A guard tower in the Eastern Sierra? What is this about? The answer gives us a look into one of the darker chapters of American history. This is Manzanar National Historic Site located between Lone Pine and Independence, California, USA. During World War II, Americans of Japanese ancestry and Japanese who were denied citizenship by federal law were interned here and in nine other camps across the country. This was facilitated by President Franklin D Roosevelt signing Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. The order authorized the US military to exclude and detain US citizens and resident aliens. In practice this applied to individual German and Italian aliens and all persons of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast.

I've known about this violation of Constitutional rights for decades but only recently learned of this historic site. I had to see it and see if it has any relevance to current events. I think it's important that we learn from our past instead of repeating it.