Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Sotomayor Hearings

2009-07-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

Korematsu always gets mentioned in these hearings, because it's politically correct to condemn it. Here's what the transcipts say so far....

GRAHAM: I realize I'm jumping back and forth through these issues. But the last one I want to bring up has to do with the wartime Supreme Court decisions like Korematsu that we look back at with some bewilderment, of course. The Korematsu vs. the United States decision in which the Supreme Court upheld a government policy to round up and detain more than a hundred thousand Japanese Americans during World War II.

It seems inconceivable that the U.S. government would have decided to put huge numbers of citizens in detention centers based on their race and yet the Supreme Court allowed that to happen. I asked Chief Justice Roberts about this, I'll ask you as well. Do you believe that Korematsu was wrongly decided?

SOTOMAYOR: It was, sir.

GRAHAM: Does a judge have a duty to resist the kind of wartime fears that people understandably felt during World War II which likely played a role in the 1944 Korematsu decision?

SOTOMAYOR: A judge should never rule from fear. A judge should rule from law and the Constitution. It is inconceivable to me today that a decision permitting the detention and arrest of an individual solely on the basis of their race would be considered appropriate by our government.

FEINGOLD: Now, some of the great justices in the history of our country were involved in that decision. How does a judge resist those kind of fears?

SOTOMAYOR: One hopes, by having the -- the wisdom of a Harlan in Plessy, by having the wisdom to understand always, no matter what the situation, that our Constitution has held us in good stead for over 200 years and that our survival depends on upholding it.

FEINGOLD: Thank you, Judge

Someone should tell Senator Graham Korematsu involved the evacuation from the West Coast Military Zones. Detainment had nothing to do with it. Race had nothing to do with it, either - national origin did. Fear had nothing to do with it. The West Coast was a combat area and the military calls the shots in a military zone.

When a bunch of senators make such comments indicating they have no idea what they are talking about, while in the process of nominating a Supreme Court Justice - it is indeed a sad day in America.

I wonder if any of these people realize Korematsu is still good law to this day?

FarEastPOWSInternational.org

2009-06-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to Far East POWS International, to be located in beautiful downtown Bremerton, Washington, an Olympic-Peninsula waterfront location rich in military history, it is long past due.

http://fareastpowsinternational.org/

DENSHO? NO! BIJAC? NO! JANM? NO! JACL? NO!

2009-05-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

But this quote does sound exactly like them.

“The viciousness of the American Government in persecuting a helpless, strictly civilian and manifestly innocent minority will remain in history as one of the blackest crimes ever committed by the so-called great powers."

It's Radio Tokio from 1942 but who can tell the difference?

‘Diabolic Savagery,’ Tokio Calls Coast Evacuation of Japanese

By United Press

The Japanese radio today commented that the evacuation of 70,000 American-born Japanese from the Pacific Coast is “diabolic savagery,” and contrasted their treatment with that of the civilians in lands Japan has occupied.

“Pointing out that 70,000 American–born Japanese will be ejected forcibly from areas where they have spent their entire lives,” Tokio radio continued, “neutral observers said obviously the constitutional rights of those American-born Japanese have been ruthlessly trampled upon in the heat of resentment aroused by American political and military errors.

“The viciousness of the American Government in persecuting a helpless, strictly civilian and manifestly innocent minority will remain in history as one of the blackest crimes ever committed by the so-called great powers.

“Meanwhile other observers commented on Japan’s fundamental policy toward civilians in occupied areas, who have been allowed all the freedom possible with every consideration and protection given.

“This policy marked the vivid contrast to the diabolic savagery of the treatment given by the United States on unfortunate personages of her own citizens who have committed no sin but made the fatal mistake of being born a member of the Japanese race and living in America at a time when American egoism has had little chance of asserting itself.”

San Francisco News
March 5, 1942

Concise History Regarding the Evacuation

2009-04-04T22:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a link for those who don't have the time to study this history to the extent necessary to form an honest and accurate opinion of events. Take a few minutes to read it and you will know more about this history than 28 years of media fluff pieces could ever have provided.

Here is the link, but I will provide the entire piece in case the link ever "goes away".

http://www.sfmuseum.org/war/dewitt1.html

FINAL REPORT: JAPANESE EVACUATION FROMTHE WEST COAST 1942

Headquarters Western Defense Command and Fourth Army
Office of the Commanding General Presidio of San Francisco, California

Chapter I

Action Under Alien Enemy Proclamations

The ultimate decision to evacuate all person of Japanese ancestry from the Pacific Coast under Federal supervision was not made coincidentally with the outbreak of war between Japan and the United States. It was predicated upon a series of intermediate decisions, each of which formed a part of the progressive development of the final decision. At certain stages of this development, various semi-official views were advanced proposing action less embracing than that which finally followed.

On December 7 and 8th, 1941, the President issued proclamations declaring all nationals and subjects of the nations with which we were at were to be enemy aliens. This followed the precedent of the last war, and was based upon the same statutory enactment which supported the proclamations of President Wilson in this regard. (See 50 U.S.C. 21.) By executive action, certain restrictive measures were applied against all enemy aliens on an equal basis. In continental United States, the Attorney General, through the Department of Justice, was charged with the enforcement and administration of these proclamations. Where necessary fully to implement his action, the Attorney General was assigned to responsibility of issuing administrative regulations. He was also give the authority to declare prohibited zones, to which enemy aliens were denied admittance or from which they were to be excluded in any case where the national security required. The possession of certain articles was declared by the proclamations to be unlawful, and these articles are described as contraband. Authority was granted for the internment of such enemy aliens as might be regarded by the Attorney General as dangerous to the national security if permitted to remain at large. In continental United States internment was left in any case to the discretion of the Attorney General.

On the night of December 7th and the days that followed, certain enemy aliens were apprehended and held in detention pending the determination whether to intern. essentially, the apprehensions thus effected were based on lists of suspects previously compiled by the intelligence services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of Naval Intelligence, and the Military Intelligence Service. During the initial stage of this action, some 2,000 persons were apprehended. Japanese aliens were included in their number.

Beyond this, little was done forcefully to implement the Presidential proclamations. No steps were taken to provide for the collection of contraband and no prohibited zones were proclaimed.

The Commanding General, during the closing weeks of December, requested that the War Department induce the Department of Justice to take vigorous action along the Pacific Coast. He sought steps looking toward the enforcement of the contraband prohibitions contained in the proclamations and toward the declaration of certain prohibited zones surrounding "vital installation" along the coast. The Commanding General had become convinced that the military security of the coast required these measures.

His conclusion was in part based upon interception of unauthorized radio communications which had been identified as emanating from certain areas along the coast. Of further concern to him was the fact that for a period of several weeks following December 7th, substantially every ship leaving a West Coast port was attacked by an enemy submarine. This seemed conclusively to point to the existence of hostile ship-to-shore communication.

The Commanding General requested the War Department to send a representative, and to arrange with the Department of Justice for an officer so that agency to meet with him at San Francisco, in order to consider the situation "on the ground." His objective was to crystallize a program of forthright action to deal with subversive segments of the population. Preliminary to this, and primarily at the request of the Commanding General, a number of discussions had been held between War and Justice Department representatives in Washington, D.C. The Provost Marshall, Major General Allen W. Gullion, the Assistant Secretary of War, Honorable John J. McCloy, the Chief of the Enemy Alien Control Unit, Department of Justice, Mr. Edward J. Ennis, and the Chief of the Aliens Division, Office of the Provost Marshal General, participated in these meetings.

These conferences between War and Justice Department representatives in Washington were followed by the conference requested by the Commanding General in San Francisco. Mr. James Rowe, Jr., Assistant to the Attorney General, representative the Department of Justice. The Commanding General urged that the Justice Department provide for spot raids in various areas to determine the presence and possession of contraband; that it authorize the ready seizure of contraband than adopt means for collecting and storing it. He further requested that the Attorney General declare prohibited zones surrounding certain coastal installations. These conferences continued over the period between January 2nd and 5th, 1942, and, as an outgrowth of these meetings, the Department of Justice agreed to a program of enforcement substantially as desired by the Commanding General and Mr. Rowe (Appendix to Chapter II infra).

The salient feature of the intended program was an agreement arranging for creation of prohibited zones. The Department of Justice agreed to declare prohibited zones of enemy aliens.; The extent and location of these zones was to be determined on the basis of recommendations submitted by the Commanding General. At the conclusion of these conferences, identical memoranda were exchanged on January 6, 1942 between the Commanding General and the Assistant Attorney General, Mr. James Rowe, Jr., crystallizing the intermediate understandings which had been developed. These were:

"Following is a summary of the principles applicable and procedure to be followed in the implementation of the proclamations of the President dated December 7th and 8th, 1941, and the instructions and regulations of the Attorney General, respecting alien enemies in the Western Theater of Operations. These principles and procedure[s] were formulated in conferences during the past week between Lieutenant General J.L. DeWitt, Commanding General of the Western Theater of Operations, Mr. James Rowe, special representative of the Attorney General of the United States, Mr. N.J.L. Pieper, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Major Karl R. Bendetsen, J.A.G.D., Office of the Provost Marshal General.

"1. Restricted Areas: The Attorney General will designate restricted areas. He will entertain Army recommendations. He will require the Army to determine the exact description of each restricted area. What further requirements he will make will depend in large measure upon the nature of the area involved and the extent of alien enemy population in such area. Indications are that, should Army recommendations include areas in which there is resident a large number of alien enemies and evacuation will thereby be rendered necessary, he will also require the submission of detailed plans for evacuation and resettlement. The Army has expressed disinclination to compliance on its part with such a requirement for the reason that the Justice Department will undertake an alien enemy registration and will have in its possession all the information essential for planning purposes once the proposed restricted are have been made known to that Department by the Army.

"2. Alien Enemy Registration: The Department of Justice is committed to an alien enemy registration with the least practicable delay. It is understood that registration will include provision for finger printing, photographing, and other information to be filed locally and probably with local police, as well as at a central office, such information to be compiled alphabetically, by nationality and race as well as geographical.

"3. Apprehension: United States Attorneys have been or will be instructed to issue apprehension warrants upon application of the F.B.I. special agents in charge. F.B.I. agents in charge will entertain Army requests for apprehensions submitted in writing, or, if time does not permit, oral requests which shall be confirmed later in writing. In any case where an alien enemy is found in violation of any of the provisions of the proclamation or any part of the regulations of the Attorney General there under, he is subject to summary apprehension without a warrant. Presumably at least he is subject to summary apprehension by the Army as well as by the civil authorities. Example: A known alien enemy in possession of contraband is subject to summary apprehension without a warrant. Example: An alien enemy found within a restricted area without authority is subject to apprehension.

"In an emergency apprehensions may be made without a warrant.

"4. Searches and Seizures: A warrant authorizing the search of the premises of an alien enemy for the presence of contraband may be obtained merely on application to the United States Attorney. It is only necessary to support the issuance of such a warrant that it be stated that the premises are those of an alien enemy. In an emergency where the time is insufficient in which to procure a warrant, such premises may be searched without a warrant.

"5. Mixed Occupancy Dwellings: The search of mixed occupancy premises or dwellings may be by warrant only. In emergencies involving contraband such as radio transmitters, it may be necessary to keep the premises under surveillance while a search warrant is procured. As previously noted, however, in such an emergency an alien enemy's premises may be searched for contraband without a warrant.

"6. Multiple Searches: The term "mass raid" will not be employed by the Attorney General. Instructions which have been or will be issued to United States Attorneys and to F.B.I. Special Agents will permit 'spot raids.' This is to say, if lists of known alien enemies with addresses of each are prepared by the F.B.I. and warrants are requested to cover such list, a search of all premises involved may be undertaken simultaneously. Thus all of the alien enemy premises in a given area can be searched at the same moment.

"7. Much of the effective action will be facilitated by a complete registration. It is important that it go forward with dispatch. However, there should be no cessation in the vigorous implementation of the President's proclamations regarding alien enemies. It appears that considerable progress of a clarifying nature has been made. Only actual application of the streamlined mechanics can establish whether there is a need for further changes in the principles to be applied and the procedure to be followed."After a series of surveys made by the Commanding Generals of the several Western Defense Command sectors, the Commanding General submitted a number of recommendations calling for the establishment of 99 prohibited zones in the State of California, and two restricted zones. These were to be followed by similar recommendations pertaining to Arizona, Oregon, and Washington. Primarily, the prohibited zones in California surrounded various points along the California Coast, installations in the San Francisco Bay area, particularly along the waterfront, and in Los Angeles and San Diego. The recommendation as to California was transmitted by the Commanding General by letter dated January 21, 1942, and was received from the Commanding General by the War Department on January 25, 1942, and was forwarded by the Secretary of War to the Attorney General on the same date.

In a series of press releases the Attorney General designated as prohibited zones the 99 areas recommended by the Commanding General in California. Considerable evacuation thus was necessitated, but most of the enemy aliens concerned were able to take up residence in or near places adjacent to the prohibited zone. For example, a large prohibited zone followed the San Francisco waterfront area. Enemy aliens living in this section were required only to move elsewhere in San Francisco. Of course, only aliens of enemy nationality were affected, and no persons of Japanese ancestry born in the United States were required to move under the program.

Although some problems were presented which required provision for individual assistance, essentially there was little of this involved. By arrangement with the Justice Department, the associated agencies of the Federal Security Agency were asked to lend assistance in unusually needy cases.

Mr. Tom C. Clark, then the West Coast representative of the Anti-Trust Division of the Justice Department, supervised this phase of enemy alien control and coordinated all activities for the Justice Department. There was much conjecture that this was the forerunner of a general enemy alien evacuation. Mr. Clark and his Anti-Trust Division staff were deluged with inquiries and comments. Conflicting reports and rumors were rampant along the coast; public excitement in certain areas reached a high pitch, and much confusion characterized the picture. However, in essence, there was no substantial dislocation or disruption socially or economically of the affected groups.

CHAPTER II

Need for Military Control and for Evacuation

The Commanding General, meantime, prepared and submitted recommendations for the establishment of prohibited zones in Arizona, Oregon and Washington, similar to those he had prepared for California. Upon receipt of these supplemental recommendations, forwarded by the Secretary of War, the Attorney General declined to act until further study. In the case of Washington State, the recommended prohibited zone included virtually all of the territory lying west of the Cascades. A general enemy alien evacuation from this area would have been required. More than 9,500 persons would have been affected. No agency was then prepared to supervise or conduct a mass movement, and the Attorney General was not convinced of the necessity.

As early as January 5, however, the Commanding General pointed to the need for careful advanced planning to provide against such economic and social dislocations as might ensure from any necessary mass evacuation. This was made eminently clear in a memorandum dated January 5, 1942, from the Commanding General to Mr. Rowe, during their initial conference at San Francisco. The point was also established that the Army had no wish to assume any aspects of civil control if there were any means by which the necessary security measures could be taken through normal civilian channels. In order to trace clearly the developments which ultimately lead to Executive Order No. 9066, and the establishment of military control, that memorandum is quoted in full at the end of this chapter.

The Department of Justice had indicated informally that it did not consider itself in a position to direct any enforced migrations. The Commanding General's recommendations for prohibited zones in Washington and Oregon were therefore viewed with particular concern by the Department. No only did it feel that such action should be predicated on convincing evidence of the military necessity, it regarded the responsibility for collective evacuation as one not within its functions.

The Attorney General, on February 9, 1942, formally advised the Secretary of War, by letter, that he could not accept the recommendation of the Commanding General for the establishment of a zone prohibited to enemy aliens in the States of Washington and Oregon of the extent required by him.

t is already noted, however, that the Department of Justice had previously adopted such recommendations in California. He stated in part:

"Your recommendation of prohibited areas for Oregon and Washington include the cities of Portland, Seattle and Tacoma and therefore contemplate a mass evacuation of many thousands * * *. No reasons were given for this mass evacuation* * * I understand that * * * Lieutenant General DeWITT has been requested to supply the War Department with further details and further material before any action is taken on these recommendations. I shall, therefore, await your further advise.

"* * * The evacuation* * * from this area, would, of course, present a problem of very great magnitude. The Department of Justice is not physically equipped to carry out any mass evacuation. It would mean that only the War Department has the equipment and personnel to manage the task.

"The proclamations directing the Department of Justice to apprehend, and where necessary, evacuate alien enemies, do not, of course, include American citizens of the Japanese race. If they have to be evacuated, I believe that this would have to be done as a military necessity in these particular areas. Such action, therefore, should in my opinion, be taken by the War Department and not by the Department of Justice."The Commanding General therefore submitted a résumé of the military considerations which prompted his recommendation for a prohibited zone in Washington and Oregon embracing virtually the westerly half of those states. The Department of Justice, however, concluded that it was not in a position to undertake any mass evacuation, and declined in any event to administer such general civil control measures.

Meanwhile, the uncertainties of the situation became further complicated. The enforcement of the contraband provisions was impeded by the fact that many Japanese aliens resided in premises owned by American-born person of Japanese ancestry. The Department of Justice had agreed to authorize its special field agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to undertake spot raids without warrant to determine the possession of arms, cameras and other contraband by Japanese, but only in those premises occupied exclusively by enemy aliens. The search of mixed occupancy premises or dwellings had not been authorized except by warrant only. (See Memo 1/5/42 at end of this chapter.)

In the Monterey area in California a Federal Bureau of Investigation spot raid made about February 12, 1942, found more than 60,000 rounds of ammunition and many rifles, shotguns and maps of all kinds. These raids had not succeeded in arresting the continuance of illicit signaling. Most dwelling places were in the mixed occupancy class and could not be searched promptly upon receipt of reports. It became increasingly apparent that adequate security measures could not be taken unless the Federal Government placed itself in a position to deal with the whole problem.

The Pacific Coast had become exposed to attack by enemy successes in the Pacific. The situation in the Pacific theatre had gravely deteriorated. There were hundreds of reports nightly of signal lights visible from the coast, and of intercepts of unidentified radio transmissions. Signaling was often observed at premises which could not be entered without a warrant because of mixed occupancy. The problem required immediate solution. It called for the application of measures not then in being.

Further, the situation was fraught with danger to the Japanese population itself. The combination of spot raids revealing hidden caches of contraband, the attacks on coastwise shipping, the interception of illicit radio transmissions, the nightly observation of visual signal lamps from constantly changing locations, and the success of the enemy offensive in the Pacific, had so aroused the public along the West Coast against the Japanese that it was ready to take matters into its own hands. Press and periodical reports of the public attitudes along the West Coast from December 7, 1941, to the initiation of controlled evacuation clearly reflected the intensity of feeling. Numerous incidents of violence involving Japanese and others occurred; many more were reported but were subsequently either unverified or were found to be cumulative.

To return again for a moment to the situation confronting the Commanding General. When the Attorney General advised that his Department was not in a position to declare as prohibited to enemy aliens the extensive areas recommended for such action in Oregon and Washington, he did not thereby establish the need for military control. It had become apparent that even those measures would not have satisfied the military necessities facing the Commanding General. For, by these means, no control would have been exerted over nearly two-thirds of the total Japanese population. Only about one-third were aliens, subject to enemy alien regulations.
Because of the ties of race, the intense feeling of filial piety and the strong bonds of common tradition, culture and customs, this population presented a tightly-knit racial group. It included in excess of 115,000 persons deployed along the Pacific Coast. Whether by design or accident, virtually always their communities were adjacent to very vital shore installations, war plants, etc. While it is believed that some were loyal, it was known that many were not. It was impossible to establish the identity of the loyal and the disloyal with any degree of safety. It was not there was insufficient time in which to make such a determination; it was simply a matter of facing the realities that a positive determination could not be made, that an exact separation of the "sheep from the goats" was unfeasible.

It could not be established, of course, that the location of thousands of Japanese adjacent to strategic points verified the existence of some vast conspiracy to which all of them were parties. Some of them doubtless resided there through mere coincidence. It seems equally beyond doubt, however, that the presence of others was not mere coincidence. It was difficult to explain the situation in Santa Barbara County, for example, by coincidence alone.

Throughout the Santa Maria Valley in that County, including the cities of Santa Maria and Guadalupe, every utility, air field, bridge, telephone and power line or other facility of importance was flanked by Japanese. They even surrounded the oil fields in this area. Only a few miles south, however, in the Santa Ynez Valley, lay an area equally as productive agriculturally as the Santa Maria Valley and with lands equally available for purchase and lease, but without any strategic installations whatever. There were no Japanese in the Santa Ynez Valley.
Similarly, along the coastal plain of Santa Barbara County from Gaviota south, the entire plain, though narrow, had been subject to intensive cultivation. Yet, the only Japanese in this area were located immediately adjacent to such widely separated points as the El Capitan Oil Field, Elwood Oil Field, Summerland Oil Field, Santa Barbara airport and Santa Barbara lighthouse and harbor entrance. There were no Japanese on the equally attractive lands between these points. In the north end of the county is a stretch of open beach ideally suited for landing purposes, extending for 15 or 20 miles, on which almost the only inhabitants are Japanese.

Such a distribution of the Japanese population appeared to manifest something more than coincidence. In any case, it was certainly evident that the Japanese population of the Pacific Coast was, as a whole, ideally situated with reference to points of strategic importance, to carry into execution a tremendous program of sabotage on a mass scale should any considerable number of them have been inclined to do so.

There were other very disturbing indications that the Commanding General could not ignore. He was forced to consider the character of the Japanese colony along the coast. While this is neither the place nor the time to record in detail significant pro-Japanese activities in the United States, it is pertinent to note some of them in passing. Research has established that there were over 124 separate Japanese organizations along the Pacific Coast engaged, in varying degrees, in common pro-Japanese purposes. This number does not include local branches of parent organizations, of which there were more than 310.

