The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation announced it’s grateful for and accepts the apology from Rep. John Winter, R-Thermopolis, for his reference to the Heart Mountain incarceration site as the “J—camp” during a legislative committee hearing last Tuesday. 

“The term (J-p Camp} that I used just slipped out of my mouth as that is what it has always been referred to in my world as a kid,” Winter said to AsAmNews, a nonprofit site covering Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, by email. “I knew better, and I am sorry. I didn’t mean to upset anyone. The Interpretive Center at Heart Mountain has a great program for disseminating information and I learned a lot that day.”

Members of the Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Committee visited the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center after their hearing June 10 in Powell.

“We appreciate the time they spent at our site and learning about the incarceration of 14,000 Japanese Americans at Heart Mountain during World War II,” the foundation said in its statement. “We also thank state Sen. Tim French, R-Powell, and state Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, for their supportive comments about the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation and its work to educate the community, state and region about the incarceration and the contributions made by incarcerees and their descendants.”

HMWF is currently restoring the root cellar designed and built by Japanese American farmers during World War II that was used to store the produce grown on the camp farm. The root cellar was later used by homestead farmers who worked the former camp farm and was donated to HMWF by the Jolovich family. 

“I am grateful for Rep. Winter’s apology and recognition that words matter,” said Shirley Ann Higuchi, chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. “I believe that we are all good people and our goal at the Foundation is to educate one person at a time, if necessary, on what happened at our Heart Mountain site back in 1942. We will continue to emulate the work of Secretary Norman Mineta and Sen. Alan K. Simpson, recognizing the importance of an apology and that we are all working together to help eliminate fear and racism.”