On the morning of December 7, 1941, Jeanne Wakatsuki says farewell to her father's sardine fleet at San Pedro Harbor. By the time the boats return, news reaches the family that the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Jeanne's father burns his Japanese flag and identity papers but is arrested by the FBI and beaten when taken to jail. Jeanne's mother moves the family to the Japanese ghetto on Terminal Island, and then to Boyle Heights in Los Angeles. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 giving the military authority to relocate those posing a potential threat to national security. Americans of Japanese descent await their final destination; “their common sentiment is "shikata ga nai"” ("it cannot be helped”). A month later the government orders the Wakatsuki's to move to the Manzanar Relocation Center, in the desert 225 miles northeast of Los Angeles.