While Memorial Day weekend ceremonies in Sumner honored the city’s fallen soldiers, one elderly couple had the opportunity to teach high school students about the homefront experience of American Japanese during World War II.

Frank and Midori Kumoto, longtime residents of Sumner and former farmers, were the focus of a joint project of Auburn Riverside High School’s Japanese Club and Key Club. The students arrived bright and early at 8:30 p.m. to trim down vegetation in the Kumotos’ yard over the course of three hours.

“(Mr. Kumoto) will turn 89 in June, so it’s just that he’s not as mobile anymore,” said Japanese language teacher Chad Guisinger. “The community service and the education aspects of the project are a great opportunity for sure.”

The students finished up shortly before 11:30 p.m. and reconvened next door, at the home of Reymond and Sharon Magaoay, to listen to the Kumotos’ story, ask questions and enjoy a traditional Japanese meal.

Midori Kumoto opened the retelling of her time at Heart Mountain Relocation Center by passing around a yearbook for the internment camp.

“You can see it looks a lot like a yearbook for a school,” Midori said. Heart Mountain was, in fact, her school; having begun the relocation process at age 12, she attended high school in the Wyoming camp.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Midori and Frank’s families were among the approximately 110,000 people who were relocated. Midori’s family was first relocated to Portland, then to Heart Mountain.

Certain aspects of her story seemed surprising to the students: first, that her older siblings were allowed to relocate easterly in Chicago, rather than be interred in camp (The internment process was focused on west coast Japanese). Second, that interred children were allowed to come and go from Heart Mountain’s gates to play games.

Frank was a native of Mount Vernon whose family had relocated to Seattle, and then Sumner during the Depression of the 1930s. When they were relocated during the war, they left their belongings in their barn, Frank said. When they returned, their personal affects were gone.

“So you had to start from scratch again,” co-organizing teacher Kelly Jenson—Sharon Magaoay’s daughter—said.

After the war, Midori put herself through Washington State University and went on to earn a pharmacy degree. Frank sharecropped in Sumner until he was able to purchase 17 acres of farmland, which have since become the residential neighborhood that surrounds the Kumotos’ house.

A few of the volunteering students said they enjoyed the stories, and the chance to help members of the community.

“I feel really good about myself,” Judo Lata said. “We did something good today.”

Danielle Chiriguayo echoed: “It’s sad, really, for people to be so selfish sometimes… not to help people for a few hours out of your day.”