1943 they began serving in the highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team and other units, as well as the Women’s Army Corps and the Nurses Army Corps.  As the troops in Europe began to win worldwide acclaim, the soldiers who returned to Amache on leave were honored with great celebration. They would receive 38 combat pins and combat infantryman’s badges for exemplary conduct under fire as well as various other medals and citations.  Thirty-one of the Nisei soldiers from Amache lost their lives in World War II.

After the war, nearly 2,000 evacuees remained in Colorado or moved to other midwestern states, but most returned to California. Following closure of the camp, the agricultural lands reverted to private farming and ranching, and the camp buildings were demolished or sold to school districts, the town and the University of Denver. Today, aside from a small brick structure, the cemetery, a reservoir, and a water well and tank, all that remains are concrete building foundations and roads. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places and the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.

Burton, Jeffery F.; Farrell, Mary M.; Lord, Florence B.; Lord, Richard W. Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites, Western Archeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service, Publications in Anthropology 74, 1999.

Colorado State Archives, Department of Personnel and Administration website: http://www.archives.state.co.us/wwcod/granada.htm

Colorado State University, Japanese-American Internment website: http://holly.colostate.edu/~ichinose/amache.htm

Embrey, Sue Kunitomi, editor. The Lost Years: 1942-46. Los Angeles: Manzanar Committee, 1972.

Governor’s Council of Defense Collection. Amache. Amache, CO.: Granada Relocation Project, War Relocation Authority, RCC 1208, 1944.

Iritani, Frank; Iritani, Joanne. Ten Visits: Accounts of Visits to All Ten Japanese American Relocation Centers. San Mateo, California: Japanese American Curriculum Project, 1994.

Johnson, Melyn. Amache Digital Collections Website, "At Home in Amache," Denver: University of Colorado at Denver. http://carbon.cudenver.edu/public/library//archives/adc.html

Niiya, Brian. Japanese American History: An A to Z Reference, 1868 to the Present. New York: Facts on File, 1993.