William Morris Shigeta, born in Seattle in 1919, testified before the Commission about the personal toll of incarceration and its lasting effects on his mental health and livelihood. His life story traced a path from childhood in Japan and the freedom he found in America, to being drafted for military service, institutionalized with depression during the war, and eventually confined at Puyallup and Minidoka.

• Interrupted Youth: Left the University of Washington and work to prepare for military service, but after Pearl Harbor was hospitalized for depression. Upon release, he was handcuffed and taken directly to camp.

• Life in Camp & After: Worked in surveying, architecture, and farm labor while his family stayed uprooted in Idaho. Later held jobs at Sun Valley and Japanese newspapers, but recurring breakdowns and hospitalizations marked his adult life.

• Moments of Light: Described a powerful moment of spiritual clarity in 1949 that helped him emerge from his isolation and reconnect with the world.

• Lifelong Struggle: Despite efforts to work again, his health prevented full-time employment for most of his later life.

• Redress Beyond Compensation: Warned the Commission that reparations must address not only money but also the root causes — the hysteria and racism that enabled mass incarceration. Without that reckoning, America risks repeating the injustice against other communities.