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I regret to report the following.
For two years prior to moving to Madison, I produced and anchored a morning show in Wyoming. Shortly after arriving there, I created a segment simply entitled, "The History of Wyoming". Every week I featured a different aspect of Wyoming and went into detail about its history. I highlighted everything you can think of: Indian tribes, dinosaurs, street names, bars, the economy, the Oregon Trail and I even did one on the climate. But the piece that sticks out most to me is a segment I did on The Heart Mountain Internment Camp. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 whereby sending all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast to internment camps inland. One of these camps was in Wyoming at Heart Mountain, where more than 10,000 people lived in the three years it operated. After the story aired I got a call from a viewer who knew someone who lived at the camp. His name was Bill Hosokawa. I was able to track down Mr. Hosokawa and asked him for an interview. To my surprise he agreed, and a few days later I packed the news van and drove 285 miles southeast to Denver.
When I got to his house, I figured I'd be in and out in 20 minutes. But when we sat down for the interview I quickly became engulfed in his story. We discussed his outrage over the Pearl Harbor attacks and his utter disbelief when he and his family stepped on a train in Seattle destined for Wyoming. We talked about life in the camp and his creation of the Heart Mountain Sentinel newspaper.
At the end of the interview I asked Mr. Hosokawa if he were still mad, if he had any antipathy towards the U.S. government, or if he felt like a victim. Upon hearing the question he lowered his head, thought for a while, and raised his head to say, "Why? Where would it have gotten me? I was angry at first, many of us were. But, if I would have stayed angry it would only have hurt me. And, I was not going to let it affect my life anymore than it already had. He concluded by saying despite what happened, he was thankful for the opportunities this country and the Denver Post gave him.
At that point, my entire outlook on life changed. This was a man who was imprisoned for nearly two years by his own country, solely because of his race. And incredibly he learned to look past it and be thankful for what his country had given him: a chance.
Five decades after leaving Heart Mountain, Bill Hosokawa retired from his career in journalism having spent the prior 38 years at the Denver Post. There, he established himself as one of the most venerable journalists in the country and became the first minority editor of a major newspaper. If he would have played the victim, if he would have allowed himself to be consumed by hatred, if he would have felt sorry for himself, he most certainly would have never succeeded.
My old General Manager e-mailed me a few days ago to tell me that Bill Hosokawa had passed away. I had only known the man for about 90 minutes, but what he taught me will last my entire life. Thank you Mr. Hosokawa. I will not forget you.
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