Groundbreaking For Merced Internment Memorial

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- The North Valley is breaking ground on a new monument to honor the victims of an injustice that occurred decades ago.

Dozens of people joined together at the Merced County fairgrounds Saturday, where thousands of Japanese Americans were incarcerated in 1942, several months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Japanese Americans were at the Merced fairgrounds for several months before boarding trains to Colorado, where they stayed for the rest of the war.

A few former internees attended Saturday's groundbreaking, recalled painful memories from the past.

"The room itself was 20x20. And we were all, a family of seven, that is, we were all placed in this room. And there was no such thing as privacy," said Eric Andow, Former Internee.

"My hope is that it never happens again. Because it really was a terrible time of our life. Being citizens, being pushed around, just a bad time of our lives," said Lucy Okuye, Former Internee.

The monument will be unveiled on February 20th, almost 62 years to the day since President Roosevelt signed an executive order, authorizing the internment of the Japanese Americans.

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