Akiko (Awaya) Okuno
Akiko Okuno grew up in the rural community of Cienega and later Gilroy, where she lived at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although her father was not arrested by the FBI, the whole family was forcibly moved to the Salinas Temporary WCCA “Assembly Center” and then to Poston WRA Concentration Camp. Okuno recalls difficult moments such as having to destroy some of the family’s belongings before going to camp and leaving behind the family dog. She was able to leave camp to attend Temple University but returned to help her mother while her father was ill with Tuberculosis. Although her education was affected by her wartime incarceration, Okuno worked hard to become a laboratory medical technologist. She later worked to help achieve redress and has since spoken about Japanese American incarceration in elementary, high school, and college classrooms.
