| Japanese Internment Camp Refugees1 |
| Frank Silva |
| Bobby Dias |
| 117,000 former Japanese Internment Camp residents fled their homes from 1952 to 1959, running for their lives from those few that filed a lawsuit seeking damages from the United States of America for being in the internment camps. These refugees abandoned their homes and suffered many hardships to prove their love of their new homeland, the United States of America by refusing to try to get money from the United States of America for being in the internment camps. 60,000 of the 117,000 paid the ultimate price for showing their love for the United States of America- death by execution by those in the lawsuit. I will speak of those that survived by being sheltered in a Safe Haven system created by Frank Silva- about 50,000 |
| Japaneese Internment Camp Refugees - The Start Living on the family farm in early 1952 was getting to be a little dull for this little boy of 4. Both sets of grandparents and my parents and my uncle Joe were good people, but everybody was busy doing something besides family activities. Or should I say so-called normal family activities? Me, every day(since the day after my 3rd birthday), I went with my grandfather, Frank Silva, to watch over a much bigger "family". From time to time , since 1911, Frank Silva had brought a family to the Santa Maria Valley and a little north and a little south. From the City of San Luis Obispo to the Gaviota Pass, every farmer, or their parents, had been set up in farming by Frank Silva, with no debts to anyone. That took much work on the part my grandpa, and some from me. Almost to my 5th birthday on May 24, 1952, I knew more about farming than anyone around, except for my grandpa. Not genius, just good old-fashioned studying- alot of it! Soon I would appreciate that studying very much, designating who would go to what Safe Haven camp and what fields that those Japaneese Internment Camp Refugees, who wanted to earn some extra money, would be working where, and matching up separated family members. But, I did not know about that- yet! May 1, 1952 was normal for me- I had spent the day going from friend to friend, I mean from farmer to farmer with Frank Silva, my grandpa. Part of it was a couple of hours pretending to be a little kid, when I was really listening to a couple of big people (adults) make a deal- so that, if need be, I could come back and settle a dispute, with my exact memory of what I had heard. I liked it. If I had a skill, I used it. Anyway, I was standing there, late on May 1, 1952(my mother, Mabel Dias, and a friend of hers passed in front of me talking about the origin of May 1 activities in Europe), when my father, Frank Dias , came by and told me to go with him. I guessed that I was going to be a witness to another conversation, boring probably. No, very different between Frank Silva and Frank Dias. Frank Dias told Frank Silva that some Japaneese being hunted and, when found they were beaten and sometimes killed- would my grandpa help them? Frank Silva said he would think about it. He thought about it. The next morning, a hour early, 6:30, he and I started going from one farmer to another, asking them if and how they would help him help these Japaneese people. Not one of them had even had the chance to "give back" to Frank Silva for what he had done to help them, and/or their parents. The first stop was at the Adams' farm. The parents of Bill and David Jack Adam had been brought here from France, where they were running from the Nazis who were exterminating every Jew they could- Paul Adam had escaped from Germany and met Leona in France, also a Jew, in France. Frank Silva believed that the Jews were being exterminated, so he asked for five Jewish families. The Jewish organisation only gave him one family- the Adams - saying that Frank Silva could not help more because he was not Jewish. The letter from the head of that Jewish organisation was filled with anti-everybody-else. There are 4 Jewish families gone to the gas chambers because of that person's racism. The Adams that came here proved that they were loving people and very appreciative about being saved- I heard it from them every day because Paul and Leona lived on the property to the west of our family farm on East Main Street. This day, May 2, 1952, Bill and DJ(David Jack) finally had a chance to "repay" Frank Silva for helping his family. With such a serious subject, Bill still just had to smile the biggest smile I ever saw anybody smile. DJ turned to hide his smile about Bill smiling. Something for me to kid both of them about. Then, as now, I remind people about things like that, so they will happy one more time and to keep alive in them a sense of positive self worth. Then the work began for Bill and DJ- mostly arranging their farming schedules to use some workers(Japeese Refugees) in their fields. Here I better explain that, to earn some money to help them get to their ultimate safe home, some worked in fields, receiving the ENTIRE price of the produce that they worked on. At the end of each day, Frank Dias, a broker and a shipper, sold that produce and divided it among those that did the work. No deductions for anything. Land and seed and water and fertilizer and their own labor expenses was paid by the farmer. Frank Silva, on the round of asking for help, said that he would pay for the seed. I never heard or read anything about that later, except about the high price of the seed, sometimes. Taxes were not paid on any of work by the Japaneese refugees- a State of California tax agent and an United states Internal Revenue agent came by 2 and sometimes 3 times a year to inspect my Frank Dias' books on those particular sales. They treated the operation, secretly, as a non- profit organisation. Would have been nice if the state and the feds had paid for the expenses, like they do, sometimes, today. Bill and DJ provided a steady place to put some of those workers;and, with a little security also. DJ started