close-knit community.  Immigrant men fished for sardines, mackerel,
and tuna that their wives cleaned and preserved in nearby canneries.
Many of their American-born children attended programs offered at an
American Baptist mission served by Virginia Swanson.

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The community was a peaceful backwater until World War II brought sudden awareness

that the community was surrounded by military targets— shipyards and railyards, a naval airbase, a submarine base, and oil storage tanks. Virtually overnight, community leaders were arrested, curfews imposed, bank accounts frozen, and fishing boats impounded. On February 9, all immigrant Issei with commericial fishing licenses were detained. On Februrary 15, residents were given 30 days to leave the island. The timetable was accelerated after a Japanese submarine shelled the coast near Santa Barbara.
The following night the Los Angles sky was lit by 1500 antiaircraft shells firing at what turned out to be a stray weather balloon. Three days later, Terminal Island residents were given 48 hours to leave the island with no no provision for housing or other needs. Since the government offered no assistance, Virginia Swanson reached out to Baptist, Congregational and Quaker missionaries for help.

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