COLLECTIONS

Despite not having children of his own, Mark C. Wade became scoutmaster of Bruella Boy Scout Troop 28 in December of 1925. The troop’s membership was diverse and included boys from Houston, Bruella, and Oak View school districts. One of the troop’s patrols, known as the Swallow Patrol, was an all-Japanese American group formed in 1930. The members of the patrol included Ed Fujitani, Lloyd Fujitani, Jim Kurata, Joe Kurata, Masami Tsuyuki, Jim Sasaki, Jim Ouye, George Shimada, Sam Shimada, Frank Matsuura, James Matsumoto, Larry Tusyuki, Hageo Sasaki, and Paul Shimada. Several members of the Swallow Patrol earned the rank of Eagle Scout and some later became scoutmasters.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans living on the West Coast were relocated to internment camps for the duration of World War II. Before being transferred to these camps, the area’s Japanese Americans were temporarily housed at the Stockton Assembly Center located at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds. On May 26, 1942, Paul Shimada, scoutmaster of Troop 91 (an all-Japanese American troop from Lodi) organized a meeting of all Boy Scout troops represented at the assembly center. It brought together forty scouts and aimed to preserve a sense of normalcy during uncertain times.

On February 18, 1967, former members of the Swallow Patrol honored Mark Wade by presenting him with a plaque recognizing his service to the Boy Scouts of America. The plaque was engraved, “In Appreciation to Mark C. Wade, Scoutmaster Emeritus, 1930-1942, Who, Through His Faithful Service to Scouting, Taught Us To Live By The Scout Oath And Law” along with the names of the Swallow Patrol members. Those attending the event honoring Wade included Sam Shimada, Joe Kurata Masami Tsuyuki, James Matsumoto, and George Shimada.