W EDNESDAY , S EPTEMBER 30, 2020
2020 H ISTORY S ECTION
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Grant County makes its mark in World War II
As the Second World War came to an end 75 years ago, the Blue Mountain Eagle
reported on the heroics and honorable service of many local residents who served
U.S. Navy photo
The USS Missouri, where the Japanese signed official documents surrendering in World War II.
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Seventy-five years ago, the 33rd
President of the United States, Harry
Truman, announced the end of World
War II as Japan surrendered a month
after atomic bombs leveled Hiro-
shima and Nagasaki.
Men from various parts of Grant
County, from doctors to principals
and more, began returning to the
community after serving their coun-
try. Many of their stories of hero-
ism, awards and experiences were
reported by the Blue Mountain Eagle
in 1945 as life after the war began to
settle.
Aug. 17, 1945
Japanese Surrender Ends War!
“The war is over!” states an article
from the Eagle. “At 7 p.m. Tuesday,
President Truman announced Japa-
nese acceptance of surrender terms
and read the formal message relayed
from Emperor Hirohito through the
Swiss government...”
To rejoice in victory, Grant
County towns joined for a Gala Cel-
ebration of the landmark occasion,
according to the Aug. 17 edition of
The Eagle.
“Announcement of the Japanese
capitulation set off joyful and noisy
celebrations in all Grant County
towns,” The Eagle reported. “In John
Day and Canyon City streets were
jammed shortly following the radio
announcement of the war’s end. The
touting of the car horns, the ringing
of the church bells and the shriek of
the fire sirens told the glad story.”
The energy was the same in Prai-
rie City and they had street dances
followed by a free dance at the
Grange Hall which filled the build-
ing to capacity. Mt. Vernon also cel-
ebrated with a big dance that night.
This edition of the Eagle also
began reporting the stories of various
men in service from Grant County
during the war.
USS Lexington Survivor Home
from South Pacific
Robert E. Wright, Motor Machin-
ist 2/c, is home on a 30-day leave
after active duty in the South Pacific.
He is visiting in Seneca with his
wife Bette, son Jack, 20 months, and
Mr. and Mrs. C.J. Wright.
Wright has been in the Navy for
four years, during which time he has
served on the Atlantic, and recently
has seen action in the Leyte, Luzon
and Okinawa invasions. He is a sur-
vivor of the USS Lexington sink-
ing during the early part of this war.
Upon completion of his leave, Wright
will report to San Francisco, Califor-
nia, for further assignment.
Aug. 24, 1945
Overseas veterans headed for
home
A group of overseas veterans
flown from Europe into Miami Army
Air Field by the Air Transport Com-
mand were heading for their homes
in California and Oregon Tues-
day hoping it was the last day of the
war. Some were slated for separa-
tion from the service, but many oth-
ers were destined for further action in
the Pacific after furloughs. Included
in the group was a Prairie City Man:
S/Sgt. Tom F. Edmunson, 27, 3rd
Infantry Division, 32 months service
overseas terminated in Germany,
eight battle stars, invasion arrowhead
shared distinguished unit citation.
Dayville man aboard Mighty A:
Lent’s fighting spirit kept him alive
for four years as a prisoner of war
Future John Day business owner captured and interned with over
1,000 other civilian contractors on Wake Island in the western
Pacific Ocean in 1941
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
John Day resident Leslie
Traylor said her father, Oscar
“Whitey” Lent, was always
just her dad.
However, before he was
her dad, Lent, a longtime
John Day resident and busi-
ness owner who died in 1982,
was one of over 1,000 civil-
ian contractors taken prisoner
in December 1941, when Jap-
anese troops overran Wake
Island in the western Pacific
Ocean.
“He was just our dad, but
when you look at (his diary),
you can see he was another
person before he was our
dad,” she said. “Before us,
dad had a whole other life.”
Author Bonita “Bonnie”
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Leslie Traylor looks at memorabilia from her father, Oscar Lent,
who spent four years in an internment camp after being cap-
tured as a civilian contractor on Wake Island.
Gilbert, who teaches history
at North Idaho College, said
the Battle of Wake Island,
a 16-day siege, occurred
the same day the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor. Gil-
bert said most civilians aided
Marines in the defense and
the manning of the guns to
defend the island.
Gilbert, who wrote “Build-
ing for War: The Epic Saga of
the Civilian Contractors and
Marines of Wake Island in
World War II,” said 93 Amer-
icans were killed, while many
more were rounded up and
captured, including Lent and
Gilbert’s father, Ted Olson,
and grandfather, Harry Olson.
Gilbert said 44 civilians
and 49 soldiers died in the
siege.
She said the Japanese
massacred an additional 98
civilian prisoners of war on
the island in 1943, and a total
of 194 civilian and military
POWs died on Wake Island
from 1941 to 1945.
As many of the 1,145 con-
tractors, Lent worked for
Morrison-Knudsen Co. of
Boise and recruited laborers
from the region to build roads
on Wake Island. In winter
1941, the country was still in
the midst of the Depression,
and good-paying jobs were
scarce.
Gilbert said about 135
See Lent, Page B7
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“ANNOUNCEMENT
OF THE JAPANESE
CAPITULATION
SET OFF JOYFUL
AND NOISY
CELEBRATIONS IN
ALL GRANT COUNTY
TOWNS. IN JOHN
DAY AND CANYON
CITY STREETS WERE
JAMMED SHORTLY
FOLLOWING
THE RADIO
ANNOUNCEMENT
OF THE WAR’S END.
THE TOUTING OF
THE CAR HORNS, THE
RINGING OF THE
CHURCH BELLS AND
THE SHRIEK OF THE
FIRE SIRENS TOLD
THE GLAD STORY.”
—The Blue Mountain Eagle,
Aug. 17, 1945
which raided Japanese mainland
twice
Clarence O. Salsbery, seaman,
first class, USNR, is serving aboard
this battleship which in one month’s
time raided the Japanese mainland
twice, bombarded a Japanese-held
See WWII, Page B7
Beauty out of dust: 75 years later,
Japanese-Americans remember
World War II incarceration
By Sierra Dawn McClain
EO Media Group
Morning sunlight spilled
into the garage, illuminating
a bent figure, about 5-foot-2.
George Tsugawa was plucking
weeds from potted plants. At
99, he still helps with the fami-
ly-run nursery.
Tsugawa Nursery, minutes
from his home, is a marvel of
floral carpets, Japanese maples
and fairy-like bonsai forests,
drawing garden enthusiasts
from across the Northwest.
But in addition to its invit-
ing, multicolored beauty, the
nursery holds a story of hard-
ship and hope during wartime.
Its founders, George and his
late wife Mable, were both Jap-
anese-American prison camp
survivors.
Seventy-five years ago this
week — Sept. 2, 1945 — Japan
formally surrendered, ending
World War II. In the months
following, thousands of Japa-
nese-Americans, including the
Tsugawa family, were released
from prison camps that had
isolated them.
After the Japanese military
bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec.
7, 1941, resentment and fear
festered toward people of Jap-
anese descent. Even those born
in the U.S. as late as February
1942 were included in Pres-
ident Franklin Delano Roos-
evelt’s Executive Order No.
9066, which led to all Japa-
nese-Americans on the West
Coast — 120,000 people —
to be put in prison camps,
euphemistically called “intern-
ment” centers. Most were U.S.
citizens.
High school students have
learned about this chapter of
World War II in history class.
The lesser-known story is
how the Japanese-American
See Dust, Page B2
S204222-1
S204212-1