Research and co-ordination of information had made possible the identification of more than 100 parent fascistic or militaristic organizations in Japan which have some relation, either direct or indirect, with Japanese organizations or individuals in the United States. Many of the former were parent organizations of subsidiary or branch organizations in the United States and in that capacity directed organizational and functional activities. There was definite information that the great majority of activities followed a line of control from the Japanese government, through key individuals or associations to the Japanese residents in the United States.

That the Japanese associations, as organizations, aided the military campaigns of the Japanese Government is beyond doubt. The contributions of these associations toward the Japanese war effort had been freely published in Japanese newspapers throughout California.
The extent to which Emperor worshipping ceremonies were attended could not have been overlooked. Many articles appearing in issues of Japanese language newspapers gave evidence that these ceremonies had been directed toward the stimulation of "burning patriotism" and "all-out support of the Japanese Asiatic Co-Prosperity Program.

Numerous Emperor worshipping ceremonies had been held. Hundreds of Japanese attended these ceremonies, and it was an objective of the sponsoring organization to encourage one hundred per cent attendance. For example, on February 11, 1940, at 7:00 P.M., the Japanese Association of Sacramento sponsored an Emperor worshipping ceremony in commemoration of the 2,600th anniversary of the founding of Japan.

Another group of Japanese met on January 1, 1941, at Lindsay, California. They honored the 2,601st Year of the Founding of the Japanese Empire and participated in the annual reverence to the Emperor, and bowed their heads toward Japan in order to indicate that they would be
* * * ready to respond to the call of the mother country with one mind. Japan is fighting to carry out our program of Greater Asiatic co-prosperity. Our fellow Japanese countrymen must be of one spirit and should endeavor to united our Japanese societies in this country * * *.Evidence of the regular occurrence of Emperor worshiping ceremonies in almost every Japanese populated community in the United States had been discovered.

A few example of the many Japanese associations extant along the Pacific Coast are described in the following passages:

The Hokubei Butoku Kai. The Hokubei Butoku Kai or Military Virtue Society of North America was organized in 1931 with headquarters at Alvarado, Alameda County, California, and a branch office in Tokyo. One of the purposes of the organization was to instill the Japanese military code of Bushido among the Japanese throughout North America. This highly nationalistic and militaristic organization was formed primarily to teach Japanese boys "military virtues" through Kendo (fencing), Judo (Jiujitsu), and Sumo (wrestling).The manner in which this society became close integrated with many other Japanese organizations, both business and social, is well illustrated by the post address of some of these branches.

The Heimusha Kai. The Heimusha Kai was organized for the sole purpose of furthering the Japanese war effort. The intelligence services (including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Military Intelligence Service and the Office of Naval Intelligence) has reached the conclusion that this organization was engaged in espionage. Its membership was composed of highly militaristic males eligible for compulsory military service in Japan. Its prime function was the collection of war funds for the Japanese army and navy. In more than 1,000 translated articles in which Heimusha Kai was mentioned, there was no evidence of any function save the collection of war relief funds.

A prospectus was issued to all Japanese in the United States by the Sponsor Committee for Heimusha Kai in America. The prospectus is quoted as follows:

"The world should realize that our military action in China is based upon the significant fact that we are forced to fight under realistic circumstances. As a matter of historical fact, whenever the Japanese government begins a military campaign, we, Japanese, must be united and everyone of us must do his part.

"As far as our patriotism is concerned, the world knows that we are superior to any other nation. However, as long as we are staying on foreign soil, what can we do for our mother country? All our courageous fighters are fighting at the front today, forgetting their parents, wives and children in their homes! It is beyond our imagination, the manner in which our imperial soldiers are sacrificing their lives at the front line, bomb after bomb, deaths after deaths! Whenever we read or hear this sad news, who can keep from crying in sympathy? Therefore, we, the Japanese in the United States, have been contributing a huge amount of money for war relief funds and numerous comfort bags for our imperial soldiers.

"Today, we, Japanese in the United States, who are not able to sacrifice our lives for our National cause are new firmly resolved to stand by to settle present war as early as possible. We are proud to say that our daily happy life in America is dependent upon the protective power of Great Japan! We are facing a critical emergency, and we will take strong action as planned. We do hope and beg you all to cooperate with us for our National cause." (Italics supplied.)The Heimusha Kai was organized on October 24, 1937, in San Francisco. The meeting took place at the Golden Gate Hall, and there were more than 200 members present. The following resolution was passed:

"We, the members of the Japanese Reserve Army Corps in America are resolved to do our best in support of the Japanese campaign in China and to set up an Army Relief Department For Our Mother Country."According to reliable sources there were more than 10,000 members of the Heimusha Kai in 1940... .

One extremely important obstacle in the path of Americanization of the second-generation Japanese was the widespread formation, and increasing importance, of the Japanese language schools in the United States. The purposes and functions of these Japanese language schools are well known. They employed only those text books which had been edited by the Department of Education of the Japanese Imperial Government.

In order to assist the Japanization of the second generation, the Zaibei Ikuei Kai (Society for the Education of the Second Generation in America) was organized in Los Angeles in April 1940. "With the grace of the Emperor, the ZAIBEI IKUEI KAI is being organized in commemoration of the 2,600th Anniversary of the Founding of the Japanese Empire to Japanize the second and third generations in this country for the accomplishment of establishing a greater Asia in the future * * *.

In California alone there were over 248 schools with an aggregate faculty of 454 and a student body of 17,800.

The number of American-born Japanese who had been sent to Japan for education and who were now in the United States could not be overlooked. For more than twenty-five years American-born progeny of alien Japanese had been sent to Japan by their parents for education and indoctrination. There they remained for extended periods, following which they ordinarily returned to the United States. The extent of their influence upon other Nisei Japanese could not be accurately calculated. But it could not be disregarded.

The Kibei Shimin movement was sponsored by the Japanese Association of America. Its objective for many years had been to encourage the return to America from Japan of American-born Japanese. When the movement started it was ascertained that there were about 50,000 American-born Japanese in Japan. The Japanese Association of America sent representatives to Japan to confer with Prefectural officials on the problems of financing and transportation. The Association also arranged with steamship companies for special rates for groups of ten or more so returning, and requested all Japanese associations to secure employment for returning American-born Japanese.

During 1941 alone more than 1,573 American-born Japanese entered West Coast ports from Japan. Over 1,147 Issei, or alien Japanese, re-entered the United States from Japan during that year.

The 557 male Japanese less than twenty-five years of age who entered West Coast ports from Japan during 1941 had an average age of 18.2 years and had spent an average of 5.2 years in Japan. Of these, 239 had spent more than three years there. This latter group had spent an average of 10.2 years in Japan.

Of the 239 males who spent three years or more abroad, 180 were in the age group 15 to 19 (with an assumed average age of 17.5 years) and had spent 10.7years abroad. In other words, these 180 Kibei lived, on an average, 6.8 years at the beginning of their life in the United States and the next 10.7 years in Japan. Forty of the 239 who had spent three or more years abroad were in the age group 20 to 24, with an assumed average age 22.5. These were returning to the United States after having lived here, on the average, for their first 13 years and having spent the last 9.5 years in Japan, including one or more years when they were of compulsory (Japanese) military age.

The table below indicates the nearest relative in Japan for the age groups 15 to 19, and 20 to 24 years of age.

It will be noted that 42.3 per cent of those in the 15 to 19 year group lived with a father or mother in Japan, and that 13.2 lived with a grandparent. In other words, more than 50 per cent of this group of Kibei had a parent or grandparent in Japan, and it is reasonable to assume that in most instances these Kibei lived with this nearest relative.

Combining this information with that from the preceding table, it is seen that in a group of an average age of 17.5 years who were returning to the United States after having spent an average of 7.4 years aboard continuously (in other words, from the time they were ten years of age) one-half had lived with their parent or grandparent in Japan. Yet, this group consists entirely of American citizens and almost entirely of men who are of draft age at the present time!

Of the Kibei in Hawaii, Andrew W. Lind, Professor of Sociology, University of Hawaii, says: "Finally, there is the rather large Kibei group of the second generation who, although citizens of the United States by virtue of birth within the Territory [of Hawaii], are frequently more fanatically Japanese in their disposition than their own parents. Many of these individuals have returned from Japan so recently as to be unable to speak the English language and some are unquestionably disappointed by the lack of appreciation manifested for their Japanese education." (American Council Paper No. 5, page 187, American Council, Institute of Pacific Relations, 129 East 52nd Street, New York.)

It was, perforce, a combination of factors and circumstances with which the Commanding General had to deal. Here was a relatively homogeneous, unassimilated element bearing a close relationship through ties of race, religion, language, custom, and indoctrination to the enemy.
The mission of the Commanding General was to defend the West Coast from enemy attack, both from within and without. The Japanese were concentrated along the coastal strip. The nature of this area and its relation to the national war effort had to be carefully considered.

The areas ultimately evacuated of all persons of Japanese ancestry embraced the coastal area of the Pacific slope. In the States of Washington and Oregon to the north, Military Area No. 2 contains all that portion lying westerly of the eastern bases of the Cascade Mountains. In other words, the coastal plain, the forests, and the mountain barrier. In California the evacuation program encompassed the entire State-that is to say, not only Military Area No. 1 but also Military Area No. 2. Military Area No. 2 in California was evacuated because (1) geographically and strategically the eastern boundary of the State of California approximates the easterly limit of Military Area No. 1 in Washington and Oregon (figure 1 shows the boundaries of these two Military Areas), and because (2) the natural forests and mountain barriers, from which it was determined to exclude all Japanese, lie in Military Area No. 2 in California, although these lie in Military Area No. 1 of Washington and Oregon. A brief reference to the relationship of the coastal states to the national war effort is here pertinent.

That part of the States of Washington, Oregon, and California which lies west of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Ranges, is dominated by many waterways, forests, and vital industrial installations. Throughout the Puget Sound area there are many military and naval establishments as well as shipyards, airplane factories and other industries essential to total war.

In the vicinity of Whidby Island, Island County, Washington, at the north end of the island, is the important Deception Pass bridge. This bridge provides the only means of transit by land from important naval installations, facilities, and properties in the vicinity of Whidby Island. This island afforded an ideal rendezvous from which enemy agents might communicate with enemy submarines in the Strait of Juan de Fuca or with other agents on the Olympic Peninsula. From Whidby and Camano Islands, comprising Island County, the passages through Admiralty Inlet, Skagit Bay, and Saratoga Passage from Juan de Fuca Strait to the vital areas of the Bremerton Navy Yard and Bainbridge Island can be watched. The important city of Seattle with its airplane plants, airports, waterfront facilities, Army and Navy transport establishments, and supply terminals required that an unassimilated group of doubtful loyalty be removed a safe distance from these critical areas. . . . [There is] a high concentration of persons of Japanese ancestry in the Puget Sound area. Seattle is the principal port in the Northwest; it is the port from which troops in Alaska are supplied; its inland water route to Alaska passes the north coast of Washington into the Straits of Georgia on its way to Alaska.

The lumber industry is of vital importance to the war effort. The State of Washington, with Oregon and California close seconds, produces the bulk of sawed lumber in the United States. The large area devoted to this industry afforded saboteurs unlimited freedom of action. The danger from forest fires involved not only the destruction of valuable timber but also threatened cities, towns, and other installations in the affected area. The entire coastal strip from Cape Flattery south to Lower California is particularly important from a protective viewpoint. There are numerous naval installations with such facilities constantly under augmentation. The coastline is particularly vulnerable. Distances between inhabited areas are great and enemy activities might be carried on without interference.

The petroleum industry of California and its great centers of production for aircraft and shipbuilding, are a vital part of the lifeblood of a nation at war. The crippling of any part of this would seriously impede the war effort. Through the ports of Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, flow the sinews of war-the men, equipment, and supplies for carrying the battle against the enemy in the Pacific... .[A] high concentration of this segment of the population surround nearly all these key installations.

In his estimate of the situation, then, the Commanding General found a tightly knit, unassimilated racial group, substantial numbers of whom were engaged in pro-Japanese activities. He found them concentrated in great numbers along the Pacific Coast, an area of the utmost importance to the national war effort. These considerations were weighed against the progress of the Emperor's Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific. This chapter would be incomplete without a brief reference to the gravity of the external situation obtaining in the Pacific theater. It is necessary only to state the chronology of war in the Pacific to show this.
At 8:05 A.M., the 7th of December, the Japanese attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor without warning. Simultaneously they struck against Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Wake and Midway Islands.

On the day following, the Japanese Army invaded Thailand. Two days later the British battleships H.M.S. Wales and H.M.S. Repulse were sunk off the Malay Peninsula. The enemy's successes continued without interruption. On the 13th of December, Guam was captured and on successive days the Japanese captured Wake Island and occupied Hong Kong, December 24th and 25th, respectively. On January 2nd Manila fell and on the 27th of February the battle of the Java Sea resulted in a crushing naval defeat to the United Nations. Thirteen United Nations' warships were sunk and one damaged. Japanese losses were limited to two warships sunk and five damaged.

On the 9th of March the Japanese Imperial forces established full control of the Netherlands East Indies; Rangoon and Burma were occupied. Continuing during the course of evacuation, on the 9th of April, Bataan was occupied by the Japanese and on May 6th Corregidor surrendered.
On June 3rd, Dutch Harbor, Alaska, was attacked by Japanese carrier based aircraft and, with the occupation by the Japanese on June 7th of Attu and Kiska Islands, United States territory in continental Northern America had been invaded.

As already stated, there were many evidences of the successful communication of information to the enemy, information regarding positive knowledge on his part of our installations. The most striking illustrations of this are found in three of the several incidents of enemy attacks on West Coast points.

On February 23, 1942, a hostile submarine shelled Goleta, near Santa Barbara, California, in an attempt to destroy vital oil installations there. On the preceding day the shore battery in position at this point had been withdrawn to be replaced by another. On the succeeding day, when the shelling occurred, it was the only point along the coast where an enemy submarine could have successfully surfaced and fired on a vital installation without coming within the range of coast defense guns.

In the vicinity of Brookings (Mt. Emily), Oregon, an enemy submarine based plane dropped incendiary bombs in an effort to start forest fires. At that time it was the only section of the Pacific Coast which could have been approached by enemy aircraft without interception by aircraft warning devices.

Similarly, a precise knowledge of the range of coast defense guns at Astoria, Oregon, was in the possession of the enemy. A hostile submarine surfaced and shelled shore batteries there from the only position at which a surfaced submarine could have approached the coastline close enough to shell a part of its coast defenses without being within range of the coastal batteries.
In summary, the Commanding General was confronted with the Pearl Harbor experience, which involved a positive enemy knowledge of our patrols, our naval dispositions, etc., on the morning of December 7th; with the fact that ships leaving West Coast ports were being intercepted regularly by enemy submarines; and with the fact that an enemy element was in a position to do great damage and substantially to aid the enemy nation. Time was of the essence.

The Commanding General, charged as he was with the mission of providing for the defense of the West Coast, had to take into account these and other military considerations. He had no alternative but to conclude that the Japanese constituted a potentially dangerous element from the viewpoint of military security–that military necessity required their immediate evacuation to the interior. The impelling military necessity had become such that any measures other than those pursued along the Pacific Coast might have been "too little and too late."

IN: Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942, Headquarters Western Defense Command and Fourth Army, Office of the Commanding General, Presidio of San Francisco, California; Chapters 1 and 2. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1943.

German American Internment Deserves Recognition

2008-12-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

Bainbridge Historians note: We receive letters from German Americans questioning why their history regarding interment is ignored and why the Japanese American Reperations Movement is opposed to such recognition. A recent letter is below.

Certainly, I would love to see historical accuracy regarding WWII internment in the United States but I am pessimistic that it is possible. For whatever reason the US government has decided that it is our country's best interest to promote and fund a "Japanese American internment" narrative at the expense of historical accuracy regarding the internment of 11,000 German Americans during WWII.

Japanese Americans have an ongoing concerted effort (sanctioned by our government) to dominate the WWII US internment history. The recent $38 million dollar internment camp preservation bill will be used only to tell the JA internment story not the full narrative of US internment. During 2007 German American internees fought hard to be included in the internment camp preservation bill. Regardless of our collective efforts and input in the public informational meetings in 2007, we were totally shut out, similar to being shut out of the CWRIC.

My father was a German civilian seaman who was removed from a Standard Oil tanker in 1939 and interned at Ft. Lincoln in May of 1941, seven months before Pearl Harbor. He was interned because of his nationality and occupation. He was interned until 1943 when he was released on parole to work in the local community. In 1944, he entered the US military to gain his citizenship and served in the Pacific. (For a period of time he even trained in military intelligence at Camp Ritchie.) However, most Americans only know about the 442nd which promotes the fact that the unit was the most decorated military unit of WWII, but conveniently excludes the qualifier "for their size and length of service".

I have attended many presentations made by Japanese Americans and have challenged their continual denial that German and Italian Americans were interned. I have battled publicly on their false narrative. (I even have a good written record of a protracted battle with the JACL at Portland State University) The media will report on almost all JA internment stories but rarely report on European American internment. If an occasional article gets printed, it will never be picked up by the wire services. However, just the opposite is true for Japanese American internment. The most insignificant stories are blasted across all the wire services.

German Americans have had a bill in congress for approximately 10 years trying to get an investigation into European American internment but it has failed to move forward (which would exclude German nationals like my father). In 2007, it was added as an amendment to the contentious immigration bill and received a bit of publicity. Of course, the publicity was negative, so it was picked up by the wire services and blasted across the US. The interesting aspect is in the negative publicity we learned about a Department of Justice memorandum by Assistant Deputy Attorney General Hertling which was sent to the Senate Judiciary committee advising that the bill not be moved forward. In the letter Hertling states that the Department of Justice contacted a Senior Historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on the merits of the bill. The historian said the language in the bill was grossly exaggerated and the treatment of German Americans in internment was benign. Of course this was not a public statement that we had any opportunity to refute. What made this historian the final arbiter on the subject of GA internment? Certainly, one should be asking why was a senior historian contacted off the record to weigh in on a bill regarding German American internees, particularly when the DOJ was the agency responsible for administering US internment policy during WWII? The records for internment are in the archives of the DOJ, why would they be soliciting an off the record opinion of a senior historian at the USHMM?

Previous to reading the Hertling memo, I believed that the JA's had modeled their efforts for redress and public funding after the civil rights movement. Hertling's memo exposed the distinct possiblility that the US Holocaust Memorial Museum really was the model for the JA's. My guess is opposition to internment redress efforts must have been coming from a Jewish contingency. Once the JA's realized this, they found a way to circumvent the opposition. For years I asked myself, why do JA's want the exclusive dialogue on internment. After reviewing the DOJ Hertling memorandum to the Senate Judiciary Committee, it appears not one but two influential groups oppose the investigation of WWII German American internment. Take a look at funding and legislation JA's have succeeded at and compare to the USHMM funding, initiatives and dialogue. The Hertling memo forced a review of collaboration efforts between the two communities, it is fascinating.

Indeed, while I applaud your efforts, I am not sure how you can correct the history of internment if “racism” is asserted each and every time any type of investigation is requested. If you notice, current researchers rely on secondary sources for their resource data on internment which has all been written by Japanese Americans, dismally missing in the research are primary documents. In 2008 $44,996,000 was appropriated by congress for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. In 2000 legislation was signed granting the US Holocaust museum permanent status as a federal agency, in effect locking in federal support. As a museum press release explained at the time, “Permanent status permits Congress to provide funding without having to review the federal role.”

Recognizing WWII German American and Italian American internment would damage the JA narrative of racism, which would jeopardize future federal funding. The passage of the $38 million internment camp preservation bill may well serve as the nail in the coffin for historical WWII internment accuracy. It becomes almost impossible to challenge the narrative when it becomes institutionalized by the National Park Service across America.

Why is it totally OK for JA's to be interveners in a court case by a German American internee against the US government? How do JA's get by with not standing up for others who suffered the same indignities and civil rights abuses in some of the same internment camps during WWII and not suffer any vilification? Obviously, they realize the race argument shuts up all detractors. Just look, Chinese claims against Japanese war crimes are dismissed . . . American POW's claims for reparations against the Japanese government are opposed by the US government . . . the intentional starving of German civilians at war's end are silenced . . . German Americans internment will not be included in the camp preservations etc. Certainly, it would be great to find some way to break through the dishonesty that permeates US internment policy but the question remains how?

S. A. Weiss

MORE PROOF OF DISLOYALTY

2008-08-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

If they were alive at the time, they each got a $20,000 check and an apology anyway.

Think the kids at Bainbridge public schools will learn about this side of the history?

Today, Japanese Americans are big on using the "duress defense" to explain away acts of disloyalty. Japanese Americans need to acknowledge some of the darker chapters of their own history. This case is a good start.

http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/258/258.F2d.109.15421_1.html

258 F.2d 109

NORIO KIYAMA, Appellant,

John Foster DULLES, as Secretary of State, Appellee.

MIYOKO KIYAMA, Appellant,

John Foster DULLES, as Secretary of State, Appellee.

No. 15421.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

August 11, 1958.

Rehearing Denied November 4, 1958.

Fred Okrand, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellants.

Laughlin E. Waters, U. S. Atty., Bruce A. Bevan, Jr., Richard A. Lavine, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellee.

Before FEE and CHAMBERS, Circuit Judges, and CHASE A. CLARK, District Judge.

CHASE A. CLARK, District Judge.

Complaint was filed in this case by Appellants (Plaintiffs below) on September 15, 1949. The cases were consolidated for trial and the trial had July 10, 1956 to July 13, 1956.

On August 27, 1956, the trial Judge rendered judgment in each case for the Appellee (Defendant below) and this appeal is from that judgment.

