- Born
- Died
- Birth nameAiko Louise Yoshinaga
- Aiko Yoshinaga-Herzig was born on August 5, 1924 in Sacramento, California, USA. She was married to John Alois Herzig, Jacob Miyazaki and David Abe. She died on July 18, 2018 in Torrance, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- SpousesJohn Alois Herzig(1978 - 2005) (his death)Jacob Miyazaki(1942 - ?) (divorced, 1 child)David Abe (divorced, 2 children)
- Her parents, immigrants from the Japanese island of Kyushu, managed a hotel and had a produce stand. When internment began, her parents and siblings were sent to the stables at Santa Anita racetrack, and then to camps in Arkansas. To avoid being separated from her boyfriend, she eloped with him. They were bused 250 miles to the Manzanar prison camp, near Independence, California.
- She found government documents which suggested that the USA's WWII Japanese internment policy had racist motives and was not a "military necessity," as the Pentagon claimed. Her findings helped compel Congress to pass the 1988 Civil Liberties Act, which granted $20,000 in reparations to each survivor of the camps. She was inspired by Michi Nishiura Weglyn, who urged her to visit the National Archives to learn more about wartime internment.
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