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| SMSgt.Wilbert S. Iwami |
Wilbert was a member of the California Scholarship Federation Society and
a 1942 graduate of Salinas Union High School.
After the signing of Executive order 9066, the Iwami family members:
Shigetaro, Yoneko, Koichi Frank, Kiyoshi John, Shoji James, Wilbert Shigeo, and
Noboru were forcibly evacuated from Salinas to the Salinas Assembly
Center. After several months, they were incarcerated at the
Poston, Arizona concentration camp 2. They arrived on July 4, 1942. A few weeks later, his brother, Kiyoshi John Iwami,
formerly a produce company bookkeeper, died at Poston General Hospital on July
31, 1942 from heart failure due to chronic tuberculosis.
In January of 1944, Shoji James Iwami married Touoye Yamaoka, formerly
from Watsonville. On February 25, 1945,
they left Poston and resettled in Cleveland, Ohio.
In the spring of 1944, Koichi Frank Iwami married Yoshiko Yamaoka,
formerly from Sanger. On November 22, 1944, they left Poston and resettled in
Tooele, Utah.
Wilbert volunteered for the all Japanese Nisei combat team and left
Poston on August 4,1944 to report at Fort Douglas, Utah. Pvt. Iwami fought with
the 442nd
RCT 3rd Battalion Company I during World War II.
Shigetaro, Yoneko and Nobou left Poston,
Arizona on September 1, 1945 and went to Toole, Utah. Shigetaro died less than three years later in
Tooele, Utah.
Wilbert continued to serve in the Korean
Conflict and in Vietnam. He devoted 21 years of service to his country and was discharged
from the U.S. Air Force as a Senior Master Sergeant.
After leaving the military, Wilbert relocated
his family to Sacramento, California and was employed with the U.S. Postal
Service. He retired in1986,and moved to San Diego in 2000.
Wilbert Shigeo Iwami died on May 19, 2009 at the age of 84 in
Oceanside, California. He was preceded in death by his father, Shigetaro
(1948); mother, Yoneko Iwami (1976); and brother, Kiyoshi John (1942).
He is survived by his wife, Kiyoko; and son, Jeffrey (Suzy) Iwami.
Source: Sacramento Bee on May 31, 2009