The record of the trial shows that Appellant Norio Kiyama was born on May 3, 1915, at Los Angeles, California, of Japanese parents, thus acquiring nationality of both the United States and of Japan. He was taken to Japan in 1922 and remained there to receive schooling until 1931 when he returned to the United States. He was at that time sixteen years old.

Appellant Miyoko Adachi Kiyama was born at Manhattan Beach, California, on October 21, 1921, of Japanese parents. During 1928 she was taken to Japan and remained there until sometime during 1938.

The appellants Norio Kiyama and Miyoko Kiyama were married in December, 1938. Neither ever registered to vote in an American election.

The record shows they are the parents of two children and that the births of the children in 1939 and 1941 were registered with the Japanese Consulate in order that Japanese citizenship might be obtained for the children.

On April 29, 1942, the Appellants, while residents of California, were evacuated along with other persons of Japanese descent, and were first sent to the Santa Anita Assembly Center of Arcadia, California, where they remained until about October, 1942, at which time they were transferred to the Gila River Relocation Center, Gila River, Arizona. While appellants were at Gila River Relocation Center from October, 1942 to October, 1943, the Center operated, except for the inconvenience resulting from detention, in much the same fashion as a community outside of the Center. Community government was established and in operation. There was full employment. Medical facilities were adequate. Education and recreational facilities were provided. The center was relatively peaceful with few, if any, disturbances.

On February 12, 1943, Appellant Norio Kiyama signed a form entitled "Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry". In answer to questions 27 and 28 of this form [T 17-18] Appellant stated that he was unwilling to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States and was unwilling to swear unqualified allegiance to the United States and faithfully defend it from attack by foreign forces. He also indicated that he did not desire employment in any part of the United States.

On March 1, 1943, Appellant Miyoko Kiyama indicated that she desired no employment and would not take employment in any part of the United States. She also stated that she was unwilling to volunteer for the Army Nurse Corps or the Woman's Army Auxiliary Corps and was unwilling to swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and to forswear allegiance to the Japanese Emperor.

On June 30, 1943, Appellant Miyoko Kiyama signed a form entitled "Individual Request for Repatriation". In executing this form the appellant requested that she be repatriated to Japan.

On June 31, 1943, Norio Kiyama signed two forms entitled "Individual Request for Repatriation" and "Request for Repatriation — Family Summary". In executing these forms appellant requested that he and his family be repatriated to Japan. On July 28, 1943, Miyoko Kiyama again executed an "Individual Request for Repatriation."

During October, 1943, the appellants were transferred to the Tule Lake Segregation Center. Before being transferred they were given an opportunity to change their `No' answers to questions 27 and 28. The appellants failed to change answers knowing if they did not do so they would be transferred to Tule Lake.

After being transferred to the Tule Lake Segregation Center, Appellant Norio Kiyama became a member of the Hokoku Seinen-dan, a militant pro-Japanese organization. Appellant Miyoko Kiyama became a member of the Hokoku Joshi Seinen-Dan, which was the counterpart of the men's organization.

On April 27, 1944, Norio Kiyama signed a form entitled "Request for Repatriation — Family Summary". On this form appellant indicated a desire that he and the members of his immediate family be repatriated as a family group.

On October 15, 1944, both Norio and Miyoko Kiyama wrote letters to the Attorney General of the United States requesting advice as to what legal steps should be taken to renounce their American citizenship and the citizenship of their family.

On November 10, 1944, Norio and Miyoko Kiyama executed and submitted to the Attorney General a form entitled "Application for Permission to Renounce United States Nationality" in which they requested that their citizenship be renounced. On November 14, 1944, Appellant Norio Kiyama wrote a letter to the Attorney General seeking to add to his application by stating that he had military training while in Japan for three years under the Japanese Army.

On December 7, 1944, a hearing on Norio Kiyama's renunciation of citizenship was held, and at this hearing Appellant stated, among other things, that he desired to renounce his American citizenship; that he signed the application to renounce freely and voluntarily; that before Pearl Harbor his loyalty was to Japan and that his loyalty was still with Japan; that he hoped and believed that Japan would win the war; that "The Spirit of Japan is so strong it will be able to win" and that "I think the Emperor is the highest power and I worship him".

On December 7, 1944, Miyoko Kiyama's renunciation of citizenship hearing was held. At this meeting she stated, among other things, that she signed the application to renounce citizenship freely and voluntarily, that when she returned to this country in 1938 her loyalty was to Japan rather than to the United States; that before December 7, 1941, her loyalty was with Japan; that her loyalty was still with Japan; and that she would like to see Japan win the war.

Norio Kiyama renounced his citizenship at Tule Lake on December 13, 1944, by signing a form entitled "Renunciation of United States Nationality". Appellant Miyoko Kiyama renounced her citizenship on December 12, 1944. On December 23, 1944, these renunciations were approved by the Attorney General as not being contrary to the interests of National Defense.

On December 27, 1944, Norio Kiyama was removed from Tule Lake and interned at the Internment Camp at Santa Fe, New Mexico. Said appellant was designated as one of the leaders in the reign of terror in Tule Lake, referred to in Finding of Fact 35 in Acheson v. Murakami, 9 Cir., 1949, 176 F.2d 953.

On October 19, 1945, Norio Kiyama signed a form letter entitled "Petition for Repatriation" in which he requested that his family be repatriated to Japan. On or about March 1, 1945, Norio Kiyama signed and submitted to the Attorney General a letter in which, among other things, he requested that he be furnished with a Certificate of expatriation.

On September 27, 1945, while still at Santa Fe Internment Camp he signed a form entitled "Application for Repatriation" on which he indicated a desire to be repatriated to Japan unconditionally and whether or not his family accompanied him. On this form he stated, among other things, "I have been always loyal to Japan during the war and I have no intention to change my loyalty to any other country at this time."

On or about December 28 1945, Appellants voluntarily left the United States and returned to Japan. They remained in Japan from sometime during 1946 until sometime during 1950 at which time they returned to the United States on a Certificate of Identity for the purpose of prosecuting this action.

Appellants make the following assignments of error (the same as to each appellant),

1. The trial Court erred in failing to adjudge that the Appellants are citizens of the United States and did not lose their United States citizenship by reason of their renunciations at Tule Lake;

2. The trial Court erred in failing to find, conclude and hold that Appellants' renunciations at Tule Lake were under duress and coercion;

3. The trial Court erred in holding that the burden rested upon the Appellants to prove that their renunciations of the United States nationality was involuntary;

4. The trial Court's findings and conclusions that Appellants' renunciations at Tule Lake were voluntary and not under duress and coercion is not supported by the evidence.

The record as presented here convinces this Court that there is no merit in any of the assignments of error set out by the Appellants. See Tsuyoshi Iwamoto v. Dulles, 9 Cir., 256 F.2d 100.

The acts and utterances of the appellants throughout the entire time mentioned in this proceeding leave no doubt as to where their loyalty was and would be again if tested.

Judgment affirmed.

Dutch Woman Writes of WWII Experiences in Indonesia

2008-07-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

Just as American POWs of the Japanese during World War II are aging and dying, there are numerous, now elderly, Dutch men and women who barely survived the war in Indonesian POW camps. They were the wives and children of Dutch colonial officials and businessmen, many of whom were killed in their separate camps. Elizabeth van Kampen is one of these women, born in 1927, who spent an idyllic childhood in Indonesia, only to see it destroyed and her father and uncle killed. After the war she returned briefly to Holland, but then went to work in England, where she married and moved to South Africa. She later lived in the U.S., France, and Switzerland, before returning to Holland. Because of her knowledge of English, she decided to write her memoir in that language. She writes:

"The Netherlands had two enemies during World War Two, Germany and Japan. But the Dutch people only speak about the Germans. I can't even remember how many books I have read about the enemy Germany. It was only in 1995 that I really began to read about the other enemy, Japan. Mostly written in English of course, because the Netherlands doesn't really see Japan as their former enemy. That is also the very reason why I wrote this web site in English, with many mistakes and all. I tried to tell the story of the Japanese occupation in the former Dutch East Indies, because it is a quite unknown story. I tried to tell about the consequences of that very cruel Japanese military occupation of the former Dutch East Indies. There are many traumas people had and still have from that occupation. What made it worse, is that Japan doesn't acknowledge its atrocities from during World War Two and that the Netherlands is absolutely not interested in what the Japanese did to the Dutch in the former Dutch East Indies."

Despite her experiences, she harbors no lasting bitterness toward the Japanese and in 1996 visited both Indonesia and Japan. She now devotes herself to helping poor Indonesian children gain an education, and in documenting the treatment of POWs in Indonesia during World War II. One of the more interesting aspects of her web site, http://www.dutch-east-indies.com/ is her collection of eye-witness accounts by people who saw Australian and Dutch men being transported by the Kempeitai (the Japanese military police) in bamboo baskets ordinarily used to carry pigs to market. Many of these men were simply thrown into the ocean to drown in their baskets.

(Bainbridge Historians note: The history regarding the Japanese occupation and internment of civilians begins on page 23.)

A book worth reading....

2008-07-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

The excerpt from this book is interesting. Not sure if it's been published in English. Regardless, I want the English and Japanese publications for my library. Time for a visit to Jimbocho.

"Back in Tokyo, Hori concentrated on American strategy in the Pacific. Hori considered the decision by President Franklin Roosevelt to intern Japanese-Americans was a blow to the network that Japanese military attaches in Washington had cultivated.Contrary to the contention that Japanese Americans were all loyal to the United States, Hori says there were some who gathered information for Japan prior to the Pearl Harbor attack. The internment of Japanese Americans thus cut Japanese access to information on American industrial capacity and troop movements, according to Hori."

"Eizo Hori, "Dai-honei Sanbo no Joho Senki," (Records of Intelligence War by a Staff Officer at the Imperial General Headquarters), Bunshun Bunko, 1996, 348 pages

Response to Steve Camicia and UofW

2008-07-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

(Bainbridge Historians note, a reader sent me this piece and asked that I post it.)

I won’t beat around the bush: Steve Camicia is a charlatan and the University of Washington School of Education doctorate program does not deserve public respect.

If you, Dear Reader, care about public education, if you care about historical accuracy, if you have concerns for the education of your children and the future of our nation, read on. Consider the story you are about to read to serve as a cautionary tale.

In late 2005, University of Washington doctoral candidate Steve Camicia telephoned me after having seen my name in the Seattle papers. A story carried in the Seattle Times and LA Times covered problems I had discovered in a public school curriculum. Camicia presented himself as a disinterested researcher from the UW, in the Department of Education, pursuing a PhD on the topic of conflicts between school districts and parents over curricula.

Having myself been a student in education at the UW and having received a certificate from the State of Washington to teach English and History through the UW in 1974, I was familiar with the UW education department – at least as it had existed in the 70s. I therefore was receptive to Camicia as a representative of that institution. The UW has in general an excellent reputation – though on the basis of my experiences with Camicia I would now today say that reputation is largely undeserved, at least in today’s Department of Education.

Beginning in 2003, my husband and I and a small number of other parents had become alerted to a serious problem with a Social Studies curriculum in the 5th grade. We had filed a grievance with the Bainbridge Island School District protesting a new month-long social studies curriculum presented to children in the sixth grade, including our own children. The curriculum, entitled “Leaving Our Island,” promoted a biased view of history as propounded by a local lobbying group set on acquiring funds to build a memorial to Bainbridge Island Japanese relocated during World War II.

At the outset of WWII, these Japanese nationals and their American-born children were perceived as a threat to national security based on interception of coded radio signals sent from the United States to Japan. Additionally, President Roosevelt was rightly concerned about the possibility of economic collapse within the Japanese community and the targeting of this group by Americans incensed at Imperial Japanese brutalities abroad.

The “Leaving Our Island” curriculum omitted this information and wrongly presented the relocation as a strictly racist and hysterical action, ignored issues of national security, and fabricated horrors at the relocation centers, which it termed “concentration camps.”

When Camicia called, he stated that he was interested in speaking with me about the curriculum challenge. He denied any special interested in the topic of the conflict, only in the fact that a conflict of some nature existed, that parents were challenging some curriculum offered by some school district.

I agreed to meet with Camicia. In fact, I hosted at my home a meeting between myself, Camicia, and another parent. We spoke for well over two hours and Camicia made an audio tape of our conversation. When we asked him about his background, he stated that he had been a sixth-grade teacher and was interested in obtaining his doctorate and moving up into school administration.

I will admit that I was initially impressed with Camicia and flattered that someone connected with the UW would be interested in our case. In fact, I was so impressed and so hopeful that I introduced Camicia to my circle of parents and researchers consulting on the curriculum problem, some of whom had up to that point requested anonymity fearing retribution in the community. “Leaving Our Island” was definitely a hot-button item the story of the “concentration camps” had become quite the cottage industry. Camicia visited my home on several occasions and I provided transportation for him to and from the ferry.

Frankly, our battle against the false history curriculum to that point had been so lonely and so difficult that I was hoping that a fair and honest portrayal by a doctoral candidate from the UW would provide vindication of our position that the curriculum was unbalanced and that it was basically using school children as political pawns.

How wrong I was about Camicia and his intent.

Somehow, I missed the small signs along the way that Camicia was perhaps not what he seemed. First off there was the shift in the way he told us we would be identified. Camicia first stated we could use our real names, then suggested we choose pseudonyms for ourselves, and finally stated that he would provide names for us over which we had no control. In the last analysis, he stated that study required that we be identified by a color, “white.”

Secondly, I discovered that Camicia was not only speaking with the persons I had identified for him, but had expanded his study to include persons of his choosing from the school district. That’s only fair, right? Why however had he neglected to inform me of this aspect of his study?

Thirdly, there was that moment when at my invitation Camicia attended a promotional event for the Japanese Memorial. When I arrived, I found him chummily posting banners for the event along with its organizers. How could I have missed that? I don’t know. I was deluding myself. I was hoping for better, taking his statements at face value, and trusting in the reputation of the most significant education institution in our state, the University of Washington in Seattle.

Oh how wrong I was.

In 2007, the dissertation was published. I read the dissertation. Camicia had swallowed and incorporated whole the shoddy history of the curriculum, he had discarded testimony from WWII eye-witnesses to whom I had introduced to him, and he had produced a paper so full of mechanical errors that a grade-school student would be ashamed of having produced it. He even managed to become confused by his own assignment of pseudonyms – mixing up quotations from challengers to the curriculum with quotations from school district personnel!

Then, after Camicia was granted his dissertation, after he had secured a new job in Utah with his still-wet PhD, after he had moved out of state, Camicia slipped and revealed to me in an email that he had been formerly employed by the same institution which wrote and promulgated the curriculum we had challenged!

“10 September 2007: I worked for the Washington Civil Liberties Public Education Program, and having grown up in the Bay Area, I have been very aware of both sides of this issue since my youth.”

You can imagine my shock at that tidbit.

Camicia was not an innocent with a neutral point of view. He was a former employee of the group which funded the curriculum under dispute!

Reading the dissertation, I was sickened to find that Camicia had done no independent historical research to confirm or dispute the contents of the curriculum. He swallowed and incorporated whole the point of view and “facts” of the “Leaving Our Island” curriculum. He further stated in the same email quoted above, “I made every effort to remove bias from my study.”

The guy’s either stupid or he’s a liar – probably both.

Camicia misrepresented himself and duped me and others into providing him what he needed to obtain his quickie PhD.

(During the time we were in communication with Camicia as he was developing his research, my sister-in-law was also working to complete a PhD in nursing. When I told her of his initial call and the list of contacts I had provided him, she gasped. “Do you know how much you’re helping him?” she asked.)

At this point, I exercised my option to contact the UW. I and three other of Camicia’s study participants provided letters outlining our concerns: bad history, misrepresentation, slipshod work. For a year we heard nothing.

Then, where I had expected a thorough investigation of the problem, there was a whitewash. No individuals involved in determining the validity of our claims ever contacted us for further information. No individuals from the UW ever apologized for the way in which we were used. No individuals from the UW cared to know about the sense of outrage, the sleepless nights, the degree to which our trust in their institution had been betrayed.

Camicia learned nothing from the opportunities presented him -- to speak with dedicated researchers, with committed parents, with eye-witnesses to history. He could have been someone who gave children an opportunity to learn what really happened in history but he went into his project with bad intent. He did the bare minimum to earn a degree.

If it’s within my power, I will see to it that this burden of shame follows him wherever he goes.

Camicia chose to strike my voice and make me anonymous. And so I remain,

--Anonymous

Crazy Internet Denialist? Me?

2008-04-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Check out this wacky read from a 30 something professor. Your academic tax dollars at work.

http://mixedraceamerica.blogspot.com/2008/04/japanese-american-internmentincarcerati.html

I didn't even post to her site and she's still talking about me:

"I'm actually surprisingly happy that the crazy internet denialist hasn't tried to post--have you come across him? He lurks and then pounces on blog sites that try to talk about the Japanese American internment and INSISTS that it was all a matter of MAGIC cables and justified suspicion and not racist at all--he's a Malkin supporter 100% and at Reappropriate he spammed Jenn with all these weird stats and facts and just wouldn't listen to anyone. I often wonder what his agenda is, and all I can think of is that he's a binary thinker who can't realize that the most patriotic thing you can do is to let call the U.S. on the BS that they have done in the past (and present--I mean, the parallels to post-9/11 for Muslim and Arab Americans are too ripe, yes?)"

Yep, those weird stats and facts can sure get in the way! Ha! Ha! Too funny!

Then read some of the other nice comments left of this gal's site.

"What I like about the phrase "concentration camps," is that it does arouse such emotions (especially guilt and disgust) on the part of white Americans."

"This is the kind of thing that makes me throw up my hands and say "I hate white people" in a despairing kind of voice, which then subsequently makes it more difficult to get along with all the white people in my life who think I'm talking about them."

Aren't these people just charming?

Fine example of pro-reperations brainwashing

2007-12-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

Take a read at how one young person celebrated Pearl Harbor Day. Who do you think is putting such ideas in the minds of our young people. Your taxpayer dollars being spent by the Japanese American Reperations Movement.

http://seattlest.com/2007/12/07/sorry_fdr_but_d.php#comments

December 7, 2007
Sorry, FDR, But December 7th Probably Lives in Less Infamy Than Your Internment Order

The most unfortunate victims of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor--which happened 66 years ago today--were surely the 2,333 military personnel who lost their lives.

FDR called it, "a date which will live in infamy." Perhaps in 1941, a surprise attack on another country's military was infamous. But considering that in 1986 the U.S. launched a surprise attack on another country's civilians, 12/7 looks a lot less infamous than the direct domestic aftermath, felt especially keenly here in the Northwest.

The 2nd-most unfortunate victims of Pearl Harbor were thousands of Americans of Japanese descent who, in response to the attack, were unlawfully forced into internment camps. (The 3rd-most unfortunate victims were the 26 people who saw the Michael Bay film.)

Though President Reagan eventually signed legislation apologizing for internment and providing restitution to surviving victims, internment remains a controversial issue.

Case in point #1: When we were at NYU, a history professor lecturing on WWII called "ridiculous" the assertion that the U.S. only dropped the bomb on Japan because the Japanese are Asian, that we wouldn't have used the bomb on Germany because Germans are white.

"Well," someone piped up, "but we interned people of Japanese descent during the war, and not those of German descent."

"Yes, but Japanese-Americans weren't as integrated into society as German-Americans," he said.

We knew that was wrong.

"No, that's not true," we said. "I'm from Seattle, and there Japanese-Americans attended integrated schools, played baseball, spoke only English--they were no less American than anyone else, and yet they were interned, too."

"Were you there?" he said, coldly. We responded in the negative. "Well then you really don't know what happened, do you?"

Case in point #2: A 2004 Cornell poll found that 44% of Americans favor curtailing the civil rights of Muslim-Americans. The current administration hasn't gone anywhere near that far (instead choosing to curtail everyone's civil rights), but another Pearl Harbor/9-11 like attack could spur a law & order administration (We're looking at you, Giuliani), to consider internment again. Surely public opinion would be behind them.

FDR's decision to intern Japanese-Americans has been justified by some who say that Japanese-Americans may have been safer in the camps. To wit, this 12/8/1941 statement by then-Seattle-mayor Earl Millikin (courtesy NW Historylink): "Seattle must have tolerance toward American-born Japanese, most of whom are loyal. But I also want to warn the Japanese that they must not congregate or make any utterance that could be used as grounds for reprisals."

That same day, adds HistoryLink essayist Greg Lange, "Seattle Police Chief Herbert Kimsey announced that patrols would be placed around the 'Japanese quarter' and stated that anti-Japanese riots would be 'crushed with force.'

Instead of condemning this local racism gone amok, FDR justified it. Let's hope a future president doesn't repeat his infamous mistake.

For more, check out this essay on Bainbridge Island's Japanese American internment by Seattle Prep student Jack Hanley. Hanley won first place in a HistoryLink essay competition for the piece. Hanley's also one of the top returning players on the Prep basketball team. Word!

Japanese-American Internment Lesson Dropped From BI Curriculum -- for Now

2007-10-26T11:12:00.001-07:00

This from the Kitsap Sun, October 24, 2007:

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2007/oct/24/internment-lesson-dropped-from-bi-curriculum-for/

Japanese-American Internment Lesson Dropped From BI Curriculum -- for Now

By Tristan BaurickFor the Kitsap SunWednesday, October 24, 2007

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND

A controversial sixth-grade lesson on the World War II internment of Japanese-Americans was cut from the Bainbridge Island School District this year, but it may take a new form for other grades.

"We're in the process of refining what we teach," said Deputy Superintendent Faith Chapel. "Certainly, some of the issues (taught) in that curriculum will continue, but it doesn't fit our format now."

