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Ishimaru, Ernest Yutaka

Biography:


Ernest “Ernie” Yutaka Ishimaru was born on October 10, 1910, in Watsonville, California, to parents Asa and Tojiro. He was the oldest of nine children and completed one year at Sequoia High School in Redwood City before leaving to work as a gardener and help with his family’s truck farm. Ishimaru arrived at Santa Anita Assembly Center on May 27, 1942 and at Heart Mountain on September 13, 1942. He lived in apartment 23-16-CD. In 1943, Ishimaru left Heart Mountain on work leave, to work at Varney Canning Company in Utah. He answered No to Question 27 and Yes to Question 28 on the 1943 loyalty questionnaire. Ishimaru was arrested on March 29, 1944, for violating the Selective Service Act. He was tried and convicted with 62 other draft resisters in June 1944 and sentenced to three years in the federal prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. After his release, Ishimaru returned to the Santa Clara area and worked as a gardener. He married Sadaya Salaye and the couple had two children, Sandra and Gail. Ernest Yutaka Ishimaru died on September 1, 2000 in Los Altos, California.

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