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Located in Yuma (now La Paz) County, Arizona, near the Colorado River. Opened in 1942 as an assembly center under the Bureau of Indian Affairs, before being transferred to the WRA and redesignated as the Colorado River Relocation Center (Later Poston). At its peak, Poston held around 17,814 incarcerees, mainly coming from Kern County, Fresno, Monterey Bay Area, Sacramento County, southern California, and southern Arizona. Over 1,700 Nisei from Poston would serve in the armed forces. Poston would finally close on November 28, 1945.

Heroes Among Us: Stories of Courage, Patriotism & Sacrifice

Rudy Tokiwa was born on July 7, 1925, in Coyote, California, one of seven children. Soon after he was born, the family moved to Salinas, where his dad, a WWI veteran, worked as a farmer. When the war broke out, Rudy and his family were sent to the Salinas Temporary Detention Center before being moved to Poston. While still at Poston, Rudy volunteered for military service. He would be assigned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He would serve in the liberation of Biffontaine, Bruyeres, and Belmont, which included the rescue of the Lost Battalion, and helped to break the Gothic Line.

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Rudy Tokiwa

PFC Rudy Tokiwa 442nd Regimental Combat

Poston Concentration Camp

Poston 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