Taught since 2003, the "Leaving Our Island" unit was initially celebrated for its comprehensive exploration of Bainbridge history and domestic wartime policy. Later, the curriculum drew national media attention after two island parents derided the unit as biased against the internment and modern government policies, including the U.S. Patriot Act.

"Leaving Our Island" focused on the more than 200 island residents of Japanese ancestry who were forcibly relocated to camps during World War II.
Chapel stressed that the four-week unit was not cut from sixth-grade studies to satisfy critics.

Instead, the move is part of a districtwide reformatting of social studies curriculums to meet upcoming state benchmarks and to match curriculums in other state schools.

"Our state, in terms of social studies, is developing a menu of basic class assessments," she said. "We want to match the state's framework and also match the (curriculum) sequences in other schools in the state of Washington."

The district replaced a sixth-grade focus on U.S. history with a new emphasis on world geography and ancient civilizations.

U.S. and Washington state history, including lessons on the internment, will likely move to fifth, eighth, and 11th grades, Chapel said.

"The Leaving Our Island" unit was developed by longtime Sakai Intermediate School teacher Marie Marrs with a $17,000 grant from the Washington Civil Liberties Public Education Program.

Lessons included student discussions with Japanese-Americans who lived in the camps, visits to historic island sites, videos, biographies and other related texts.

James Olsen, who led much of the opposition to "Leaving Our Island," declared the unit's removal from the sixth-grade curriculum a victory for students and parents.

"The sixth-grade students are the clear victor, getting back a huge chunk of time to study the events mandated in the state curriculum," said Olsen, who often spoke passionately at school board meetings, decrying the unit as propagandistic and inaccurate. "The message for other parents here on Bainbridge and elsewhere is that perseverance can pay off — you just might have to endure stonewalling and obstacles before you see results."

Chapel disputed Olsen's comments attributing curriculum changes to the critics.

"That's not an accurate perception at all," she said. "There's a great deal of support for teaching this unit. It's not certain it will take the same form, but aspects of it may pop up in other grades."

CHARGES OF ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATION BY BAINBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

2007-10-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

I offer some observations on this issue but I ask that my comments not be used with attribution. I stand by my comments and can verify them but to use my name tends to work at counter purposes to my good wife's efforts in this matter. I also offer these observations of my own volition.

Mary is one of the most accomplished "artists" on the island with poetry awards and a film body of work running on local stations here and in other places. In addition she is a smart, professional and focused individual who is more than capable for performing volunteer services for local groups, churches or organizations. She has been doing these types of volunteer and historical endeavors for many years. It was Mary's hard work and drive that had Fort Ward and many of the buildings places on the Washington State Historical register.

Now Mary sees a public advertisement for docent volunteers at BHS and responds to the solicitation. First, Mary also has donated many books and movies to BHS and worked closely with Ms Varga, previous director to Ms Cosgrove (you also might dust off the info on the circumstances of Ms. Varga's abrupt departure since it is very related to the issues Mary raised). Mary responds but hears nothing for months and months. She follows up and hears nothing for another long period of time. Finally she gets a cryptic invitation to meet Ms. Cosgrove and another BHS trustee at a local coffee shop. Mary has filled in those details.

We know the story ending thus far. My observations on this are as follows:

1) Mary is on a BHS black list -- similar to the ones in effect during the McCarthy era back in Hollywood. All attempts by Mary to get appointed to any board or group through the Mayor's office have been denied. Mary raised the issue with the Mayor and got a flippant answer. Mary's sin is that she is a smart conservative who has championed balanced history on this island. I guess Mary's other sin is any association with me. My sin is similar to Mary's except I am even more determined to break down barriers to free speech and intellectual honesty on our island.

2) On the face of it the claim that Mary could not serve as a docent because she has opinions is outrageous. On the BHS board is Mary Woodward and a number of extremely vehement supports of BHS full commitment to the "Japanese Internment story." Mary Woodward and the other trustees have had no problem writing or speaking in public on their agenda. Yet my wife gets boxed out because she writes a letter to the editor calling for the Pledge of Allegiance. What an insult.

3) Mary contacted COBI with questions on issues of discrimination. You have to look carefully at what Ms. Briggs wrote back. Interestingly Ms. Briggs spends a great deal of time stating COBI and BHS are not related. However, I know there are financial, business, and "partnership" ties between COBI and BHS. Both are "partners" on the Japanese-American Memorial according to the Public Law that is funding the NPS. To suggest that COBI and BHS are unrelated does not pass the smell test. BHS gets funding support, advertisement and probably some staff support from the BIAHC, which is all COBI public monies. Funny thing is -- a very telling -- when Mary asked Ms Cosgrove where here promised written response as stated at their meeting, Ms. Cosgrove said Mary had "her answer" in Mary Jo's letter. Cosgrove has revealed she lets Mary Jo speak for her organization yet Mary Jo says they have no relationship. When pressed on the letter, Ms. Cosgrove had a melt down and hung up. Also promised was a letter from the Board at BHS but note they refuse to answer also.

4) Public organizations cannot get away with blatant discrimination and lying about it. Some of the documents produced by BHS or COBI in answer to Mary's complaint still had the ink wet on them as they were created to cover their behinds from a charge of discrimination. COBI would not tolerate a black woman being denied admittance to COBI supported organization. COBI would not tolerate a denial of a gay person from membership or volunteer work. However if you are a white female conservative, COBI and BHS have no problem denying access on the most outlandish pretenses and then thinking they can get away with it.

5) BHS has set up a "whisper campaign" that Mary is not professional enough to be a docent. Yet BHS will have the most rabid other members on their board and not give it a second thought.

6) Mary was told -- interestingly enough by Cosgrove -- that an independent study done on behalf of BHS -- told them to knock off the previous over-the-top coverage of all things Japanese internment. You will notice in their releases and I am told in their displays all the EO-9066 memorabilia is now somewhatt muted. Yet when a volunteer comes forward to help out she is discriminated against because she has produced intellectual property on the matter. Yet BHS, by their consultant's own report, was guilty of over-emphasis and pushing an agenda.

Mary is hard working and this kind of rank unprofessional character assassination is not deserved. If these organization think they can run over good people with impunity, they should know better. You are well aware of the censorship that BIAHC engaged in on this subject and the consequences that befell them.

You have covered a number of these issues to your very great credit. I believe wholeheartedly that organizations that breach the public trust when accepting public funds must be called out. The public is the only group that can demand BHS act in the interest of all Bainbridge citizens and not just a select few who are very afraid of open and full discussion of history on Bainbridge.

Frankly all of this speaks loudly about our "dysfunctional" city government and the agencies who spend the taxpayer money (BIAHC and BHS). With both BHS and BIAHC, the groups function without clearly stated rules of behavior on funding or volunteer criteria. It is only after challenged do these organizations create after-the-fact documents to attempt to deflect charges of bias and discrimination. It in not coincidental that these organizations use vagueness to enforce a local orthodoxy. If you challenge this orthodoxy, you invite rebuke, shunning or outright discrimination.

Again, no attribution to me but any ideas are free for the taking once you verify them.

Regards, Jim Olsen

Politicans at it again

2007-09-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

I just received a 4-page brochure from the National Park Service in which it is explained that $38 million has been appropriated to preserve and "interpret" the numerous sites of "confinement" of "Japanese Americans" during WWII.

No mention is made of the confinement of any Americans of European descent, of course.

This pamphlet explains that grant money will be issued to those "eligible" groups and institutions who are approved to receive it in order to assist in this project.

The catch is that whomever is approved for a grant will have to put up their own matching funds of 50 percent of the amount of the grant. Of course I presume that JACL and its fellow-travelers will have no problem putting up the matching money, hence we can, no doubt, look forward to a continuting propagandizing of the subject similar to the "trial run" at Manzanar which has apprently been completed as a result of prior Congressional action several years ago.

It appears that all those of us intested in historial accuracy can do is to sumit comments as to whom and what subjects should be covered by the grant program.

Those interested in doing so and who did not receive a copy ot this pamphlet can get the same info on the internet by Googling "PL 109-441" which will give you a Manzanar NPS website with much the same info as the brochure I received.

Numerous public meetings are apparently to be scheduled nearby to the site of some of the old relocation and DOJ internment centers beginning within the next several weeks to set up the following agenda:

1. September/October 2007--Gather information, public participation, comments

2. November/December 2007--Develop grant criteria, national public meeting

3. February 2008--Finalize criteria for grant program.

The reparations activists lobby the politicans to do their bidding and then use government actions to justify their revisionist history as credible.

It's amazing how the Japanese American reperations movment they can lean on government action such as the 1988 Japanese Money Bill while at the same criticize the government's decision to evacuate in wartime. The difference is the evacuation wasn't the result of an intense lobbying effort by ethnic activist extremests.

Advice from Mr. Kanno

2007-08-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

Upon going through the archives, I came across this quote. The inteview is from 1966.

Notice the tone of this man's comments compared to what we hear today. Of course his concerns were absolutely correct...

Give it a read:

"...But as I look back on evacuation today, well, I shouldn't call it a nightmare--but it was just something that happened and it's forgotten.

I think I'm a little unhappy about some of the problems that are being brought up by the younger generation: the third generation and fourth generation Japanese Americans. It seems that in some of the colleges or some of the organizations, many of the younger kids get together and they talk about this evacuation. They say, "Well, gee, our parents, the Nisei, were stupid for doing this or being obedient, quiet Americans and going to camps."

They're sort of bringing this up, and it's too bad, but they seem to be becoming more racial in their attitude.

Whereas I felt that because the second generation--we--were trying to assimilate ourselves into the American stream of life, so to speak, it would be so simple for the third generation to learn the American way and work into the general society, and they should have relatively fewer problems.

But the way I look at some of the things now it seems like in some areas they're going backwards, possibly because of the influence of other minorities--the blacks--and some of the emphasis placed on racial issues. They're saying, "Look, we have to identify outselves, and perhaps put out a united front." Not only are they saying Japanese Americans, but "We should form a coalition of Asian Americans to fight for our rights, and push. The blacks seem to be making headway, so we better do it."

Sure, it's one way to force something on a person, and tell him, "Look, you have to take me or hire me or do this, because that's what the law says." The old way, that we, the second generation, were taught was that you have to earn it. I don't know what the society is coming to.

Perhaps, this isn't unique among the Japanese Americans, but in general society this seems to be the trend. Maybe I'm calling it a racial problem, but it's really just a general modern society problem. I am kind of concerned about that."

-James Kanno

Nisei member of a pioneer Orange County, California family and first mayor of Japanese ancestry on mainland United States in Fountain Valley, California describes Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona; temporary release to Colorado; orderly work at University of Michigan Hospital; wartime education at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and experiences as president of Japanese American Citizens League chapter in Orange County; and involvement in area politics

We get letters....

2007-08-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

We get letters here at Friends of Historical Accuracy.

In fact, a head BIJAC representative, (the little twerpy outside agitator one) sent a flurry of hateful comments just after the 4th.

When faced with historical facts he could only resort to personal attacks and attempt to play the race card. So typical.

I find no reason to repeat such outburts of hatred and intolerance, even if the attackers are employed by the county.

On occasion though, some letters are worth repeating.

One such exchange I had with a Japanese citizen living in Japan. His candor gives me hope that in both Japan and the United States, the 100% truth will prevail.

"You are really opening my eyes to the truth regarding the Japanese American redress.The more I know about it, the more I find it was not necessary and most likely was done to appease ethnic Japanese, which is also a different knid of racism....

Problems arise when people like Mike Honda uses EMOTIONS and RACE to gain sympathy from the innocent majority who are more or less indifferent or ignorant of the issue and to silence opposing views.

Newspapers, schools, books and TVs had also brainwashed me to believe the Japanese American relocation as a great injustice and tragedy, since I had no interest in it and I didn't seek any further info beyond what I heard passively.

But come to think of it, the majority of them were not US citizens and they also had the option to move, either back to Japan or somewhere else.

Many Americans, Japanese and other Asians were dying and starving at that time, when they were safe in the camps, though I can see it was a demeaning and miserable experience.

Mike Honda and others seem really trying to expand the coalition of victims, using EMOTIONS and RACE.

I'm glad someone like you care about truth and go for more depth and details, rather than a precious sight of some old women weeping with joy."

Thanks for the nice comments!

It is always heartening when I get through to another person the complexity of this history.

Over the last fews years I have received other such letters from Japanese (even Japanese Americans) regarding my endeavor for the historical truth that are positive and supportive.

Thank you for the support!

Your letters of encouragement are gratefully accepted and encouraged, especially considering the barrage of wingnut letters we receive hurling accusations of "racism".

New site by Wes Injerd on the Evacuation

2007-07-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a great new site by Wes Injerd. Wes provides a lot of great information in a style that is easy to browse. Hope you'll give it a read.

http://home.comcast.net/~eo9066/Intro.html

Wes had previously done a lot of work researching Allied POWs of the Japanese.

This is more history that is well worth reading!

http://home.comcast.net/~winjerd/POWCamp1.htm

Thanks again for the work, Wes!

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

Just did an internet search and was very heartened to find my humble little blog has been linked to so many other fine sites. For this I want to say thank you!

What initially was a grassroots crusade to counter bad history propogated by a few well funded and politically connected ethnic activists on Bainbridge Island has grown both regionally and nationally.

We are getting the word out and while the memorial will most likely be built with the biased, un-truthful history intact - at least the public will know it's bad history and controversial.

Quite frankly, our success against the Japanese-American revisionist juggernaught has been more successful that I ever imagined it would be.

For those of you who assisted in defending the repution and honor of the political/military leaders of America's greatest generation - a humble thank you.

For America's wartime leaders and fighters still living, and their families, feel no shame for the tuff decisions you made to protect America in a time of total war against a fanatical enemy.

Friends of Historical Accuracy and its allies will continue to fight the good fight against today's fanatical liars and historical manipulators, America haters and all those who would condemn their neighbors as "hysterical racists" for their own selfish self-interest.

Happy 4th of July!

It's great to be an America loving American!

Political Boo-Hoo Brigade Decends on Heart Mountain

2007-06-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

In case you missed, politicians (not historians) got all weepy at Heart Mountain, Wyoming last week where a couple new plaques were dedicated.

One plaque from the National Park Service included the now obligitory "barb wire" and "guard tower" references. The other talked about what a great guy politician Norm Mineta is.

Another important purpose of the big whoop-de-do was to figure out the best way for politicians and Japanese-American ethnic political activists to feed at the money trough.

The cultish Japanese-American Reperations Movement is a big money business. BIJAC used to post their minutes on-line (before realizing they were being scrutinized) and I recall a comment about a relative who was a political lobbiest who would work pro-bono until the government coughed up the taxpayer dollars for the "memorial" then she would paid for her lobbying fees from the same money, etc....etc....

But I digress. Here's a link to the weepy Heart Mountain story. Thanks to Alan Simpson, these have been going on for years:

http://www.trib.com/articles/2007/06/26/news/wyoming/080af678a230c4588725730300831b9d.txt#blogcomments

Group plans Heart Mountain memorial center
By RUFFIN PREVOST
Billings Gazette Tuesday, June 26, 2007

HEART MOUNTAIN -- Not much is left of the internment camp that held nearly 11,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II, most of them U.S. citizens. A cluster of squat, crumbling buildings hug the weed-patched ground, and a tall chimney rises from an open field.But soon, a new building may rise on the windswept expanse that lies in the shadow of iconic Heart Mountain. A charitable foundation plans to open by June 2009 an interpretive learning center that will tell the story of life at the camp. The site has been recognized by the Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark, a status granted to less than 4 percent of properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Two unlikely but natural friends who remember the camp returned to the site Saturday to help announce plans for the $5.5 million, 11,000 square foot center, to be funded and built by the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation.

Former Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta was interned there as a boy, where he met future U.S. senator Alan K. Simpson of Cody. They were among nearly 200 people on hand, including several former internees of the camp and a host of government dignitaries, all there to dedicate the site as a National Historic Landmark.

Mineta recalled a long-ago Boy Scout gathering, with its knot-tying and woodworking contests."And then we got paired off," he said, to pitch a pup-tent with a partner and dig a trench around the tent to divert water in case of a thunderstorm. Mineta recalled the boy he was paired with worked hard to aim their trench toward another tent downhill, and cackled with glee later that night when it rained, flooding the lower tent."Alan, would you please shut up?" Mineta recalled telling his tent-mate, Alan Simpson, who would serve in the Senate when Mineta was a member of the House of Representatives.

Raising funds

The two men have remained friends and political allies through the years, and said they will be working, along with other foundation board members from across the country, to raise funds and awareness for the center.

The foundation has already received a $500,000 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, $100,000 from the private Taggart Fund and $100,000 from the Higuchi and Saito families . Another $50,000 has been raised from various sources, said Douglas W. Nelson, fundraising co-chair for the foundation, bringing the total to $750,000.

Congress has set aside $38 million for the Department of the Interior to use in a grant program for projects that will preserve the 10 former internment sites, including Heart Mountain.

But Nelson said no decision has been made on how or when those grants will be awarded. He said the foundation would continue working toward raising the full $5.5 million needed for the center." We want to be in a good position to be able to compete for those funds when they become available," he said.

Foundation president Dave Reetz said that though little remains of the camp's buildings, the center will invoke "the power of place" to tell visitors a compelling and cautionary story.Plans call for the center to include architectural elements that evoke the long, narrow barracks of the camp, as well as separate structures, including a reconstructed sentry station and guard tower.

The center, to be built on part of 50 acres owned by the foundation, will feature two recreated barrack living quarters, using original furnishings and artifacts from the foundation's collection. Exhibits and resources at the center will include oral histories from former internees and area residents, plus hundreds of original photographs, sketches, diaries and records that convey what life was like at the camp.

Mass relocations

During the spring of 1942, more than 75,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry and 45,000 Japanese aliens living on the West Coast were sent to 10 internment camps across the West, including Heart Mountain.

An executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the military authority to relocate people it deemed a threat, but no such mass relocations were required of Americans of Italian or German ancestry*. Families left behind homes, jobs, businesses, friendships - entire lives. Taking only what they could carry, they were sent to live until 1945 in isolated, remote camps.

During the war, Heart Mountain was Wyoming's third largest city, with families living in sparse tarpaper barracks behind barbed wire fences, under constant watch by armed guards. Inside the camp, life continued. Community members ran their own newspaper, cultivated nearly 3,000 acres of crops and bred hogs and chickens. More than 500 children were born at the camp.

Mineta said it was important for current and future generations to learn the legacy of the camps."What we're doing here at Heart Mountain is making sure nothing like this ever happens to other Americans," he said.

"It's important that we recognize the role history plays in educating us," said Gov. Dave Freudenthal.The government was wrong in ordering the internments, Freudenthal said, so Heart Mountain teaches a lesson of humility and tolerance."The truth is, this was not a shining moment for Wyoming," he said, recalling that many around the state adopted racist and discriminatory attitudes toward the internees.

But it also teaches a lesson of courage and perseverance, he said, based on the many triumphs of former internees in their lives after the camp."America may have given up on you, but you didn't give up on America," Freudenthal said. Simpson said the days the camp was open were "a most profoundly confusing time for a kid or an adult."He recalled that "there were signs in Cody on the restaurants that said 'No Japs' were allowed," but there were no such signs for Italian-Americans or German-Americans."Hatred corrodes the container it's carried in," Simpson said.

Hamburger and a Coke

Mike Hatchimonji, 79, was 14 when he was taken to Heart Mountain."I'm very impressed by it all," he said of plans for an interpretive learning center. "I hope it comes to fruition very soon."

"It's awesome," said former internee Shig Honda, who was 15 when he first came to Heart Mountain. "I never thought it would happen."Honda said he was against the idea of a center at Heart Mountain when it was first proposed at a 1981 reunion of former internees.

But Honda said he has since changed his mind, and supports the effort as a way to teach young people about past mistakes. For the past seven years, he has spoken to seventh-grade history students in his home state of Washington, Honda said, telling them what life was like in the camp.

"I always tell them one story about when I was 16 and had a chance to play tennis in Cody," Honda said."I wanted a hamburger and a Coke so bad, but there was not a place to eat in town that didn't have a 'No Japs' sign on the door," he said. Honda went into the Irma Hotel anyway, he recalled, but was told, " 'We don't serve Japs.' " **

The hotel has since changed owners."That was our first direct experience with prejudice," he said. "But I got them back."In 1999, I had a chance to go back to Cody, and my wife and I went in and ordered the biggest damn hamburger we could get our hands on," Honda said with a smile."I didn't get mad, I got even."

(End of Article)

Boo-Hoo.

You get the gist of the story and this is written by an employee of the Billings Gazette in Billings Montana? Incredibly one-sided. You'd think Montanans would have a bit more fortitude to stand up to the P.C. Thought Police.

*(Bainbridge Historians Note) German Americans on the east coast and throughout the country were arrested, interned, and in some cases deported.

Almost 11,000 German Americans were interned in the U.S. during World War II. Many German Americans sat, worked, played and went to school in the same camps as their Japanese American counterparts.

Furthermore even before the first person was interned, 600,000 Italian Americans and 300,000 German Americans were deprived of their civil liberties when they (all persons, male and female, age 14 and older) were required to register as "Alien Enemies."

This registration entailed photographing, fingerprinting and the issuance of identification cards which the Alien Enemies had to have on their possession at all times.

In addition they were forbidden to fly; to leave their neighborhoods; to possess cameras, short-wave radio receivers, and firearms. Finally, these persons were required to report any change of employment or address to the Department of Justice.

Why were they not evacuated off the coast? There was no evidence they posed a threat to the extent the ethnic Japanese on the West Coast posed a threat.

