Glossary

Centers or “camps” that housed people of Japanese ancestry who had been forcibly removed from their homes along the West Coast in the early months of World War II. Used as quarters before they were sent to more permanent quarters in incarceration centers. In most cases, they were primarily fairgrounds or racetracks with crude barracks and mess hall facilities later added. Mainly scattered around California, but also in Arizona, Oregon and Washington. Also referred to as assembly centers.

In warfare, the geographical area of air, land, and/or water at which military events take place. In World War II, the term referred to the area outside the continental United States for which a commander of a combatant command had been assigned responsibility. Also, “theatre” (British spelling). See also European Theater and Pacific Theater.

A painful disorder of the feet resembling frostbite and resulting from prolonged exposure to the cold, damp, or wet and environmentally unhygienic conditions of the trenches. Extreme cases were treated with amputations and led to gangrene.

A group of soldiers.

The idea of the line of contact for two opposing forces taking place in more than one direction. During World War II, the United States fought on two fronts, one in Europe and one in the Pacific.