Oregon Public Broadcasting

The National Parks Service is helping restore landmarks of the Japanese-American internment during World War Two.

The sites range from the ferry landing on Bainbridge Island in Washington where the first group of prisoners were gathered, to the barn in north Portland where others lived for months.

Frank Kitamoto of Bainbridge Island was imprisoned as a child for several years at camps in Idaho and California. He says many people back on Bainbridge opposed the internment and tended the prisoners' homes and farms for years.

Frank Kitamoto: “It gives us a chance to tell the stories not only of people that were taken away, but of people who stood up and took risks to support us at a time that could have been more daunted by fear rather than being humane to each other.”

Kitamoto says the sites should also remind the public how easily national security measures can violate human rights.

The Parks Service is accepting public comment on the preservation project through November 2nd.