Why were ethnic Japanese outside the military exclusion zones not evacuated?

Same reason.

To argue there must be some kind of proportionality between Germans and Japanese because they both happen to be the enemy without acknowledging the extent of the security threat from ethnic Germans compared to ethnic Japanese is questionable logic.

Of course the Japanese American Reperations Movement isn't about logic. It's about emotion, historical manipulation, lies and Japanese Americans failing to come to terms with the darker chapters of their own history, preferring instead to call their neighbors "hysterical racists".

**I wonder if Sakai School will let me tell my stories of living in Japan? I don't dwell on such things like Shig Honda, nor do I intend to put a bunch of 13 year olds on a guilt trip.

It's just too sleazy.

But at a resort in Japan, the 9 year old kid who said to me in Japanese (Get out of the swimming pool you filthy foreigner!)

The 7th graders would like that one! Ha! ha!

Not being served at restaurants, that was so common it didn't even feel strange.

Of course my experiences are recent, not 1942.

Get over it Shig. I have.

Clarence Moriwaki posts to "Bainbridge Conversation"

2007-04-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

Recently Bainbridge outside agitator Clarence Moriwaki provided a post to the "Bainbridge Conversation" blog moderated by Rachel Pritchett and the Kitsap Sun. Moriwaki's comments, snide in tone, were rebutted by a few different sources.

Unfortunately, Pritchett's "Bainbridge Conversation" hasn't been much of a forum for "conversation".

Pritchett refused to post any rebuttal to Moriwaki thus letting him get the last word. In this instance "Bainbridge Converation" could be more appropriately named "Bainbridge Propaganda".

Unlike the Kitsap Sun, "Friends of Historical Accuracy" does not ban civil deabate.

Here is a link to Moriwaki's comments:

http://blogs.kitsapsun.com/kitsap/bainbridge/archive/2007/03/sixtyfive_years_ago_227_island.html#c1103985
Now let's engage in the debate Pritchett silenced on her own blog. That's a shame, Rachel.

Moriwaki: "To verify that 62 Bainbridge Island Japanese Americans actually served in WWII, Mr. Olsen didn’t have to plead to the Kitsap Sun to do his homework or fact checking. Mr. Olsen could have simply called me or others in the Bainbridge Island Japanese American community to ask us – or perhaps, more in character, demand from us – the proof and facts; however, that simple act of courtesy would in and of itself been an historic event."

Answer: Clarence, your record for providing the 100% truth is not great. This is akin to the fox guarding the hen house. We want verifiable resources. Why would Olsen call you for this information? You claim in the media to represent the "Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community". You represent your own little clique. That's it! Stop going around claiming to represent people you don't.

Moriwaki: "In all of these years of being a quixotic internment apologist, Mr. Olsen has never once spoken to me man to man. Instead, Mr. Olsen has preferred the refuge behind the prodigious use of his keyboard to hijack blogs and deluge newspaper editors."

Answer: In 2005, Jim Olsen wrote letters to BIJAC and IslandWood requesting an open public debate regarding this history to be held at IslandWood. BIJAC and IslandWood refused. Not only was Mr. Olsen willing to speak to you man-to-man Clarence, he was willing to do it in a public forum. I have all the letters. Shall we let the public read them, too?

Moriwaki: "While I understand that Mr. Olsen was an accountant for the Coast Guard, I do not know if he has had any formal training or academic background in demographics or statistical analysis. If so, he might want to brush up on his methods, since he concluded that it was mathematically impossible for 62 Bainbridge Island Japanese Americans to have honorably served our nation in WWII.

Well, Mr. Olsen, we poured over our numbers and we discovered that we were wrong.
There were not 62 Bainbridge Island Japanese Americans who served in World War II.

There were actually 68."

Answer: Well, Clarence, here are the questions we posed to "Bainbridge Conversation". Will you please provide more details to the public regarding this number?

Also, why did you get the numbers wrong in the first place?

1. Of this number how many served during hostilites?
2. How many were drafted in 1940?
3. How many served after hostilites, meaning the occupation?
4. How many volunteered from the Relocation Centers in 1942?
5. How many were drafted when the United States instituted the draft for Japanese Americans later in the war?

Break it out for us, Clarence Moriwaki.

I'm not denying 68 Japanese American Bainbridge Islanders wore the uniform. We just want verifciation and details.

You wouldn't expect any less from us, would you?

Moriwaki: "As you and your wife Mary Dombrowski profess to be “Bainbridge Historians” (I’ve scanned your website and noticed that both of you don’t list any academic accreditations) and as “Friends of Historical Accuracy,”

Answer: I am university educated in history with a lil' ol' BA from a state university. I haven't made a career out of this history, unlike Clarence. It's only a hobby.

Besides, is Clarence an accredited scholar in history? How about Frank Kitamoto? How about Tom Ikeda at Densho?

How about just one of the commission members that led to the Japanese Money Bill of 1988?

Of course not. They are all political activists and agitators.

One only need read the About Us section at Bainbridge Historians to realize I am neither Jim nor Mary. But it's nice to know Clarence has "scanned" my much neglected site and blog. I appreciate the plug.

Too bad, he can't debate the content.

Moriwaki: "The following list is of the 68 Bainbridge Island Japanese Americans who served in World War II, with the * indicating the 16 who served in the venerated 442 Regimental Combat Team:"

Answer: It's an impressive list which is why it needs to be verified. Let's look at the overall statistics for all relocation centers.

There were 800 JA volunteers who served in the U.S. armed forces. In addition, there were approx 3,200 draftees from the camps who also served. That would be a total of approx 4,000 from all of the relocation centers.

There were approx 19,000 males of military age in all the camps.

The 4,000 of them who served is 21% of the 19,000 total eligible for service.

Now if there were 191 U.S. citizens evacuated from Bainbridge and 68 of them served, that would be 36%. It seems doubtful that there were that many JA males of military age among the Bainbridge evacuees but even if there were, why would Bainbridge have provided 36% of their JAs to the army while the average for those from other locations in all the camps was 21%?

That would have JAs evacuated from Bainbridge Island providing almost twice as many of their number to the armed forces as JAs evacuated from other locations. That seems most unlikely.

Morawaki claims 16 served with the 100/442d. I have a roster of that outfit with some 8,500 names on it. So many names are the same and the list only partly alphabetized, that it would be an impossible job to try to find the 16 names from Bainbridge even if they were among the 8,500.

So how did Morawaki come up with the 16 names? From what official records, if any?

Aside from the 100/442d just about the only other outfit (with a few exceptions involving only a few people) they could have served in was the Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific. A total of about 3,500 served there.

If only 16 of the 68 served with the 100/442d, where did the other 52 serve? Did the other 52 all serve with the MIS? Very doubtful.

Pardon our skepticism Clarence, but your track record on historical accuracy is lacking and you have provided information that needs to be verified. Until you do so this information should be taken with a grain of salt.

The gate down at the post office, the Historical Society exhibit, the exhibit in the basement of Sakai School and certainly what is going to become the memorial in Eagledale to "educate" the public...it should all be taken with a grain of salt.

P.S. Where were all the enviromental activists on Bainbridge when the gully (or ravine as the newcomers call them) was ground down to make a parking lot for the "internment" memorial?

Not a word of outrage for the degredation of the island's enviroment. Certainly that gully in Eagledale is (was) much healthier than the gully in Winslow.

Why is that, Clarence?

Japanese Canadians get on the bandwagon!

2007-03-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

Remember how the beloved former mayor of Gresham, Oregon was slimed by the Japanese American Reparations Movement?

Check out what's happening up in Vancouver, B.C.

http://www.nichibeitimes.com:80/articles/stories.php?subaction=showfull&id=1174001160&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1

Vancouver Building Renaming Aborted After Outcry From Canadian Nikkei
From the Nichi Bei Times Weekly March 15, 2007

By BEN HAMAMOTONichi Bei Times

Following months of deliberation and an outcry from the Japanese Canadian community, it was announced last month that a Vancouver government building would not be named after a member of Parliament with a racist past.

The controversy began last September when it was announced that a new environmentally-friendly government building in downtown Vancouver would be named after former Cabinet Minister Howard Charles Green. The naming committee had chosen to dedicate the building to Green for his service in World War I and his advocacy of nuclear disarmament. The late conservative member of Parliament, however, had a different reputation in the Japanese Canadian community.

Green is notorious to Nikkei in Canada for his racist attitudes during the World War II era. The National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC) notes statements he made during the war, such as, “Orientals should be excluded from Canada” and “we won’t have Japs in the province.”
In defense of the proposed building name, many, including Conservative Senator Hugh Segal and Green’s family, argued that Green’s views were consistent with the time period.

The NJAC, however, feels that Green’s racism was exceptional in its malevolence.

Grace Aiko Thompson noted that when the Canadian government forcibly removed and incarcerated 21,000 Japanese Canadians, Green felt it was insufficient and called for their deportation. Thompson, the president of the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens Association for Human Rights, added that she was troubled that Green never publicly reconsidered his racist views or issued an apology.

In response to the community outcry, Canadian Public Works Minister Michael Fortier, who says he was previously unaware of Green’s racist past, requested that the naming committee reconsider their choice.

According to the Vancouver Sun, the naming committee, which consisted of four people, was split evenly between those who wanted to keep the original name and those who wanted to look towards alternatives.

On Feb. 8, the capital government in Ottawa announced the building would indeed be renamed. Fortier said in a statement that he’s requested that a new volunteer committee submit a list of potential names.

“I’m elated,” activist Mary Kitagawa told the Province. “It has great impact on me because whenever we see this name it takes us back to internment and the suffering we experienced.”

Green died at the age of 93 in 1989.

S. 381 by Dan Inouye

2007-01-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

Dan Inouye says the bill is designed to investigate, but it reads like Dan and his buddies have already made up their minds. This is deja vu.

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - January 24, 2007)

This is a story about the U.S. government's act of reaching its arm across international borders, into a community that did not pose an immediate threat to our Nation, in order to use them, devoid of passports or any other proof of citizenship, for hostage exchange with Japan.

Between the years 1941 and 1945, our government, with the help of Latin American officials, arbitrarily arrested persons of Japanese descent from streets, homes, and workplaces. Approximately 2,300 undocumented persons were brought to camp sites in the U.S., where they were held under armed watch, and then held in reserve for prisoner exchange. Those used in an exchange were sent to Japan, a foreign country that many had never set foot on since their ancestors' immigration to Latin America.

Despite their involuntary arrival, Latin American internees of Japanese descent were considered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service as illegal entrants. By the end of the war, some Japanese Latin Americans had been sent to Japan. Those who were not used in a prisoner exchange were cast out into a new and English-speaking country, and subject to deportation proceedings. Some returned to Latin America. Others remained in the U.S., where their Latin American country of origin refused their re-entry because they were unable to present a passport.

When I first learned of the wartime experiences of Japanese Latin Americans, it seemed unbelievable, but indeed, it happened. It is a part of our national history, and it is a part of the living histories of the many families whose lives are forever tied to internment camps in our country.

The outline of this story was sketched out in a book published by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians formed in 1980. This Commission had set out to learn about Japanese Americans. Towards the close of their investigations, the Commissioners stumbled upon this extraordinary effort by the U.S. government to relocate, intern, and deport Japanese persons formerly living in Latin America. Because this finding surfaced late in its study, the Commission was unable to fully uncover the facts, but found them significant enough to include in its published study, urging a deeper investigation.

I rise today to introduce the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent Act, which would establish a fact-finding Commission to extend the study of the 1980 Commission. This Commission's task would be to determine facts surrounding the U.S. government's actions in regards to Japanese Latin Americans subject to a program of relocation, interment, and deportation. I believe that examining this extraordinary program would give finality to, and complete the account of Federal actions to detain and intern civilians of Japanese ancestry.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of my bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

S. 381

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

(a) Findings.--Based on a preliminary study published in December 1982 by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, Congress finds the following:

(1) During World War II, the United States--

(A) expanded its internment program and national security investigations to conduct the program and investigations in Latin America; and

(B) financed relocation to the United States, and internment, of approximately 2,300 Latin Americans of Japanese descent, for the purpose of exchanging the Latin Americans of Japanese descent for United States citizens held by Axis countries.

(2) Approximately 2,300 men, women, and children of Japanese descent from 13 Latin American countries were held in the custody of the Department of State in internment camps operated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service from 1941 through 1948.

(3) Those men, women, and children either--

(A) were arrested without a warrant, hearing, or indictment by local police, and sent to the United States for internment; or

(B) in some cases involving women and children, voluntarily entered internment camps to remain with their arrested husbands, fathers, and other male relatives.

(4) Passports held by individuals who were Latin Americans of Japanese descent were routinely confiscated before the individuals arrived in the United States, and the Department of State ordered United States consuls in Latin American countries to refuse to issue visas to the individuals prior to departure.

(5) Despite their involuntary arrival, Latin American internees of Japanese descent were considered to be and treated as illegal entrants by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Thus, the internees became illegal aliens in United States custody who were subject to deportation proceedings for immediate removal from the United States. In some cases, Latin American internees of Japanese descent were deported to Axis countries to enable the United States to conduct prisoner exchanges.

(6) Approximately 2,300 men, women, and children of Japanese descent were relocated from their homes in Latin America, detained in internment camps in the United States, and in some cases, deported to Axis countries to enable the United States to conduct prisoner exchanges.

(7) The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians studied Federal actions conducted pursuant to Executive Order 9066 (relating to authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe military areas). Although the United States program of interning Latin Americans of Japanese descent was not conducted pursuant to Executive Order 9066, an examination of that extraordinary program is necessary to establish a complete account of Federal actions to detain and intern civilians of enemy or foreign nationality, particularly of Japanese descent. Although historical documents relating to the program exist in distant archives, the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians did not research those documents.

(8) Latin American internees of Japanese descent were a group not covered by the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. App. 1989b et seq.), which formally apologized and provided compensation payments to former Japanese Americans interned pursuant to Executive Order 9066.

(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish a fact-finding Commission to extend the study of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to investigate and determine facts and circumstances surrounding the relocation, internment, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent from December 1941 through February 1948, and the impact of those actions by the United States, and to recommend appropriate remedies, if any, based on preliminary findings by the original Commission and new discoveries.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMISSION.

(a) In General.--There is established the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese descent (referred to in this Act as the ``Commission'').

(b) Composition.--The Commission shall be composed of 9 members, who shall be appointed not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, of whom--

(1) 3 members shall be appointed by the President;

(2) 3 members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, on the joint recommendation of the majority leader of the House of Representatives and the minority leader of the House of Representatives; and

(3) 3 members shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate, on the joint recommendation of the majority leader of the Senate and the minority leader of the Senate.

(c) Period of Appointment; Vacancies.--Members shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. A vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment was made.

(d) Meetings.--

(1) FIRST MEETING.--The President shall call the first meeting of the Commission not later than the later of--

(A) 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act; or

(B) 30 days after the date of enactment of legislation making appropriations to carry out this Act.

(2) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.--Except as provided in paragraph (1), the Commission shall meet at the call of the Chairperson.

(e) Quorum.--Five members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may hold hearings.

(f) Chairperson and Vice Chairperson.--The Commission shall elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among its members. The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson shall serve for the life of the Commission.

SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

(a) In General.--The Commission shall--

(1) extend the study of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, established by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Act--

(A) to investigate and determine facts and circumstances surrounding the United States' relocation, internment, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent from December 1941 through February 1948, and the impact of those actions by the United States; and

(B) in investigating those facts and circumstances, to review directives of the United States armed forces and the Department of State requiring the relocation, detention in internment camps, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent; and

(2) recommend appropriate remedies, if any, based on preliminary findings by the original Commission and new discoveries.

(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the first meeting of the Commission pursuant to section 3(d)(1), the Commission shall submit a written report to Congress, which shall contain findings resulting from the investigation conducted under subsection (a)(1) and recommendations described in subsection (a)(2).

SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

(a) Hearings.--The Commission or, at its direction, any subcommittee or member of the Commission, may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act--

(1) hold such public hearings in such cities and countries, sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, receive such evidence, and administer such oaths as the Commission or such subcommittee or member considers advisable; and

(2) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, documents, tapes, and materials as the Commission or such subcommittee or member considers advisable.

(b) Issuance and Enforcement of Subpoenas.--

(1) ISSUANCE.--Subpoenas issued under subsection (a) shall bear the signature of the Chairperson of the Commission and shall be served by any person or class of persons designated by the Chairperson for that purpose.

(2) ENFORCEMENT.--In the case of contumacy or failure to obey a subpoena issued under subsection (a), the United States district court for the judicial district in which the subpoenaed person resides, is served, or may be found may issue an order requiring such person to appear at any designated place to testify or to produce documentary or other evidence. Any failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt of that court.

(c) Witness Allowances and Fees.--Section 1821 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply to witnesses requested or subpoenaed to appear at any hearing of the Commission. The per diem and mileage allowances for witnesses shall be paid from funds available to pay the expenses of the Commission.

(d) Information From Federal Agencies.--The Commission may secure directly from any Federal department or agency such information as the Commission considers necessary to perform its duties. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission.

(e) Postal Services.--The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

SEC. 6. PERSONNEL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

(a) Compensation of Members.--Each member of the Commission who is not an officer or employee of the Federal Government shall be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel time) during which such member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the Commission. All members of the Commission who are officers or employees of the United States shall serve without compensation in addition to that received for their services as officers or employees of the United States.

(b) Travel Expenses.--The members of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission.

(c) Staff.--

(1) IN GENERAL.--The Chairperson of the Commission may, without regard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate the employment of such personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to perform its duties.

(2) COMPENSATION.--The Chairperson of the Commission may fix the compensation of the personnel without regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification of positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

(d) Detail of Government Employees.--Any Federal Government employee may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege.

(e) Procurement of Temporary and Intermittent Services.--The Chairperson of the Commission may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individuals that do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

(f) Other Administrative Matters.--The Commission may--

(1) enter into agreements with the Administrator of General Services to procure necessary financial and administrative services;

(2) enter into contracts to procure supplies, services, and property; and

(3) enter into contracts with Federal, State, or local agencies, or private institutions or organizations, for the conduct of research or surveys, the preparation of reports, and other activities necessary to enable the Commission to perform its duties.

SEC. 7. TERMINATION.
The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the Commission submits its report to Congress under section 4(b).

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

(b) Availability.--Any sums appropriated under the authorization contained in this section shall remain available, without fiscal year limitation, until expended.

Inouye legislation wants to "investigate" with a "commission".

2007-01-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

We've seen this before. It's too bad most Americans just don't care.

Here's the latest from Dan Inouye as provided by the AP.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Jan/25/br/br7950628431.html

You may recall Dan Inouye is the Senator from Hawaii who received an affirmative action upgrade to MOH status from Bill Clinton courtesy of legislation introduced by his fellow senator from Hawaii, Dan Akaka (against the advice of the Pentagon's leading historian).

Inouye wants to use taxpayer dollars to "investigate" the internment of Japanese from Latin America sent to camps in America during WW2. Here's what Inouye has to say about his new legislation:

"They apparently had only one purpose on U.S. soil — to be used for prisoner exchanges with Japan," he said.

This is nonsense, which is why Dan added the word "apparently". Why would the Americans need to use Japanese enemy aliens from Latin America for prisoner exchanges when there were already thousands Japanese enemy aliens in American at the time? I wonder how Dan would answer.

The Accurate History

With regard to the Latin American Axis nationals, it is generally acknowledged by those who have bothered to check the record that only approx 8,500 Axis nationals (Germans, Italians, and Japanese)were arrested and interned by 16 Latin American countries during WWII. (Inouye ignores the Germans and Italians, however.)

In accordance with treaty obligations, the U.S. was obligated to accept Axis nationals for internment in the U.S. from those Latin American countries which were unable to establish costly internment programs. (Apparently Inouye does not know this.)

Accordngly, at least twelve Latin American countries deported a total of only 3,000 Axis nationals consisting of just under 2,300 Japanese (500 of whom who had already applied for expatriation to Japan at the Spanish Embassy in Peru) and just over 700 Germans and Italians.

Hence, the U.S. was only involved in the internment of 3,000 Latin American Axis nationals.

Charges of violation of the wartime civil rights of such persons (enemy aliens)by the U.S. is far fetched. Indeed, such persons were specifically excluded from P.L.100-383 which authorized payment to Japanese enemy aliens and Japanese Americans evacuated from the West Coast or interned by the U.S. during the war.

This isn't going to stop the Japanese American Reperations Movement from investigating the history with your taxpayer dollars. Hopefully America's politicans will show more common sense than they did in the 1980s. Better yet, why don't they just leave the investigating to the academics.

Here's the not so well written blurb. My embelishments are in paranthesis.

Inouye introduces bill to investigate WWII internment

Associated Press

Sen. Daniel Inouye yesterday introduced a bill to create a commission to investigate the relocation, internment and deportation of Latin Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II and the late 1940s.

"They were taken from their homes in countries such as Brazil, Panama and Peru, stripped of their passports, involuntarily brought to the United States, and interned in American camps," Inouye, D-Hawaii, said in a news release issued by his Washington office.

"They apparently had only one purpose on U.S. soil — to be used for prisoner exchanges with Japan," he said.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, one of the co-sponsors of the legislation, (surprise) said the panel will conduct a thorough examination of the largely unknown aspect of the internment of some 2,300 Latin Americans of Japanese ancestry. (500 of whom who had already applied for expatriation to Japan at the Spanish Embassy in Peru)

"We are a great nation, and we should not be afraid of the lessons we can learn from the dark chapters of our history," Akaka said.

Inouye agreed.

