The little town of Calipatria , a cluster of small stores and business buildings surrounded by
the truck farms of California's broiling Imperial Valley, has always
had one claim to fame: it is located 184 ft. below sea level, and
fondly calls itself “the lowest-down city in the Western Hemisphere.”
Last week Calipatria got a raise in stature, if not elevation, as it
demonstrated how far the Imperial Valley has come since the old
days—and Pearl Harbor days—when inflamed feelings against Japanese
settlers brought persecution and bloodshed.Among the oldtime Japanese residents of the valley were Takeo Harry
Momita and his wife Shizuko Helen, who operated a series of little
drugstores from 1927 until 1942 when they—along with 110,000 West
Coast Japanese and their American-born youngsters—were herded into
Army relocation camps for the duration. In 1945 they came back to the
valley amid uneasiness and tension, scraped up money for another store,
entered their children in public schools. When they moved to
Calipatria, things began to get better; the youngsters began to run off
with honors in school, and son Milton was named president of the high
school senior class.In 1954 Harry Momita received his American citizenship under the
McCarran-Walter Act. His drugstore became the social center of the
area, and Helen used to open it at 8 o'clock every morning so that
everyone could gather for coffee. Last year Harry served as president
of the Calipatria Chamber of Commerce.Last fortnight, as the Momitas were on their way to Los Angeles to see
their children, a speeding auto sideswiped them, killed Helen and sent
Harry to the hospital with cuts, bruises and shock. As he lay there
last week, “not caring whether I lived or died,” Calipatria's Mayor Ed
Rademacher marched in with a group of friends and quietly asked for the
keys to the drugstore. “We're going to keep it running for you,” he
announced, “and a lot of people have volunteered to help.” The druggist
from neighboring Brawley called up to say that he would handle all the
prescriptions.Other citizens began contributing five-and ten-dollar bills for a
memorial to Helen Momita at the Los Angeles Buddhist temple. When he
was consulted about it, Harry asked that the money be used instead to
help fulfill a long-standing dream of Calipatrians : to build a 184-ft.
flagpole so that the American flag could fly at sea level above “the
lowest-down city in the Western Hemisphere.”
