DENVER.—The Japanese American National Museum’s third national conference was held on Independence Day weekend in Denver, Colo. with close to 850 registered participants from 31 states and four countries attending over 50 sessions and workshops.

Themed “Whose America? Who’s American? Diversity, Civil Liberties, and Social Justice,” the event kicked off with a pilgrimage to Amache on Thursday, July 3. The six buses, filled with former internees and their families, left Downtown Denver in the early morning to travel nearly 250 miles to the small southeastern Colorado town of Granada to visit the campsite where 7,800 Japanese Americans were interned during World War II.

Despite the thunderstorm forecast from the night before, the pilgrims were greeted by a clear blue sky and the temperature soared to the mid 90s. Also giving a warm welcome to the group at the first stop, Granada High School, were the members of the Amache Preservation Society, who consisted of high school students.

After cold drinks and lunch, the participants were escorted to the school gymnasium where artifacts, photos, documents and other items related to Amache were displayed. Students from the University of Denver’s Department of Anthropology, held a booth to report on their archeological digs and effort to preserve the Amache history.

There, Hisao Homma, of Torrance, found a familiar face among the archived photos from the camp days. “This is my aunt,” he said, pointing out a woman in the group shot.

It was his first return to the campsite in 62 years. Originally from Sawtelle, Calif., he and his family were sent to Santa Anita Assembly Center, then Amache when he was 5 years old. His father passed away in the camp.

“I am a little bit emotional,” said Homma, who participated in the pilgrimage with his son, daughter-in-law, brother, sister and nephew.

As the presentation by the Amache Preservation Society students ended, the pilgrimage buses drove off to Amache, about a half-mile away from the high school. The 1-square-mile land that once accommodated 29 blocks of barracks, administration buildings, warehouses, an athletic field, a co-op store, high school and a cemetery is now a peaceful green field with herds of cows mooing and munching the grass.

Accompanied by guides from the Amache Preservation Society and University of Denver, each bus made a few stops to tour the archeological dig sites, barrack foundations, a koi pond and more.

Culver City resident Frank Nakano also made his first trip back to Amache Thursday since he left the camp in 1943. His son Bastiaan walked ahead and egged him on as Nakano carefully made his way on the rocky dirt to the barrack foundation where his family used to live.

“We were told that we should be expecting a lot of deterioration,” said Bastiaan. “I did think that more of the foundation would be here, but it’s still satisfying just to see it.”

Nakano finally caught up with his son. “It’s hard to describe to your kids. Now, he’s here. I have an older one who couldn’t make it. There was no way I could describe to them properly about all this going on.”

Bastiaan said the Japanese American internment experience has installed a great deal of pride in him. “I think it’s remarkable how they were able to be put into these camps by the government and yet still go out and fight for the same country that just put them in prison. Instead of becoming really angry about it, they decided to be proactive and make the best of the very crappy situation.”

At the end of the tour, the buses met at the cemetery site for a brief Buddhist ceremony, officiated by Rev. Chieko Ono, of Denver. The pilgrims prayed and offered sho-ko to those who lost their lives at the internment camp, which include 31 men who volunteered to fight for the country while their families were incarcerated.

“I’m grateful that in gathering here today, we will continue to influence the course of history. To influence the shape of social interaction and to build our own spiritual strength so that someday we will see the prayers of a moment when all hearts are truly centered in wisdom and compassion,” Ono told those in attendance between the chants.

Coming back to Amache was not Homma’s intention. It was his Sansei son, Mitch, who gathered the family and registered them for the pilgrimage and the Denver conference. Mitch said his father, like many other former internees, didn’t talk much about the camp days to him and his siblings. So, Mitch started studying about his family—who were brought to the U.S. from Japan by the American Baptist Association.

“Growing up, I wish I knew a lot more about my family history,” the Sansei said, emotionally, as his wife Stephanie gently rubbed his shoulder. “I think it’s an important link to the past that needs to be handed down to all the generations. It’s important to me because I think the stories need to be told. The untold stories.”

“After I started finding some letters the church people wrote to their family in camp, I realized how close the Japanese community was back then. I think it was much closer than now. Even my Sansei generation, we are really busy, caught up in a lot of different things. It’s kind of distant, and a lot of traditions are lost,” he continued.

Mitch explained that visiting Amache gave him a better perspective to what his family gave up in Los Angeles before coming to the camp.

Asked what he wanted to tell his son about this return trip to Amache after over six decades, Homma smiled and said, “Well, thank you for bringing me.”