"The lessons of history can be painful," he said. "But that pain can also strengthen our nation and our commitment to its democratic ideals, which include equal justice for all."

The other co-sponsors of the bill are Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Carl Levin, D-Mich., Robert Bennett, R-Utah, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

The nine-member commission would be able to recommend remedies, if any, based on what it uncovered. (Who will stack this commission, Sen. Inouye?)

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the internment of about 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry. (Wrong. Adults were enemy aliens.) They received a formal apology from President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

Watada article in Kitsap Sun invokes "internment" injustice!

2007-01-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

It was only a matter of time for the "internment" to be invoked in defense of disgraced Lt. Ehren Watada in an awkward pair off with the Japanese American reparations movement.

The JACL has been treading lightly on this one. They know Watada is potential liability to "the cause". The Kitsap Sun does not however.

I predict an association between Watada and the Japanese American Reperations jugernaught will be a liability.

Mary Abo, from Bremerton, said she admired that Watada was trying to make a change.

"I especially admire him because I share his cultural background of the Japanese internment in World War II, and it is very important that if you feel that there is an injustice to speak out and not be silent," she said.

Abo, 66, was taken to a camp in Idaho for three years when she was a toddler.

Iraq War Deserter Critical of U.S. Policy at Bremerton Event

Lt. Ehren Watada, likely to be court martialed on Feb. 5, says he did not report for Iraq duty because of beliefs.
By David Vognar, David.Vognar@kitsapsun.comJanuary 21, 2007

BREMERTON

Even with charges looming that could send him to prison for six years, Army Lt. Ehren Watada faces the future confident in his actions.

"Yes, I have broken ranks. I have not been a good lieutenant ...," he said. "Otherwise, like those lemmings, we could all march off to our doom."

Speaking Saturday before more than 70 people at the Kitsap Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Watada explained why he refused to go to Iraq, a decision that has him scheduled for a court martial on Feb. 5 at Fort Lewis. Since his decision last summer to purposely miss his Army unit’s deployment on June 22, the 28-year-old from Hawaii has gone from thinking he "never could or should do this" to becoming a vocal spokesman for raising public awareness against the war.

"We all do what we believe in," Watada said.

The odds of being convicted are likely because a judge at Watada’s Jan. 4 pre-trial hearing ruled that Watada’s lawyers cannot present arguments saying the Iraq war is illegal, which is Watada’s defense.

"You can convict me and send me to prison," Watada said, "but in the grand scheme of things it changes nothing."

According to his Web site, www.thankyoult.org, Watada swore allegiance to the Constitution and "not to those who would issue unlawful orders." He said that he is a servant of the people and public opinion has turned against the war.

Watada also said the war is illegal because the reasons for beginning it and continuing it have been deceptive. "All soldiers in a free society must know the true reasons for why he or she is going to sacrifice their life," Watada said. "Do you think the American military will ever leave when there are profits to protect?"

Though he still works at Fort Lewis — and tries to stay out of public places because of the hate mail he has received — Watada is using his role to encourage others to oppose the war.

"It is the American people who have the power to end this war, but only if they have the will to do so," Watada said.

Watada also said he has received a lot of support from both civilians and military members.
Watada, who served in South Korea until he was transferred to Ft. Lewis in 2005, tried to resign from the Army in January 2006 but was turned down. Later he volunteered to go to Afghanistan instead but was denied.

According to support coordinator Carrie Hathorn, Watada is the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq.

Mary Abo, from Bremerton, said she admired that Watada was trying to make a change.

"I especially admire him because I share his cultural background of the Japanese internment in World War II, and it is very important that if you feel that there is an injustice to speak out and not be silent," she said.

Abo, 66, was taken to a camp in Idaho for three years when she was a toddler.

Thomas Sorensen, 77, said he was impressed by the speech. "I thought it was very good, very eloquent," he said. "He’s a person who is very committed."

Rep. Inslee and buddies hard at work legislating history

2007-01-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

With politicians legislating history, who needs scholars?

Bainbridge Island Japanese American Monument Act of 2007 (Introduced in House)

HR 161 IH
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 161

To adjust the boundary of the Minidoka Internment National Monument to include the Nidoto Nai Yoni Memorial in Bainbridge Island, Washington, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 4, 2007

Mr. INSLEE (for himself, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. HONDA, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. MCDERMOTT, and Ms. MATSUI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To adjust the boundary of the Minidoka Internment National Monument to include the Nidoto Nai Yoni Memorial in Bainbridge Island, Washington, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Bainbridge Island Japanese American Monument Act of 2007'.

SEC. 2. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.

(a) In General- The boundary of the Minidoka Internment National Monument, located in the State of Idaho and established by Presidential Proclamation 7395 of January 17, 2001, is adjusted to include the Nidoto Nai Yoni (`Let it not happen again') memorial. That memorial--

(1) commemorates the Japanese Americans of Bainbridge Island, Washington, who were the first to be forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to internment camps during World War II under Executive Order 9066: and

(2) consists of approximately 8 acres of land owned by the City of Bainbridge Island, Washington, as depicted on the map titled `Bainbridge Island Japanese American Memorial', numbered 194/80,003, and dated September, 2006.

(b) Map- The map referred to in subsection (a) shall be kept on file and made available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Parks Service.

SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF MONUMENT.

(a) Administration- The Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter in this section referred to as the `Secretary') shall administer the Nidoto Nai Yoni Memorial as part of Minidoka Internment National Monument in accordance with--

(1) Presidential Proclamation 7395 of January 17, 2001;

(2) laws and regulations generally applicable to units of the National Park System, including the Act of August 25, 1916 (popularly known as the `National Park Service Organic Act,'; 16 U.S.C. 1 et seq); and

(3) any agreements entered into pursuant to subsection (b).
(b) Agreements-
(1) For the purposes of defining the role of the National Park Service in administering the Nidoto Nai Yoni Memorial owned by the City of Bainbridge Island, the Secretary is authorized to enter into agreements with--

(A) the City of Bainbridge Island;

(B) the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park and Recreational District;

(C) the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community Memorial Committee;

(D) the Bainbridge Island Historical Society;

(E) successor entities to the entities named in subparagraphs (A) through (D); and

(F) other appropriate individuals or entities, at the discretion of the Secretary.

(2) In order to implement an agreement provided for in paragraph (1), the Secretary may--

(A) make grants to the City of Bainbridge Island for development of an administrative and interpretive facility for the Nidoto Nai Yoni Memorial;

(B) enter into a cooperative management agreement with the City of Bainbridge Island, pursuant to section 3(l) of Public Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-2(l); popularly known as the `National Park System General Authorities Act'), for the purpose of providing assistance with operation and maintenance of the memorial;

(C) make grants to other non-Federal entities for other infrastructure projects at the memorial, subject to a match of non-Federal funding equal to the amount of a grant made pursuant to this paragraph; and

(D) make grants or enter into cooperative agreements with non-Federal entities to support development of interpretive media for the memorial.
(c) Administrative and Visitor Use Site- The Secretary is authorized to operate and maintain a site in Seattle, Washington, for administrative and visitor use purposes associated with Minidoka Internment National Monument, using to the greatest extent practicable the facilities and other services of the Seattle unit of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.
(d) Coordination of Interpretive and Educational Materials and Programs- The Secretary shall coordinate the development of interpretive and educational materials and programs for the Nidoto Nai Yoni Memorial and the Minidoka Internment National Monument site in the State of Idaho with the Manzanar National Historic Site in the State of California.

PI Editorial when the PI was less silly...

2007-01-09T14:52:00.000-08:00

Here's an editorial from the Seattle PI in early 1942. You can find a copy at the Seattle Public Library.

The Japanese Problem

There is no current issue that interests residents of the Pacific Coast more than the treatment that should be accorded those of the Japanease race - both enemy nationals and those born here and therefore American citizens.

Let us try and reason it out.

It will be admitted on both sides, we believe, that part of the Japanese are loyal to the United States and that some are enemy sympathizers.

The friends of the Japanese say the vast majority, including virtually all second generation, are loyal. Those on the other side question this, and add that even a few spies and saboteurs might do tremendous damage.

It seems to us that the Japanese in our midst, in the first instance, are in the best position to provide an answer - and that if they don't provide a satisfactory one the public must look to the government to take increasingly strong action.

Granting that there are some actual and potential enemies among the Japanese, how are they to be discovered? A good many arrests have been made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but it is idle to argue that a comparatively small number of F.B.I. agents, unaided, can do the tremendous job of discovering which Japanese are loyal and which are disloyal.

If that question is to be determined satisfactorily, it must be with the active aid of the loyal Japanese, nisei and isei alike. They know their own people best.
Loyalty isn't a matter that can be demonstrated soley by purchase of Defense Bonds or even by Red Cross subscriptions. The Defense Bonds stand on their own feet as a good investment. And any spy who wanted to maintain his position and connections would, of course, be just as active in buying bonds and contributing to patriotic funds as the most loyal American.

The real test of the degree of loyalty within the Japanese community, we believe, is to be found in the extent to which its members cooperate with the authorities in efforts to locate and round up the enemies of this country.

Frankly, we don't know the extent to which this is being done. The F.B.I. and other federal agents are in a better position to know. They are not in a position to talk about it.
Neither an F.B.I. agent nor anyone else is able to say that any individual Japanese is loyal or disloyal merely be looking at him.

But from its reports dealing with the situation as a whole, from the F.B.I. and otherwise, the department of justice is probably better informed than any other public agency. And if the department is convinced that certain measures are required for national safety, its judgment will be accepted by the vast majority.

Apparently the department of justice is not entirely satisfied with the present situation upon the Pacific Coast. Whether the measures already taken affecting Japanese will meet all requirements for national safety is still to be determined. There is still opportunity for the residents of the Japanese community to demonstrate their loyalty. And if sterner measures are to be taken later they should be carried out without rancor and with full recognition that some hardships necessarily will be inflicted upon those who do not deserve them.

Those of the Japanese race, whether isei or nisei, must be realists.

We have every confidence that the Japanese whose loyalty to this country is unswerving will recognize that the problems presented by the members of their race in our midst is something of a Gordian knot.

The government is trying to untie the knot and should welcome the assistance of the Japanese community in this effort. If the knot cannot be untied..(last half sentance not legiable.)

Japanese Americans are now slaves.

2007-01-09T14:48:00.000-08:00

The Seattle PI puts out a lot of silly comentary but even for the Seattle PI this piece by Kery Murakami is over the top. At least they have a "Sound Off" feature at the bottom.

Check it out.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/298920_japanese09.html

Web site tracks life in WWII internment campsPreserving stories for next generation

By KERY MURAKAMIP-I REPORTER

The headlines seem so mundane, says Michelle Osborn.

"Claim Class Jewelry At Senior High School."
"Sunday Church Services."
There's a review of the movies "Lifeboat" and "Showboat," published Dec. 30, 1944, in the Rohwer Outpost.

For two months, Osborn, a fourth-generation Japanese American, has spent eight to 10 hours a week at her home computer in Renton, typing in headlines such as these. "Lifeboat," the review says, is playing in Hall 15; "Show Boat," in Hall 33.

These buildings were part of the Rohwer internment camp in Arkansas -- one of 10 relocation centers where about 120,000 Japanese Americans were locked up during World War II.

Another story in that day's Outpost: "Bronze Star Awarded S/SGT."
It's a little blurb about Staff Sgt. Frank J. Yumasaki, a Japanese American man formerly of Norwalk, Calif., who was awarded the Bronze Star by the Army.

"His mother resides in Block 14," the blurb notes.

The non-profit organization, Densho -- "to pass on to the next generation" in Japanese -- already includes videotaped interviews with Japanese Americans recalling their experiences, particularly during the war, on its Web site.

But with the help of a $30,000 grant from the California State Library Civil Liberties Public Education Program, the Seattle-based group began scanning internment-camp newspapers online over the summer. Osborn, 42, and 19 other volunteers started creating an archive for the articles two months ago.

Densho project Executive Director Tom Ikeda, who founded the group after retiring as a general manager for Microsoft Corp. in 1996 to increase awareness of Japanese American history, said availability of the papers now is limited. Ikeda, whose parents and grandparents were interned during the war, is hoping that making the papers more available will flesh out understanding of the internment.

Sharon Nakamura, 50, types in her house on Beacon Hill. For two months, the third-generation Japanese American has been working on the Gila News-Courier, the newspaper published at the Gila internment camp in Arizona.

She's struck by the stories on the sports pages, such as one about a camp football league game.

"Maybe it's because I'm a parent now," says Nakamura, a graphic designer, who has a 13- year-old daughter, Mika Tanagi, with her husband, Page Tanagi, but she notices how the stories describe parents trying to create a sense of normalcy for their American-born children, wrested from high school football teams, friends and schools.

In barracks and behind fences, "they had dances and ice cream socials and movie nights. They were trying to have as normal an experience as they could," she said.
So far, the group has posted online all 583 editions published between 1942 and 1945 of the Manzanar Free Press, published at a camp in California, and the Minidoka Irrigator, from an Idaho camp. Ikeda is hoping to have all 4,000 issues of the 10 camp papers on the Densho Web site by summer. He and the volunteers said singling out people because of their ethnicity during a time of war is particularly poignant now.

Nakamura's father, who was interned at Minidoka as a child, volunteered at age 18 to work in the Idaho fields, "for pennies on the dollar," she said, to avoid being in a camp. Then he enlisted in the Army to get away from the fields.

Now, his daughter is angered by ads in the camp papers seeking people to work as field laborers.
"Basically, it was slave labor," she said. " The labor thing really irritated me. I thought, 'Look at this!' "

And there have been moments of revelation.

Osborn said the years of incarceration were not often brought up at the dinner table when she was growing up. But as she typed, she was amazed by the steadfast love of country infused in the articles. People facing suspicions of being traitors were simply hellbent to prove otherwise and had great patriotic sentiment.

"I never understood why," she said, adding that her family always flew a flag on the Fourth of July.
The articles do not tell the stories of what the families lost. Unsure if they'd ever be back home, many were forced to sell homes, farms and businesses for pennies on the dollar.
Certainly, there are moments of anger.

She notes a Gila News-Courier headline published Feb. 22, 1944 -- "Selective Service: Preliminary Examinations Start Today for 85 men" -- for an article on recruitment to the armed forces of men not considered trustworthy enough to live freely.

There aren't many people left to ask, Nakamura says. Her parents have died. And there are so many unanswered questions.

She'd always heard the Seattle Japanese Americans originally were sent to Manzanar in California, but didn't get along with the Californian internees. So they were sent to Minidoka. She didn't know if that was true.

"It would be great to come across little tidbits like that," she said.

P-I reporter Kery Murakami can be reached at 206-448-8131 or kerymurakami@seattlepi.com.

What do you think?

Read 3 comments and post your own now!

New site on Relocation Centers

2006-11-17T16:34:00.000-08:00

I recently received a link to a new website containing the memories of a Caucasian schoolteacher working for the War Relocation Authority. The site is sympathetic to the Japanese American Reparations Movement, as are the school teacher's scrapbooks included in the site. This does not detract from the history that is provided.

Please take a moment and give it a read.

http://www.tulelakescrapbook.com/Home_Page.html

Endowed chairs are increasing at all kinds of universities, including more with a sharper focus, some academic experts say.

2006-10-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

Donors Fund UCLA Chair on Japanese American Internment
A reception celebrates the nation's first academic chair dedicated to the topic.
By Deborah Schoch, L.A. Times Staff Writer October 8, 2006

While Lane Ryo Hirabayashi was growing up, he heard family stories of how his uncle Gordon defied the World War II internment of Japanese Americans in a case that decades later helped prompt a historic congressional apology.At a UCLA celebration Saturday, Hirabayashi took his own place in Japanese American cultural history as the first professor in the nation to hold an academic chair dedicated to the study of the internment.

"To me, I feel that this is a family obligation," the 53-year-old anthropologist said.On hand to salute the new Aratani chair and Hirabayashi was a large group of prominent Japanese American scholars, artists and political and business leaders. Some were former internees. Some knew Gordon Hirabayashi, who went to prison in 1942 for refusing to obey a curfew. Their stories and his family's will be studied in his nephew's courses by undergraduates born too late to hear stories from relatives who were adults during World War II.On a sun-dappled campus patio, well-wishers greeted longtime friends and praised George and Sakaye Aratani, among the largest donors to Japanese American educational and cultural causes.

The Los Angeles couple gave $500,000 to fund the Aratani chair and strengthen the study of the relocation of 120,000 Japanese Americans, as well as postwar efforts to redress that wrong, and the Japanese American community.

Endowed chairs are increasing at all kinds of universities, including more with a sharper focus, some academic experts say.

"In the past it was typical to see an endowed chair in history, for example, but not one tied specifically to a specific act or period of history," William G. Tierney, a USC professor and director of the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, responded to an e-mail from The Times.

The Aratani chair will be part of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, the country's largest such academic program.

The professor holding the chair will be expected to teach at least one course on the Japanese American internment, redress and community or related issues, and to organize or aid public education programs on the subject.

"Clearly, the aftermath of 9/11 demonstrated the importance of learning and applying the lessons from the Japanese American experience to current and future situations," said the center's director, UCLA professor Don Nakanishi.

Hirabayashi will teach his first course in the next term.U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) recalled in a speech that he visited an internment camp when he was a soldier during the war. He described the shock of seeing barbed wire, machine guns and "people who looked like us in there."Speakers also included Aiko Herzig, well known for her 1980s research for the U.S. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, and Irene Hirano, president and chief executive of the Japanese American National Museum.

A former internee, George Aratani — founder and former chief executive of the Mikasa china and Kenwood electronics firms — lost his family's fresh produce business while he was in a camp a during World War II. Many others lost all they owned."A thing like that," he said Saturday, "should never happen again."

Several speakers said the new chair is being created as the U.S. government faces many of the same wartime pressures that can isolate a racial or cultural group — in this case, Arab Americans. They suggested a parallel between those pressures and what they or their families experienced in the camps.Hirabayashi himself sees similarities.

"What I want to make sure is that people remember the past so that we can make better policy decisions," he said in an interview last week.Some Japanese Americans born after the war say their relatives would not discuss the West Coast internment camps where they were forcibly relocated after the December 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor.

But in Hirabayashi's home, there were no such secrets. At an early age, he learned that his parents and grandparents were moved from their home south of Seattle to a camp at Tule Lake in Northern California.

I can't even remember first hearing about it. It was never hidden," he said.He learned that his uncle Gordon, then a 23-year-old University of Washington student, defied a curfew imposed on Japanese Americans. Gordon later turned himself in to federal authorities in Seattle rather than be moved to a camp. He was convicted of violating military law, and spent two years in prison.

His was one of three major U.S. Supreme Court cases that challenged the internment. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government and against Hirabayashi. "In the height of the hysteria, I think Gordon was very, very brave," Hirabayashi said. He has been told that his paternal grandmother begged her oldest son not to defy authorities. "My grandmother was very, very afraid that the family would be split up and they would never see one another again … but Gordon felt very strongly that he needed to do this." Hirabayashi, born after the war, got to know Gordon during family summer vacations. His uncle became a professor at the University of Alberta in Canada. His father, James Hirabayashi, was the first dean of the School of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University.

In 1983, Gordon Hirabayashi emerged again as a national figure when petitions of coram nobis — legal efforts to highlight errors of fact in court — were filed on behalf of him and two other Japanese Americans who had challenged the wartime relocation orders. The petitions brought to light legal flaws in the relocation, and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Hirabayashi's conviction in 1987.

The next year, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which blamed the relocations on racial prejudice and failed political leadership.

Gordon Hirabayashi still lives in Alberta, and though he could not attend Saturday's ceremony, his name came up frequently in speeches and conversations.

Lane Hirabayashi has been a faculty member at San Francisco State University, the University of Colorado and UC Riverside, and has written three books, including two on the wartime camps. Now he is finishing two more books, one of which deals with the resettlement of Japanese Americans after the war.After hearing Hirabayashi's remarks at the UCLA ceremony, George Aratani said he was greatly impressed.

"I wish I had someone like him in my business," Aratani said as he sat on the patio of the UCLA Faculty Center during the reception. "I can see from listening to him today that he has a real determination to do the job."

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-endow8oct08,1,124559.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

More brainwashing here....

2006-10-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/archives/jainternmentchair.htm

"UCLA' s Asian American Studies Center Establishes Nation's First Endowed Chair Focusing on Japanese American Internment"

The UCLA Asian American Studies Center has established the first endowed academic chair to focus on the World War II internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans and their campaign to gain redress. The chair, which is the first of its kind in American higher education, was created with the generous donation of two internment survivors.

The George and Sakaye Aratani Chair on the Japanese American Internment, Redress and Community also will focus on the decades-long campaign to gain redress and a national apology, which culminated with the passage of the 1988 Civil Liberties Act. In addition, the chair will examine the historical and contemporary trends and issues facing the Japanese American population, and support research, teaching and professional service activities on these topics by existing or newly recruited UCLA faculty.

"The purpose of the chair is to ensure the World War II incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans, as well as their subsequent efforts, will always be remembered, taught and written about for generations," George Aratani said. "There are many important lessons that Americans and other peoples can learn so that similar tragedies never happen again."

As a young man, George Aratani and his mother were forced to leave the family farm in the central California town of Guadalupe and enter the internment camp in Gila River, Ariz. His family lost everything they owned. Aratani went on to become the founder and chairman of Mikasa Dinnerware and Kenwood Electronics, two internationally recognized corporations. Over the years, George Aratani and his wife, Sakaye, who was interned in the Poston, Ariz., camp, have made significant contributions to numerous nonprofit organizations and educational institutions.

