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Located in Jerome County, Idaho, north of the towns of Eden and Twin Falls. Opened August 10, 1942, as the Minidoka War Relocation Center. At its peak, Minidoka held around 9,397 incarcerees, mainly from Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR. A small number of Japanese and native Alaskans were also incarcerated at Minidoka. Nearly 1,300 Nisei from Minidoka would serve in the armed forces. Minidoka would finally close on October 28, 1945.

Heroes Among Us: Stories of Courage, Patriotism & Sacrifice

Haruyoshi “George” Ishihara was born on February 22, 1921, in Puyallup, Washington, one of six children. The family later moved to Enumclaw, where George’s dad worked in the lumber mill. After some traveling in his high school years, George came back to Enumclaw, and when war broke out, he and his family were sent to Puyallup Temporary Detention Center before being moved to Minidoka. While at Minidoka, George volunteered to join the army and was assigned to the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion. He would serve in several different campaigns, including the Champagne Campaign, the liberation of Bruyeres, Biffontaine, and Belmont, as well as the Rescue of the Lost Battalion. His unit would also be some of the few Nisei who would take part in the liberation of a subcamp of the Dachau Concentration Camp.

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Minidoka Concentration Camp

Minidoka Soldier Roster

Research through the Valor in Confinement project enabled GFBNEC to build a list Japanese American soldiers who served from the ten War Relocation Authority confinement sites during WWII. These soldiers were recruited out of the concentration camp and/or had direct family incarcerated in the camp. List periodically updated.

Look through Soldier Roster