wearing a pistol in a holster, then two holsters. He wounded one of the men that were hunting the Japanese Refugees. I then recummended that he shoot to only scare the bad en away- because these guys were pretty stupid and killing one may mean somebody with half a brain may replace the dead badman- bringing something we could not handle. One of my primary activities was to move the field workers and the Safe Haven camp residents away from the anticipated returns of the badmen(lawsuit people). I was successful enough so that only a total of 34 out of 50,000 were killed. Looking back, I was was very wise to try to "keep" the badmen there were then. Much better than the 60,000 killed outside our operation. Not that my actions were the cause of the saving of all the 50,000 who came to our Safe Haven. An informal group of 20 men( sometimes 3 or 4 wives would help the 3 or 4 men) rated me at: one man said 25,000, 18 said 30,000 and 1 said 34,000. Considering that the 25,000 rating came from a man would always try to urge me on by saying negative things to me, I have settle on the 30,000, leaving 20,000 for everybody else. As if numbers meant much- saving lives was important. |
| Some personal numbers of me and the refugees. 40,000 one on one interactions with me. 25,000 handshakes and wiiiddee smiles. 10,000 I never met, but I assigned work stations for those wanted to earn some money(this 10,000 plus the 40,000 above= 50,000 survivors of the Safe Haven project. 5,000 nose-kisses I gave to boys and young men as a memory to give them a very different and very friendly memory in their later years 4,000 early teens to early 20s- Girls that I absorbed their frustrations of loosing what they had practiced their young lives to be perfect at running- their homes, the center of Japanese life. These girls shook moderately to violently in each hug that I gave and that I hung on tightly. 3,003 that looked for me and told me their stories and then they went on- to be killed by the lawsuit people, because they refused to sue the USA. 1000-1500 real sweet hugs from very sweet girls. Sweet night memories that I still have 500 hugs from middle aged and elderly women and men. 321 kisses from teens to 40s. 500 other dead that I saw that the refugees were taking with them. 3002 men and women and children that I set 1 or 2 broken ribs 4000 I cleaned up cuts and stopped bleeding Buried about 350 that had been killed before coming to this area. Helped bury about 250 others that had been killed before coming to this area. 8500 hours I used on 1700 mornings 6-11 that I spent watching for the hired salesmen(killers) of those in the lawsuit against the USA. 1700 of my lunches I gave away on the above 1700 mornings 14915 hours that I used to search for refugees at night between the City of San Luis Obispo and the Gaviota pass. 14915 hours that Frank Silva used to be with me when I searched and helped the refugees at night. 8700 hours taking produce to Los Angeles market to sell to give entire amount to refugees,that I put in- 8,700 for my father Frank Dias. 1952-1959 I missed 51.2 % of school- I was expelled from preschool. I saw-2716 hit with sticks as they were group- 976 then beaten I saw-148 both their elbows and knees smashed I saw- 26 executed, two blows to their foreheads and two blows to the back of their heads. I saw one man that had survived the execution attempt- very silent, but still well cared for by his family. I saw 3 other deliberate killings and one of the cripplings(148 above) die from those blows. I saw two refugees killed and then about 9,000 came to see them lie where they had died- I saw the lights from the candles from more than 40 miles away. The only gift I received from a refugee was a bit of soup in a tin can that was made from discarded cabbage leaves , made by an elderly couple over an open fire- the best anything I ever received. |
| <bobbydias.com |
| I was talking about DJ. Bill Adam did not want to wear a gun, so he wore a very bright white holster, without a gun! That holster could be seen half a mile away. Even at night. Here I say that night, Bill and DJ did try to have some of the Japaneese Refugees park their cars on their land at night, but that place was too open and too close to Main Street, where the badmen could find their targets easily. There were other places to hide the Japaneese Refugees at night. Those lawsuit badmen never did realize that they had Jews, Italians, Germans, English, Japaneese an Portugeese all very eager to hide and protect these poor and homeless and hungry refugees. The Souzas Easy pickings for Frank Silva to find help from the Souzas. Joe and Mary Souza had been homeless and hungry in the Azore Islands when Frank Silva brought them here and set them up in house and farming and a future that was bright. And they had taught their son Henry the importance of every bit of food he ate and every night he slept inside- so the Souzas, with Henry's wife Lucille and son Ronnie and Sugar, I mean daughter Rosemarie, were eager to help these others that were homeless and hungry. They treated the Japaneese Refugees as if they were their own. Feed them so much sometimes they complained that they could not get any work done, in the program I described above. Food was important to the refugees, but getting to where they could work and support themselves was much more important. Hmmm. Sounds American to me. This is the country they had traveled 10,000 miles to get to. Sometimes our kids complain about having to get up to answer the phone or the door bell. See my point? The Souzas were not spoiled on anything- they appreciated what they had and they helped the refugees get whatever they did not have. I did hear a few comments(from the refugees themselves) that they were getting 'soft' at the Souzas. I said, many times, that Santa Maria would be a good place for them to live in, after the lawsuit violence was over. Lots of good people around here and love to have more. |
| My Santa Maria Memories |