"We are greatly honored that the Aratanis have endowed this academic chair," said Professor Don Nakanishi, director of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. "It will ensure that the unjust removal and incarceration of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II, as well as their extraordinary campaign to gain redress, will be taught to future generations of students at UCLA and will be the focus of continued research and public education by UCLA scholars for many years to come." "We are also thrilled that this academic chair will support teaching, research and public service dealing with historical and contemporary trends and issues facing Japanese American communities," Nakanishi said.

"Clearly, the aftermath of 9/11 demonstrated the importance of learning and applying the lessons from the Japanese American experience to current and future situations."

George and Sakaye Aratani have supported the UCLA Asian American Studies Center for many years, and previously have established endowments for undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships and undergraduate community internships. They also have established endowments with UCLA's Center for Japanese Studies. "George and Sakaye have supported many organizations in the community, and have taken active voluntary leadership roles to build and enhance these programs," Nakanishi said. "They have left an unmatched legacy of commitment and generosity."

Annually, the chair holder will be expected to teach at least one undergraduate or graduate course on the Japanese American interment, redress and community, or one in which major emphasis is placed on the three topics to illuminate broader societal lessons and issues. He or she will be expected to organize or participate in a public educational program designed to share the history and lessons of Japanese American internment, redress and community with the general public. The George and Sakaye Aratani Chair is the third endowed academic chair to be established at the UCLA Asian American Studies Center.

The other two chairs also were the first of their kind. The Korea Times-Hankook Ilbo Chair for Korean American Studies was the first one dedicated to supporting Korean American Studies. The Chair in Japanese American Studies was established in the late 1970s by Japanese American alumni and friends of UCLA to promote Japanese American Studies. It was the first academic chair on Asian American Studies in all of American higher education. The latter chair was first held by the late Harry Kitano, a professor of social welfare and sociology and a pioneer in the social scientific study of Japanese Americans and other minority populations in the United States.

The chair is currently held by Robert Nakamura, a professor of film and Asian American Studies and a renowned filmmaker who has produced award-winning documentaries on Japanese Americans and other Asian Pacific Americans for more than three decades. The center was established in August 1969 as one of four ethnic studies centers at UCLA. It has become the foremost national research center on Asian Pacific Americans. The center's mission is to interpret, define and forge the separate collective identities of Americans of Asian and Pacific Island heritage, and to integrate multidisciplinary approaches to the understanding of significant historical and contemporary Asian and Pacific American issues.

UCLA Welcomes First Academic Chair on WW II Internment Camps

2006-10-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

Admittedly my blog and site have been much neglected over the last few months. Now that summer is well over and we are back into fall I expect to devote more time here. In fact the site and blog are due for a complete overhaul so look for some significant improvements and updates over the winter.

In the meantime here is the latest atrocity. Rich people with an agenda lobbying universitites to adopt a politically motivated agenda. Very sad and pathetic.

UCLA Welcomes First Academic Chair on WW II Internment Camps

LOS ANGELES, October 8, 2006 - The University of California, Los Angeles, celebrated the arrival of the nation's first scholar to hold an academic chair dedicated to studying the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

A large group of prominent scholars, artists, business and political leaders gathered Saturday at a university reception for Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, whose family was detained in the wartime camps.

Hirabayashi will hold the Aratani chair, funded with $500,000 from George and Sakaye Aratani, at the UCLA Asian American Studies Center.

Professors holding the chair must teach at least one course on issues related to the internment program that relocated 120,000 people, and organize or aid public education programs on the subject.

The Aratanis are among the largest donors to Japanese-American educational and cultural causes.

For Hirabayashi, a 53-year-old anthropologist, this critical piece of Japanese-American history is tied to his own family's past.

"To me, I feel that this is a family obligation," Hirabayashi said during Saturday's event.

His parents and grandparents were moved from their home south of Seattle to a camp at Tule Lake in Northern California.

As a child, Hirabayashi heard family stories of his uncle Gordon Hirabayashi's imprisonment in 1942 for refusing to obey a curfew imposed on Japanese-Americans. Decades later, this act of defiance helped prompt a congressional apology.

"In the height of the hysteria, I think Gordon was very, very brave," Hirabayashi said.
Lane Hirabayashi has been a faculty member at California State University, San Francisco, the University of Colorado and the University of California, Riverside, and he has written three books, including two on the wartime camps. He will teach his first course in the next term.

Copyright © 2006 KABC-TV and The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Of course the article failed to mention some important quotes from the Supreme Court Decision such as:

“THE ALTERNATIVE WHICH APPELLANT INSISTS MUST BE ACCEPTED IS FOR THE MILITARY AUTHORITIES TO IMPOSE THE CURFEW ON ALL CITIZENS WITHIN THE MILITARY AREA, OR ON NONE. IN A CASE OF THREATENED DANGER REQUIRING PROMPT ACTION, IT IS A CHOICE BETWEEN INFLICTING OBVIOUSLY NEEDLESS HARDSHIP ON THE MANY, OR SITTING PASSIVE AND UNRESISTING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE THREAT. WE THINK THAT CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT, IN TIME OF WAR, IS NOT SO POWERLESS AND DOES NOT COMPEL SO HARD A CHOICE IF THOSE CHARGED WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY OF OUR NATIONAL DEFENSE HAVE REASONABLE GROUND FOR BELIEVING THAT THE THREAT IS REAL.”

Chief Justice StoneHirabayashi vs. United States

Kawakita piece on Wikipedia

2006-07-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia is entirely free to post my piece on Tom Kawakita as derived from the original court docs.

Art Jacobs Interview

2006-06-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

Please take about a half hour and watch this piece where Art Jacobs describes his wartime experiences as the American born son of German immigrants sent to an American internment camp in Crystal City, Texas and eventually to a prison camp in Germany.

This is history that is all too ignored today. Thanks Art for taking the time to produce this film.

Here's the link!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4224337919645846622&pr=goog-sl

Bizarre story in the Kitsap Sun

2006-06-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

Here it is. World politics comes to Bainbridge.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/bsun/ah_bainbridge_islander

Marshall Islands President Visits
By Rachel Pritchett

So here's how it goes: Council member Jim Llewellyn is dressed in his jeans and holey work shirt and he stops by City Hall to get his mail Thursday afternoon.

Whoa. Outside is this swarm of Secret Service guys and a caravan of dark SUVs with their engines revving. Inside, it's none other than the president of the Marshall Islands and his official delegation.

"I was just coming in to get my mail," Llewellyn said. "I forgot about this."
The surprise visit was announced only Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee's office.
Moments before, the congressman had ushered His Excellency Kessai Note inside for a stand-up-and-salute welcome.

The national leader, First Lady Mary, the Marshallese ambassador and other dignitaries were on Bainbridge just briefly to take a look at the Japanese internment memorial at Pritchard Park now under construction. Some 10 percent of the Western Pacific nation's population of 60,000 is of Japanese ancestry, according to Marshallese Ambassador Banny de Brum.

The visit was part of a rare whirlwind tour of the Northwest to touch base with an estimated 700 to 1,000 fellow Marshallese living here. The delegation was in Oregon Wednesday; Seattle was the next stop.

Inslee towered over the Micronesian leader, issuing a welcome to a "fellow islander." Helping things along was Clarence Moriwaki, the representative of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American community instrumental in bringing the leader here. Also on hand were several elderly Bainbridge Islanders of Japanese ancentry and state Rep. Beverly Woods.

Both sides came with cool presents.

The U.S. side got a model of an outrigger canoe, basket and navigational aid made of sticks and shells. His Excellency got a bottle of strawberry wine, a book, some stuff from IslandWood, a T-shirt and flowers from the mayor along with a sorry she couldn't be there.

When asked by the Kitsap Sun about top problems at home, the president pointed to 30 percent unemployment and his attempts to develop the economy. Tourism is the big hope, with Continental Airlines just adding a flight there, he said.

The president said he found Bainbridge "beautiful" and "very nice and clean."

Before leaving for the internment memorial, there was time for one more flurry of official photographs.

Llewellyn, with the holey shirt, winced as he was motioned to go and stand up in front.

-end-

The recollection below reminds me of one of the many sent by old timers interested in honest history. He grew up in California well before the war.

I'll share it with you.

"...The Japanese boys and Caucasian boys from around the neighborhood would, as boys do everywhere, get together for a game of "cops and robber" or "cowboys and indians". At least that is what we expected.

Instead the Japanese kids wanted to play a game of their own doing. It was a war game. Two sides were chosen up, and it seemed what we ended up with the Japanese boys on one side and white boys on the other. During this long ago child's play, Kenji changed in character. All the Japanese boys became aggresive and even belligerent as the game progressed. I remember how they used to rush us and shout, "You'll never take truck! You'll never take truck!"

I had know idea what they were talking about. What would we want to "take a truck" for? At a lull in the game, I asked my older brother what did they mean about "taking a truck?" He answered that "truck" was out in the ocean somewhere.

That still didn't make any sense to me, but years later I did understand that Truk was a Japanese held island in the Pacific..."

Truk as well as the Marshall and other island chains were taken from Germany by Japan in 1914 and considered Japanese soil. Like Manchuria, Chosen, The Philippines, Brazil, Hawaii, The West Coast of America and other countries/regions, Japan immediately sent ethnic Japanese to settle the islands and in the case of Truk the ethnic Japanese population reached about 100,000 overwhelming the nearly 40,000 locals.

According to the above article the Marshalls is still about 10% ethnic Japanese.

I wonder if they still consider it Japanese soil?

Inviting the President of a former Japanese protectorate to Bainbridge Island to only view the "internment memorial" and meet only with eldery ethnic Japanese is bizarre.

I wonder if they were reminiscing the good old days....

Machine Gun Nests Located Above the Golden Gate

2006-05-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

Old trenches a reminder of hot breath of war at Golden Gate
Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, May 19, 2006 now part of stylesheet -->

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/19/MNG7VIUPMR1.DTL&hw=presidio&sn=001&sc=1000

The Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, produced devastation in Hawaii -- and panic on the West Coast.
Anything seemed possible. The attack had come out of the Sunday morning sky without warning. What if Pearl Harbor was only the first target? What if the Japanese navy was off California ready to strike?

What if the Japanese battleships got past the big guns that were the key coastal defenses around San Francisco and the Golden Gate? What then?
The U.S. Army had an answer. On the night of Dec. 7, the Army assigned every available soldier at the Presidio of San Francisco to get to work digging slit trenches and field fortifications to stop a Japanese invasion.

Trenches were dug on the bluffs above the Golden Gate. Machine guns were sited to cover Baker Beach on the western edge of the city. If the Japanese came, we were ready.
Nearly 65 years went by, and the world changed. The Army is gone from the Golden Gate. The Presidio is part of a national park now. The other day, National Park Service crews clearing weeds and making surveys for a hiking trail above Baker Beach found some of the old wartime trenches and machine gun nests, still there, still ready for the invasion that never came.

The rangers were amazed. "It's hard to describe the experience,'' said Park Service historian Stephen Haller. "It's peeling back history.''
The Park Service doesn't want to reveal the exact location of these trenches until archaeologists can look at them and prepare them for public viewing. There are perhaps a dozen trenches, on the bluffs north of Baker Beach, behind "keep out'' signs.
The fear of those dark winter days in 1941 and 1942 seems nearly absurd now. The Japanese had no plans to invade and no fleet ready to mount an invasion -- a good thing, since the West Coast was defenseless. The Navy was out in the Pacific, and the Army was undermanned and unprepared. At one point in early 1942, Boy Scouts were sent to guard the Bay Bridge.

Retired ranger John Martini remembers taking an oral history from an old soldier named Dudley Riggs who had been stationed at the Presidio. "They gave me a World War I Army helmet, some ammunition dated 1920, a 1903 Springfield rifle and told me to shoot anyone coming up the hill,'' Riggs said.

On the afternoon of Dec. 7, the Army's Western Defense Command received a report of a Japanese fleet 30 miles off the Presidio. On Dec. 8, aircraft carriers were reported off the coast and a submarine off the Golden Gate, and at 6 o'clock that night, something suspicious was spotted on radar 100 miles west of San Francisco.
Sirens wailed, that eerie rising and falling sound that still signifies an air raid.
Cars and electric commuter trains were stopped on the Bay Bridge. Traffic stopped in the city, people piled out of buses and streetcars and took shelter. It was the war's first blackout on American soil, and it was a fiasco.

Many neon advertising signs stayed lit. Downtown San Francisco sparkled, one resident said, "like New Orleans at Mardi Gras time.'' The roadway lights and the rotating red beacon lights on the 4-year-old Golden Gate Bridge blazed away. The bridge, it was learned later, was defended by only three .30-caliber machine guns.

The next day, Lt. Gen. John de Witt, head of the Western Defense Command, came to City Hall to chew out the city fathers. He was in uniform, three silver stars glittering on each shoulder and blood in his eye. He was furious. He was convinced, he said, that Japanese bombers had flown over San Francisco -- and the city had not blacked out.

"No bombs fell, did they?'' Mayor Angelo Rossi asked gently.

De Witt told the newspapers it might have been better if the city had been bombed. "I never saw such apathy,'' he snapped. "It was criminal. ... It was shameful.''
There were no planes, but, according to Brian Chin's book "Artillery at the Golden Gate,'' there really were Japanese submarines off the coast.

They torpedoed a few ships off California and later shelled an oil refinery near Santa Barbara. On Dec. 17, Chin wrote, the submarine I-15 surfaced near the Farallon Islands. Its crew could see the glow of the city lights in the distance.

"If we weren't at war,'' said Capt. Hiroshi Imazato, "this would be an excellent chance to pass in through the Golden Gate and visit that famous city of San Francisco.''

The Japanese officers all laughed.

It was no laughing matter to the soldiers assigned to dig trenches and stand guard on the cliffs from the Point Reyes peninsula to the San Mateo County coast. A "constant vigil'' was kept, said the Coast Artillery Journal, an Army newspaper.

"It is the firm determination of every man in these defenses, regardless of personal sacrifice, to allow NO ENEMY SHIPS TO PASS THROUGH THE GOLDEN GATE,'' the paper said.

It was cold and wet in winter, cold and damp in the summer fog, and pitch dark at night. No lights could be shown. "It was windy, cold and desolate,'' Chin wrote.
"I can just see these guys, griping and bitching,'' Haller said, "but glad they are not at Corregidor." The fall of that island fortress in Manila Bay was the low point of the war. The men watching the coast must have felt useless, left behind.

The tide of the war turned after the battle of Midway in June 1942, and it became obvious the Japanese no longer had the offensive capacity to threaten California.
The defenses at the Presidio gradually were drawn down. The soldiers were issued the more modern "steel pot'' helmets and Garand M-1 rifles to replace the old Springfields. The troops were redeployed to the Pacific.

These days, on a late morning in spring, it is hard to believe that there were ever weapons on these Presidio bluffs. Standing there, one can see the Marin Headlands and the blue ocean, look down on people fishing and lying in the sun on Baker Beach.

When the wind is right, the sound of bells from the churches on Geary Boulevard drifts over the houses on Sea Cliff.
The other morning, two ships headed into the Golden Gate. One was carrying new cars from Japan.

Haller stands next to a steel machine-gun mount in an old, half-caved-in trench. The trench is about 5 feet deep, facing the beach at an angle. Each gun had a crew of four, one of whom watched the sky at all times, a whistle around his neck.

A few weeks after the gun emplacements were dug, the Army lined them with concrete. Now there are weeds all around along with just-cut brush and some poison oak. The cliff drops steeply away. It is like standing on the edge of the world.

This is where they mounted the .30-caliber machine gun, the first line of defense against an invasion. "This was to shoot along Baker Beach,'' Haller said. "See those people over there? You could have shot them all."

The Park Service wants its archaeologists to sweep the area, looking for whatever might be left -- shell casings, uniform buttons, the prewar metal boxes that Lucky Strike cigarettes came in -- even, maybe, old love letters. Then rangers plan to put up signs explaining why the field fortifications were there and why the soldiers were guarding the beach.

As the memory of World War II fades, the need for an explanation grows, park archaeologist Leo Barker said.

"The Park Service's job is to preserve the best of the country's heritage for future generations,'' Haller said. "We want to show here how close the war came to these shores.''

Now Scoop Jackson slimed by activists

2006-05-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

...including his own son. I can relate.

Here's another example of how the ethnic activists find power in victimization.

At least Jackson's memorial didn't get hijacked like the former mayor of Gresham. It just got misplaced for 21 years.

And to think we once had such greats as Jackson and Magnuson representing us in Washington DC. Now we have Murry and Cantwell and Jackson's son working for Gregoire? And we have ethnic activists re-writing history? The Uof W has to have their permission to put up a bust of Scoop Jackson because Jackson supported the evacuation? What a joke! It's obvious Jackson knew more then about security threats than his offspring knows today!

Talk about a downhill slide....

Speaking of downhill slides, here's the article from another once great Seattle icon.

"Scoop" out of the shadows
By Nick Perry

Seattle Times staff reporter

A bust of U.S. Sen. Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson is now outside the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. It languished in an out-of-the-way spot for decades, partly due to controversy over Jackson's World War II support of Japanese-American internment.

For two decades, Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson has remained frozen at the center of a political debate, his striped tie neatly knotted, his eyes gazing intently into the distance, his mouth slightly open, as if he's about to weigh in with his thoughts.

More precisely, it's an oversize bronze bust of the late U.S. senator from Washington, who died in 1983. The bust was supposed to greet University of Washington students entering a school named in Jackson's honor. Instead, it has languished for 21 years in a fourth-floor alcove, the victim of campus politics.

Until this week, that is. The bust was moved Tuesday from the alcove to a pedestal outside the Jackson School of International Studies and now stands prominently along one of the busiest thoroughfares on campus. Scoop is finally getting his moment in the sun.

"In terms of movement it's just a tiny step, but symbolically it's much bigger," said Anand Yang, the school's director.

Jackson's legacy includes a record of conservation, civil rights and helping Jewish people escape persecution in Eastern Europe through emigration to the U.S.
The debate at the UW over his bust began with concerns in the mid-1980s over his hawkish position on the Cold War and nuclear arms. Later came questions over the diversity of campus monuments and Jackson's support, as a congressman, of interning Japanese Americans during World War II.

Arguably Washington's most famous senator, the Democrat was known for his hawkish attitude on international affairs and for his environmental legacy at home.

It's the kind of debate the senator, a UW alum himself, might have relished.

The story begins in 1983. Jackson, a Democrat and 31-year veteran of the Senate, had a strong interest in China, the Middle East and what was then the Soviet Union. He was a big supporter of the UW's international-studies program, giving guest lectures and helping raise money. Sometimes he would show up in professors' offices just to talk and debate. But soon after returning from a trip to China, the senator died unexpectedly.

The UW's international-studies director at the time, Ken Pyle — who'd also been on the China trip — and the UW Board of Regents quickly decided to rename the school in Jackson's honor and commissioned a bust from Washington, D.C.-based artist Wendy Ross.

The artist was a natural choice. When she was a student, Ross had a strong interest in politics and served an internship with the senator.

"He was very approachable and talkative, very interested in making sure you understood things," Ross recalled. "Physically, he had very Norwegian features and a very broad forehead ... it wasn't a stern face, but gentle. He had a kind of gleam in his eye, and his expression was upbeat."

Ross worked for more than a year on the bust. She regularly wrote to Jackson's widow, Helen, and twice had her come to the studio so Ross could gain insight into the late senator's personality. Ross said she decided to show Jackson as if he was about to speak, to depict action in a man who was constantly on the move.

At least two large casts of Ross' model were taken. One cast was displayed in the Senate buildings in Washington, D.C.

But the bust sent to the UW was tucked away at one end of a floor that has no classrooms — just some faculty and staff offices.

"We kept it inside because the Cold War was on," Pyle recalled. "Given the campus politics at the time, we didn't want the fraternity boys to come out one night and paint it red."

Ross said UW officials never told her the real reasons for the placement: "They spared me, I guess. Or kept me in the dark."

The statue gathered dust until nearly two years ago. That's when Pyle's wife, Anne, and Scoop Jackson's daughter, Anna Marie Laurence, began lobbying Yang for a more public showing. Yang liked the idea, but campus politics again delayed any action.

Not long before, a group of UW students had pledged not to add more outdoor statues honoring white men until the UW's diversity was better memorialized. That hurdle was cleared when a diversity sculpture was erected last year.

Yang held meetings with Asian-American leaders, who had other concerns.

"You have to understand we still have a lot of individuals living who recall rather vividly the senator's active support of the internment of Japanese Americans," said Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, D-Seattle, who attended one meeting. "It's still a raw and sensitive hot-button issue."

Santos said some members of the community vehemently opposed placing the statue outside. Others thought it would make a "teachable moment" about a dark time in American history. In the end, she said, it appeared UW officials had already made the decision to move the statue.

Yang said he's planning to host an open classroom discussion in the fall that will cover Jackson's internment stance. He hopes that discussion, along with the statue's more prominent placement, will raise awareness of the senator and his legacy.

"They may know Michael Jackson but not Senator Henry Jackson, at least the young ones," Yang said.

Scoop Jackson's son Peter, who is Gov. Christine Gregoire's speechwriter, said his father's support of internment was an inexcusable mistake, but that Scoop should also be remembered as a champion of civil rights and education, and as a liberal internationalist.

"When people look at that statue, I hope they see the consummate American who achieved great things by working hard and believing in democracy," Peter Jackson said. "For your average UW freshman, he should serve as an example of what anyone can do with a good education."

Time For A Quiz!

2006-04-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

See if you can correctly name the person attributed to this famous quote:

"150,000 of our fellow countrymen are in prison in the home country, because they have declared themselves against this fratricidal war. In violation of the Habeas Corpus Act and the fundamental laws of our constitution these men have never been brought to trial or even allowed to see a lawyer."

