Man sent to WWII internment camp gets a high school graduation 72 years later

Man sent to WWII internment camp gets a high school graduation 72 years later
(Image credit: Facebook.com/Daily Pilot)

In May 1942, Don Miyada was just one month away from graduating high school. But instead of celebrating commencement with his classmates at Southern California's Newport Harbor High School, Miyada was sent with his family to an internment camp for Japanese Americans in Arizona.

Miyada was just 17, and "never thought it would actually happen," he told the Daily Pilot. "Being a citizen of the United States and taking civics classes, it surprised me that they were able to declare someone an enemy alien just with the sweep of a pen." He did finish his coursework in the camp and received a diploma, but it wasn't the joyful experience it should have been.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.