Site of little-known WWII internment camp at JBER is found

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In this 1945 photo provided by Alice Tanaka Hikido, members of the Tanaka family stand together at the Minidoka Japanese internment camp in Jerome, Idaho, where they were held in forced incarceration during World War II. Alice Tanaka Hikido, left, and her sister, Mary Tanaka Abo, who was the child in the foreground, participated in a Feb. 19, 2016, ceremony at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, that was held to remember the forced incarceration of more than 200 Alaskans, as well unveil the results of a study about a little-known Japanese internment camp that was erected there during World War II. Also pictured are Nobu Tanaka, back left, John Tanaka, in uniform second from right, standing next to Shonosuke Tanaka.

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON — Alice Tanaka Hikido clearly remembers the bewilderment and sense of violation she felt 74 years ago when FBI agents rifled through her family's Juneau home, then arrested her father before he was sent to Japanese internment camps, including a little-known camp in pre-statehood Alaska.

The 83-year-old Campbell, California, woman recently attended a ceremony where participants unveiled a study of the short-lived internment camp at what is now Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

Archaeologists working on the research used old records to pinpoint the camp location in an area now partially covered by a parking lot. The Army study is expected to be finalized later this year.

"As I look back, I had no idea as a child that the U.S. and Japan were having difficulties," Hikido said. "It was a tremendous surprise to me."

Read more: Site of little-known WWII internment camp near Anchorage found on base