Manzanar

From the road, only the looming guard tower is still visible.

Nestled beside Rte 395, just a few hours south of California's Mammoth Lakes, lies Manzanar. 

One of ten "war relocation centers" built in the United States, Manzanar housed 10,046 Japanese immigrants and citizens starting in 1942. Feared to be a threat to national security, the camp's inhabitants were incarcerated, isolated, and ostracized. When WWII ended, the detainees were finally released and given $25 and a bus ticket to relaunch their lives.

Manzanar, the word for apple orchard in Spanish, still displays hints of its agricultural past. Gardens, fruit trees, and the remains of a farming operation are scattered across its 6,000+ acres. But it's what you don't see that is the most searing.

Here, in the shadow of the Sierras, are thousands of ghosts. Lives gone but not forgotten...

"I don't understand all this hate in the world." - Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Farewell to Manzanar