"They Became an Indispensable Part"

Japanese Americans from the Incarceration Camps at the Sioux Ordnance Depot

Arrival at the Depot

In 1944, the Depot's Commanding Officer, Harold J. Preble, learned that the Quartermaster Training Companies from Fort Warren would no longer be coming to the Depot. Preble needed to find another source of labor to fill the positions these soldiers would leave open. When he asked Washington D.C. for help, the government's response was to recruit workers from the War Relocation Authority's (WRA) incarceration camps.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 (EO 9066). This order led to the creation of the WRA and granted the Secretary of War the power and authority to exclude people from designated "military areas." President Roosevelt also gave the Secretary of War the responsibility of supplying food, shelter, and transportation, among other needs, to those excluded from designated military areas. Below is the full text of EO 9066.

NARA_EO-9066.pdf

Full text of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 from the National Archives and Record Administration. [1]

Although EO 9066 did not specify a particular group to be excluded, Japanese Americans who lived on the West Coast were the most impacted. Rather than acting as a precautionary measure for the nation, EO 9066 led to the forced removal of over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from their homes on the West Coast. Most of these people were American citizens. Below is a civilian exclusion order that Japanese Americans on the West Coast saw after EO 9066 came out.

A civilian exclusion order from 1942 that Japanese Americans on the West Coast may have seen. Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History collections. [2]

After ordering Japanese Americans on the West Coast to leave the military exclusion zone, with only what they could carry with them, the WRA sent them to 10 Confinement Sites throughout the interior United States.* These were located at Tule Lake and Manzanar in California, Minidoka in Idaho, Poston and Gila in Arizona, Topaz in Utah, Heart Mountain in Wyoming, Granada (Amache) in Colorado, and Rohwer and Jerome in Arkansas. Most of the Japanese Americans would remain in these areas for the duration of the war. Below is a map of all areas associated with the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

janm-education-resources-enduring-communities-confinement-sites-map.pdf

A document from the Japanese American National Museum’s general resources called, “Map of Japanese American Confinement Sites in the US During World War II (2009).” The map depicts Department of Justice detention sites, along with the War Relocation Authority’s sites. [3]

Though they were confined to these camps, some Japanese Americans, particularly the nisei, or second generation, were permitted to leave to work in other places. Japanese Americans from the incarceration camps had been used in other parts of western Nebraska to meet the agricultural demand of the war, but none had worked at the Depot yet by 1944.

After receiving the federal government's response, Preble worked closely with the Cheyenne County community. He explained that without the Japanese Americans, the Depot may have to close before the war ended. Community members soon put their stamp of approval on the recruitment of Japanese Americans, and the Personnel Division got to work.

Advertisements for jobs at the Depot appeared in camp newspapers, and the Personnel Division recruiters started visiting the camps.

Article with bold title that reads “Seno to Speak on Sioux Jobs.” Portions of the article can be read in the image.

“Seno to Speak on Sioux Jobs,” Rohwer Outpost, October 21, 1944. [4]

Newspaper article with title, “Army Ordnance Depot to Recruit Workers Here,” and subtitles, “Local Sentiment Good; Selection of Locales Based on Evacuees Skill, Efficiency, Toole, Utah; Sioux, Neb. Plant” in the Minidoka Irrigator.

“Army Ordnance Depot to Recruit Workers Here,” Minidoka Irrigator, September 16, 1944. [5]

Volume 3, Issue number 32 of the Granada Pioneer, the newspaper at Camp Amache in Colorado, published on Wednesday, February 21, 1945. Below the newspaper header is an article title, written in big bold letters, “Sioux Depot Has Jobs with Housing.”

“Sioux Depot has Jobs with Housing,” Granada Pioneer, February 21, 1945. [6]

Employment

By the summer of 1945, over 100 Japanese Americans from the incarceration camps ended up working at the Sioux Ordnance Depot. Both men and women of Japanese ancestry worked in all areas of the Depot, primarily as munition handlers, truck drivers, forklift operators, tool and equipment servicemen, senior laborers, foremen, gang bosses, and clerk typists.

One man holds an ammunition shell, getting ready to roll it down a ramp to a stack of ammo. Two other men stand at the end of the ramp, one facing the camera and the other with his back to the camera. There is a pyramid shape of ammunition behind the three men.

Three nisei stacking shells in an ammunition storage igloo, 1944. Cheyenne County Historical Society, Sioux Army Depot Collection.

One man stands on top of a stack of ammunition, handing them down to two men below him. One man rolls the ammunition, while another stands behind him pulling one down from the top stack. They are inside a wooden boxcar.

Three nisei unloading ammunition from a box car, 1944. Cheyenne County Historical Society, Sioux Army Depot Collection.

