Her family couldn't talk about it: Now she educates others about this dark point in US history

Hanako Wakatsuki has dedicated her life to remembering what her family wouldn't talk about: the mass incarceration ofJapanese Americans during World War II.

Eighty years ago, on Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which eventually led to rounding up roughly 120,000 Japanese Americans forced to leave everything behind.

"We lost everything, like I lost my heritage," Wakatsuki said. "I had four generations of my family incarcerated at Manzanar," one of 10 camps where Americans with at least 1/16th Japanese ancestry were confined.

The historian also had relatives incarcerated at Minidoka and Tule Lake.

Hanako Wakatsuki's grandmother Chizuye and her children Patty, George and Woody at Manzanar.

"Our family never talked about it because it was super traumatic," she said. "That's why I got so interested in learning about this."

Over the years, she has shared what she learned at various sites within the national park system, including former camp locations and Pearl Harbor. She is now superintendent of the Honouliuli National Historic Site, which is still in development to preserve Japanese American confinement history in Hawaii.

SURVIVOR STORIES:In 1942, Camp Amache held 7,500 Japanese Americans prisoner. Here's what they want the world to remember.

'GO FOR BROKE':How Japanese Americans in the 442nd broke barriers at home and fought fascism abroad

Hanako Wakatsuki is the first superintendant of Honouliuli National Historic Site. She previously served as Chief of Interpretation and Education at Minidoka National Historic Site and acting Chief of Interpretation and Education at Pearl Harbor National Memorial.

Both the National Park Service and Wakatsuki are intentional about the language they use to share these stories.

"It is important to accurately describe the history of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II without perpetuating euphemistic terms that the U.S. government and others employed at the time, or incorrect terms later substituted that do not adequately describe the injustice experienced by more than 120,000 people," reads Park Service's guidance around language.

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