Three female employees sit at desks writing on paper.

A nisei woman working as a clerk typist in the Depot's Post Property Section, 1944. Cheyenne County Historical Society, Sioux Army Depot Collection.

Annie Takamatsu was one of the nisei who worked at the Depot. After EO 9066, Annie and her family were sent to the Granada Relocation Center in Colorado, which came to be known as Camp Amache. She worked as a counselor for the school in the camp until she received word of her clearance to work at the Sioux Ordnance Depot.

Three ladies stand next to each other in front of a building. The woman on the left smiles, looking to her right. She wears a long-sleeve white blouse, dark skirt, short dark socks, and dark shoes. The woman in the middle purses her lips. Her hair is pulled back and glasses adorn her face. She claps her hands in front of her below her waist. She wears a dark suit. The woman on the right wears a big smile. Her hands are behind her, and she wears a light colored short-sleeved blouse over a dark colored skirt, short white socks, and dark shoes.

Annie Takamatsu, her mother, Takino, and her sister, Erlene, at Camp Amache, c. 1942-1945. From right to left, Erlene, Takino, and Annie. Image courtesy of Sharon Bartlett.

The contributions of the Nisei helped the Depot to meet is quotas. The Cheyenne County community recognized their significance at the Depot. Many people remembered the Japanese Americans from the incarceration camps, as well as the circumstances that led to their arrival.

Carl Farmer, Kathy Schaad, and Lupe Torres, children of Ordville, recall their memories of their Japanese American neighbors in the clips below.

Carl Farmer

Farmer_Japanese Americans Interview.mp3

Click here to view a transcript of the audio clip

Kathy Schaad

Schaad_Japanese Americans Interview.mp3

Click here to view a transcript of the audio clip

Lupe Torres

Torres_Japanese Americans.mp3

Click here to view a transcript of the audio clip

In his history of the Sioux Ordnance Depot, Larry Mahlman commented on the contribution that the Japanese Americans made to the mission:

“They became an indispensable part of the community and proved to be highly valued employees. Both Nisei men and women were employed in all phases of depot operations.”[7]

Impact of Employment

Although most of the Japanese Americans left the Depot after the war ended, there were several families who stayed. The interactions these families had with others in the community demonstrated the overall sense of safety and acceptance they found in Cheyenne County.

The Japanese Americans from the incarceration camps were highly-valued employees at the Sioux Ordnance Depot because of their contributions during the nation-wide labor shortage. The Depot's leaderhsip was the most concerned with their safety and perception among the community during the war. The memories of community members and former employees, as well as the continued employment of several formerly incarcerated Japanese Americans show their importance in the Depot's history.

Visit the Fort Sidney Museum and Post Commander's Home to view the Sioux Army Depot exhibit and learn more about this history!

Endnotes

To learn more about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, visit:

https://densho.org/

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/japaneseamericanconfinement/index.htm

https://janm.org

*According to the National Park Service and the Japanese American Citizens League, the appropriate term for these places is "incarceration camps" or "confinement sites." During World War II, they were referred to as "War Relocation Camps." Survivors have called them "concentration camps" and "internment camps." Throughout this exhibit, the terminology of "incarceration camps" and "confinement sites" will be used.

[1] Executive Order 9066 dated February 19, 1942, in which President Franklin D. Roosevelt Authorizes the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas; Executive Orders 9041-9070; Executive Orders 1862-2020; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11, National Archives Building, Washington DC. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5730250.

[2] Civilian Exclusion Order: Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry, May 12, 1942, Catalog Number: 2015.0117.01, National Museum of American History, https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1694663.

[3] “General Resources,” Educational Resources, Japanese American National Museum, accessed May 13, 2024, https://www.janm.org/sites/default/files/2021-01/janm-education-resources-enduring-communities-confinement-sites-map.pdf.

[4] “Seno to Speak on Sioux Jobs,” The Rohwer Outpost (Rohwer, AR), October 21, 1944. https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-143-212/.

[5] “Army Ordnance Depot to Recruit Workers Here,” The Minidoka Irrigator (Minidoka, ID), September 16, 1944. https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-119-104/.

[6] “Sioux Depot Has Jobs with Housing,” Granada Pioneer (Amache, CO), February 21, 1945. https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-147-245/.

[7] Larry L. Mahlman, “History of Sioux Army Depot: Sioux Army Depot, Sidney, Nebraska, 1942-1967,” December 1966, Sioux Army Depot Collection, Cheyenne County Historical Society, Fort Sidney Museum, Sidney, Nebraska, 28.

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Published: January 15, 2025 Last Updated: January 15, 2025

Author: Tatiana Moore Painter, UNK Graduate Student

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