Was it..

A. Tom Kawakita
B. Frank Kitamoto
C. J. Edgar Hoover
D. Eric Muller
E. John Amery
F. Joseph Goebbels

No peaking now! Think long and hard then find the answer in the comments section!

Big whoop-de-do over on Taylor Avenue

2006-04-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

The big groundbreaking for the "internment" memorial drew far fewer people than I had expected. Numbers range for 200 on the low end to 300.

With the People's Republic of Bainbridge Island at about 20,000 and with all the publicity provided by the media a larger turnout was expected.

The comment I'll make on the spectacle is this:

"Like the Sakai Curriculum and the exibit at the Historical Society Museum, this "Internment" Memorial is more accurately a reflection of the people building the memorial rather than a truthful accounting of the history."

Ain't that the truth!

Portland JACL gleeful over sliming of beloved Gresham Mayor who's been dead four decades

2006-04-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share this little blurb from the Portland JACL site. They're pretty happy with themselves....

Go back a few posts and read the entire episode as described though the Portland Oregonian. Even that biased paper admits the only evidence was a couple of newspaper blurbs from the time. Of course the Portland JACL had a crony or two stand up and provide hearsay sliming Gresham's former mayor which the Gresham city council took to heart.

It is my hope there are private figures in the city Gresham who will organize a private fund drive and location for the placement of this memorial to their mayor. The alternative is to allow a bunch of radical ethnic activists slime his repuation for eternity and that would be shameful.

http://www.pdxjacl.org/newsletter/Newsletter.html

Check out this self-serving piece. Talk about preaching to the choir! Actually, it provides some good insight into the minds of these people.

Raising our Voice in Gresham
John Kodachi
April 2006

Someone recently told me, “There are three types of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who look around and say, ‘What happened?’” I am proud to say that many members of the community, including those from the Portland Chapter and Gresham-Troutdale Chapter of JACL, recently showed that they are the type of people that make things happen.

On Tuesday, March 7, 2006, the Gresham City Council was set to approve a proposed historic monument to honor its former mayor Dr. Herbert H. Hughes, who served as mayor from 1941 to 1956. Over the years, Dr. Hughes contributed to the city’s growth and delivered numerous babies; however, Dr. Hughes was also an unabashed racist. In 1944, he served as a director of “Oregon Anti-Japanese Inc.,” a group that sought to prevent persons of Japanese ancestry from returning to their homes in Gresham after they were released from internment camps. His group also sought to exclude persons of Japanese ancestry from the United States.

Despite his leadership role in “Oregon Anti-Japanese Inc.,” a city advisory committee, assigned to look into Dr. Hughes’s involvement with the group, concluded his participation was “temporary.” Regretfully, the advisory committee neglected to seek any input from local Japanese Americans, which was the very same group that Dr. Hughes had sought to exclude from Gresham. With no other information about Dr. Hughes’s racism, the Gresham City Council was set to approve quickly and quietly the proposed monument as a consent agenda item, which is typically reserved for routine issues that do not warrant public testimony.

However, within hours after learning about the vote on the proposed monument, a groundswell of people gathered that evening at the crowded Gresham City Council meeting, ready to voice their concerns. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, these people included several members of the Portland Chapter, including Rev. Barbara Bellus, Chip Larouche, Setsy Larouche, Connie Masuoka, Nobuko Masuoka, Yoji Matsushima, Judy Murase, Gresham-Troutdale Chapter vice-president Terry Nishikawa, and concerned citizens Scott Murase and Clarence Mershon to name a few.

Additionally, with input from Homer Yasui and Scott Sakamoto earlier in the day, Portland Chapter board members Rich Iwasaki, Susan Leedham, Kirk Tambara, Marleen Ikeda Wong, Gresham-Troutdale Chapter member Setsuko Okino, and others mobilized quickly, sending off a flurry of e-mails and telephone calls to Gresham City Council members requesting that they pull off the proposed monument from the agenda to allow more time to investigate Dr. Hughes’s troubling past.

As a result of the wave of objections flooding into the city council’s office, Gresham Mayor Charles J. Becker announced at the beginning of the council meeting that the proposed monument would be pulled off from the council’s agenda to allow for further investigation of Dr. Hughes.

The objections raised by community members continued to have a ripple effect, sending shockwaves throughout the following days as The Oregonian published several news articles that shed more light on Dr. Hughes’s blatant acts of racism. These disturbing acts came as a surprise to some council members who were unaware of any factual evidence because the report they received had been whitewashed to downplay the former mayor’s discriminatory behavior.

However, with new accounts of Dr. Hughes’s racism surfacing and with a growing chorus of objections, on March 16th, just nine days later, the Gresham City Council issued a press release stating it had decided not to erect the historic monument to Dr. Hughes (see press release).

Given that many within our community received notice of the proposed historic monument in the 11th hour, I was amazed to see how quickly everyone came together, galvanized by the injustice caused by a city honoring a politician who sought to legitimize and incorporate bigotry. Rather than let sleeping dogs lie, many within our community chose to make things happen by speaking up.

Speaking up, as you know, is not always easy, and certainly not always popular. Even after the announcement by the city to scrap the plans for the monument, local residents wrote letters to the editor expressing their anger of how Dr. Hughes is a victim of a “politically correct witch hunt” and expressing their “disgust” that “these Japanese in Gresham are still having a fit about Dr. Hughes.”

Yet, if community members had decided not to make waves, and succumbed to the numbing comfort of simply watching the city council erect the historic monument to Dr. Hughes, we would all be scratching our heads right now, asking one another, “What happened?” Fortunately, however, we are not asking that question. Instead, we raised our voices loudly; we made things happen. And for that, we all should be proud.

(No, John you folks should be ashamed of yourselves. You've done more to create animosity against ethnic Japanese than Pearl Harbor ever did.)

Bill Kubick Rest in Peace

2006-03-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

Received this message today:

It is with sadness that I inform supporters of Americans For Historical Accuracy (AFHA) of the passing last week of WWII veteran Bill Kubick of Seattle Washington.

Bill, a "charter member" of AFHA, had worked closely with Lillian Baker, author/lecturer, and founder of the organization dedicated to challenging Pacific WWII historical revisionism by the Japanese-American Citizens League (JACL).

With limited funds and members, AFHA attempted to present the true facts re J-A relocation and internment issues.

Bill, a pioneering irrigation expert with a great sense of humor, had his serious side in outlining his 1980s political involvement with Mrs. Baker, David Lowman and others active in AFHA via articles and letters to the media, and Internet Blogs. For additional info, use Google to learn more about Bill Kubick, a great American.

He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

PS: In 1989, Bill and I (man who sent the notice) were part of a small group of vets who traveled to Washington, D.C. led by Mrs. Baker and our AFHA attorney. We testified before a biased congressional subcommittee in opposition to PL 100-383, the unwarranted "Apology-Reparations Bill" promoted by Congressmen Mineta and Matsui and the Japanese American Citizens League. Bill assisted in lodging a formal protest with Chairman Neal Smith, against Mineta and Matsui's right to testify. They and their families were all to receive $20,000 each in the $2.5 Billion "unwarranted U.S. giveaway."

BainbridgeHistorians note: If you would like to send a message of condolence to Bill's widow please let me know at historian@bainbridgehistorians.org. It would be preferable to to provide the information at this blog, but the foot stomping claques are still out there and we will not allow them to kick a widow when she's down....

Lake Labish Japanese and the radio in the well

2006-03-21T15:22:00.000-08:00

We're collecting further information regarding the the Lake Labish Japanese and the radio in the well.

As a matter of fact we're studying all the information sent to BainbridgeHistorians regarding this history and we thank you for sending us this history from so long ago. It needs to be documented for the record.

If you have an historical experience you wish to share please email it to historian@bainbridgehistorians.net.

Upon learning Lake Labish did indeed have an ethnic Japanese farming community. I received a second correspondence:

"We lived in a cluster of homes five miles north of Salem, Oregon in a rural area called Hayesville. Ron ** and his family lived across the road from us, a road called Milton road. He moved into the neighborhood in the 1930s. Hayesville was very near the main railroad line between San Diego and Seattle.

Lake Labish is located about five miles north of Hayesville. Mr. ** told me that shortly after the war started, an Army officer came to his home to ask a favor. The government was picking up radio signals from the Lake Labish area after trains passed through. The officer said they did not have the man power to investigate where the radio signals were coming from. He ask Mr. ** if he would assemble some people to go to the Japanese village in Lake Labish at night and watch for any strange activity when trains passed though.

Mr. ** said that he got some of his neighbors: Mr. **, Mr. **, and Mr. ** (all men we knew when we were kids), they went to Lake Labish, found a spot in the fir trees over looking the Japanese village, and began to watch.

After a train passed though an old Japanese man came out from one of the small houses, went to a well, pulled up a package from the well, and took it back to his cabin. Mr. ** reported the incident to the officer in Salem. Some time later the officer came back to Mr. **'s house and told him that the Army found a radio tied to a rope in the well. The Army suspected that the old Japanese man was transmitting information about the trains to a submarine.

A couple years ago, I went into the FBI's website and found a link to their WWII investigation files for spies. There were quarterly reports completed by he FBI to the Justice Department signed by J. Edgar Hoover. I printed out several, including a last summary report in late 1945. The reports included all the investigation activities of all the FBI offices, including the office in Portland. I have since gone into the FBI website and I couldn't find the link as the website had been updated. I could fax the reports to you if you would like.

The summary report is probably the only one you would need. It is quite interesting. There was also a letter, with approval signatures, dated in 1968, saying that it had been approved to send the West Coast files to the University of Washington to be archived. Apparently, someone at the University was doing research on war time spying on the West Coast and made the request.

I had planned to make a request of the U of Washington library to see if they still had the files, and to research if the Lake Labish incident was included. Because I couldn't confirm any part of the story, I had lost interest. Your article has revived my interest. I suppose an e-mail inquiry to the school's library would get the investigation started. Do you have any interest in working together on it?

Thanks again for the article. It was damned exciting to get it."

You're welcome! The quest for historical accuracy is a slander against no person!

More "Anecdotal evidence" from another historical experience

2006-03-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

Got this response from a native Oregonian (a person, not the paper!)

I enjoy getting this type of correspondence at BainbridgeHistorians because some day these people won't be around to share their experiences...

Sure it's "anecdotal evidence" but that didn't stop the former mayor of Gresham, Oregon from being dragged through the mud 42 years after he was dead and buried....

Per the policy I have shortened the names provided for privacy.

"I grew up in a rural neighborhood north of Salem, Oregon. We lived about a mile west of the SP railroad tracks connecting San Diego and Seattle.

A neighbor, Ron ** (now deceased) told me that just after Pearl Harbor an Army officer came to his house. There was a small Japanese farming village nearby at an area called Lake Labish.

The officer said that they had picked up radio signals from the Lake Labish area soon after trains passed through but the Army did not have the staff to investigate.

He asked if Mr. ** could help observe the Japanese village. Mr. ** told me that he got some of the other men in the area, all men who I remember well as a youth, and they sat at night in the woods over looking the village.

He said that when a train went by an elderly Japanese man went to a well, pulled up a package and returned to his cabin. They reported the incident to the Army.

A few weeks later the Army officer reported to Mr. ** that the Army found that the package hidden in the well was a shortwave radio. The old Japanese man must have been reporting the directions of train, how many cars, passanger or freight, etc. to a submarine off the coast.

I grew up in the farming neighborhood until 1960 when I went into the service but remained unaware of a Japanese village in the Lake Labish area.

It was not an area that I did much exploring in so I cannot confirm that it ever existed. The story intrigued me because Mr. ** was known as a leader, and for his integrity, in our small neighborhood. He was respected by everyone."

UPDATE: Indeed there was an ethnic Japanese farming community at Lake Labish. Although this link isn't entirely historically accurate they mention the community. Perhaps they will include the story of the radio in the well on their site.

Another Oregonian piece...

2006-03-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/metro_east_news/1141703748143070.xml?oregonian?en&coll=7

Gresham tribute to mayor hits anti-Japanese question
Monument planned - The 1944 role of Herbert Hughes in a group against resettlement is debated
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
ROBIN FRANZEN

GRESHAM -- When Dr. Herbert Hughes stepped down as Gresham mayor, after serving the city from 1941 to 1956 and delivering thousands of local babies, the city declared it "Dr. Hughes Day."

That's how popular Doc Hughes was in this town.

Now it looks as though the City Council is about to honor him with a monument. Some, however, see a problem.

Back in November 1944, Hughes' name turned up in a local newspaper in connection with the Oregon Anti-Japanese Society, a group that opposed allowing people of Japanese ancestry to return to their Gresham-area homes during World War II.

At the time, Hughes was listed as one of a handful of temporary directors.

That information came to light in 2003 as the city considered renaming a park for Hughes. Since then, the park renaming idea died, but a monument idea surfaced. And concern about how complicit Hughes was in the anti-Japanese movement continues, despite an investigation that found he had little significant involvement.

"I hope the city has investigated this thoroughly," John Kodachi, president of the Portland chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, said Monday after learning of the monument proposal. "I realize there was anti-Japanese sentiment at the time, but it appears Mayor Hughes took it to a different level -- that's certainly troubling."

The council is scheduled to vote on the monument at 7 tonight, as part of the "consent agenda" that typically includes items approved without debate.

Currently, scant information is available about the level of Hughes' involvement.

But the head of Gresham's Historic Resources Council Advisory Committee, which is proposing the memorial, reaches a different conclusion than Kodachi: that Hughes' association with the group was brief, that his contributions outweigh any perceived missteps and that a new effort to honor his service with a monument should move forward.

David Lindstrom, a retired school principal who serves as the advisory committee chairman, said he spent two months in 2003 researching Hughes' involvement with the group. He could find only a single reference to Hughes in newspaper stories about the group and also uncovered no further evidence of anti-Japanese sentiment by Hughes in talking to local residents who remember the era.

Lindstrom said even though there isn't a lot of hard evidence, his personal belief is that "because the (anti-Japanese) movement became so nasty, and because his name does not appear later, and knowing he was a very humane person, I feel he saw the fact it was wrong and quietly dropped out."

Neither individual residents of Japanese ancestry nor members of the Japanese American Citizens League were specifically sought out for input during the review -- something Kodachi sees as a significant oversight. But Lindstrom said the members of two city advisory committees grappled with the question of Hughes' involvement, in the context of the overall hysteria of the times.

"In my mind, it was an unfortunate chapter in our history," Lindstrom said.

The proposed monument to Hughes would be in the location of his former office near Main Avenue and Powell Boulevard in Main City Park. At first, it would consist of a temporary wooden marker, to be replaced -- after about $2,500 is raised -- with a boulder with a brass plaque attached to it.

Gresham Mayor Chuck Becker said Monday he would support the monument, adding that he hoped the community would not raise the anti-Japanese issue again.

"I'm satisfied with recognizing that this is the location where Dr. Hughes had his medical offices," Becker said. "That's fine with me. . . . It's more a historical marker than anything else."
Councilor Paul Warr-King said Monday he is satisfied that Hughes had no direct involvement with the anti-Japanese group.

"Being a small town, I'm sure he was involved with everything that was going on," Warr-King said, but Warr-King believes it was "very minor involvement."

Original Oregonian piece that started it all..

2006-03-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

Look, if in fact the mayor was involved he was wrong to resist the ethnic Japanese from returning to Gresham or any other community. Perhaps he didn't hold Japanese in high esteem.

The historical reality is after a bloody three and a half year war with Japan the feeling wasn't rare among Americans.

What is the Gresham City Council using as evidence? Old newpaper articles? Hearsay from AJA activists?

Apparently the comments of a couple AJA activists holds more weight than anybody else as far as the City of Gresham is concerned.

This shouldn't be an open invitation to deliberately distort the rest of the history of the evacuation. Pretty soon they'll be demanding the FDR presidential library and Washington Monument be dismantled, too...

That's my point.

Here's the original story if you missed it...

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/metro_east_news/1142139316241370.xml?oregonian?lcfp&coll=7

Gresham confronts pride and prejudice in recalling its past
Race - A monument for a former mayor is tabled because of his role in an anti-Japanese group
Sunday, March 12, 2006
ROBIN FRANZEN and ERIC MORTENSON

GRESHAM -- Setsuko Okino's younger brother, a soldier in the U.S. Army, was killed fighting the Nazis in Europe. She and her family, meanwhile, spent three years at an internment camp in Idaho.

When she returned to Gresham, she encountered "No Japs Allowed" signs in storefronts. Others of Japanese descent struggled to reclaim farms that white Americans took over in their absence.

Worse, they learned their mayor, Dr. Herbert H. Hughes, was involved in a movement to keep them from returning. This was the same kindly physician who had come to Okino's unpainted cabin when she was 10 and treated her for scarlet fever. "Doc" Hughes, whom "we thought the world of," Okino says, had changed.

Last week, Okino, 82, and other Japanese Americans felt an old hurt return. As city officials considered erecting a monument to Hughes to note his service to the city, Japanese Americans were stung by a city process that excluded their opinions and ignored obvious references to a black mark on the late mayor's tenure.

The conflict has exposed the difficulty of reconciling how differing groups remember history. Although the city intended to boost civic pride by honoring the achievements of its longest-serving mayor, officials failed to recognize how deeply that would hurt a group its own country had banished during World War II.

"I'm going to be so upset if they put up a memorial to him," Okino said. "I'll cry every time I drive past it."

City officials knew they were dealing with a potentially sensitive situation, e-mails and memos show, but they pushed ahead.

For now, the issue of honoring Hughes, Gresham's mayor from 1941 to 1956, is in limbo. On Tuesday night, reacting to critics who learned of the plans at the 11th hour, Mayor Chuck Becker announced that the City Council would postpone acting on the proposal.

Afterward, two Gresham city councilors acknowledged that the matter was handled poorly.

"I blame myself," said Councilor Paul Warr-King, liaison to the city's historic resources advisory committee, which proposed the monument. Warr-King took office after the monument project was inching ahead and said he assumed that Hughes' background had been fully investigated. "I should have asked the question."

Warr-King said he was even more dismayed when he heard one report that Hughes refused to treat a pregnant Japanese woman.

Yoji J. Matsushima, president of the Japanese Ancestral Society of Portland, said that his mother-in-law, who is now deceased, told him Hughes refused to treat her in late 1941 because he "didn't take Jap patients."

"That would kill it right there, as far as I'm concerned," Warr-King said.

A time of hysteria, fear

After the outbreak of the war, 120,000 West Coast residents of Japanese descent, most U.S. citizens, were ordered to internment camps, including about 2,000 from the Portland area.

In November 1944, with the war winding down, Hughes and 12 other Gresham men formed Oregon Anti-Japanese Inc. The local group flared for several months then faded, reflecting and inspiring similar efforts in other West Coast agricultural communities.

The movement grew in a time of hysteria, fueled by fear of economic competition and losses during a war that was not over yet.

At one event, nearly 1,000 people crowded Gresham High School for an anti-Japanese conclave. An organizer from Seattle congratulated Gresham for launching a national effort to expel the Japanese.

"You folks are making history here tonight," he was quoted in The Oregonian as declaring.

The anti-Japanese agitators called for a constitutional amendment to revoke the citizenship of all people of Japanese ancestry. A local paper defended Hughes and other group leaders as "able, clear thinking, sound businessmen, farmers and community leaders," the kind of people who wouldn't "foster a program that smacks in any way of un-Americanism."

Not everyone was swept up in that sentiment, however.

Gresham minister John L. Magoon began telling what he called the "other side" of the issue. Working with former Gov. Charles Sprague and an influential Portland banker, E.B. MacNaughton, they called on residents to support the rights of all Americans, "irrespective of ancestry or extraction." The safety of business and institutions depended on citizens refusing to ostracize Japanese Americans, they said at a March 1945 meeting in Gresham, attended by about 1,000 residents.

"That's exactly what happened in Germany," said MacNaughton, president of First National Bank of Portland, "and it can happen here."

The depth of Hughes' involvement at the time is unclear. He does not appear to have been quoted about his feelings about Japanese Americans, leading some to conclude he might have quietly dropped out of the group after deciding it was wrong.

For many local residents, Hughes has remained a beloved figure. Today, some call the small-town doctor a "humanitarian." He delivered more than 5,000 babies, often making house calls. When people couldn't afford his services, he was known to barter or extend credit. He grew prized roses and chrysanthemums. When he retired as mayor, the city declared "Dr. Hughes' Day," and when he died in 1964, the business district closed out of respect.

But Hughes hadn't been officially recognized since, and that, in retrospect, should have raised red flags, Councilor Shane Bemis said Wednesday.

"It seemed odd that nothing was done," Bemis said. "Was there more involvement (in the anti-Japanese movement) than we know about?"

Bemis said he'd raised the question every time a Hughes monument was discussed at public meetings and had been assured "they didn't think there was anything there."
Only last week did 87-year-old Jim Onchi learn that Hughes was identified as a director with Oregon Anti-Japanese Inc. Onchi grew up in Gresham and enlisted in the Army's 442nd regimental combat team when war broke out. His family was shuttled off to an internment camp.

"If he was that way, I would oppose him getting a monument," said Onchi, who now lives in Portland. "I can't help it."

A flawed investigation

The idea to honor Hughes had been kicked around by various citizen committees since 2003 but had languished, partly because of concerns about his membership in the anti-Japanese group. Then in fall 2005, two city councilors directed parks division manager Robb Courtney to get the issue before the City Council for a vote.
Courtney asked an employee in a Jan. 6 e-mail to write a report for the council agenda, which is available to the public, "sans any reference" to the former mayor's "possible discriminatory behavior." In an earlier e-mail, he had suggested calling it a "historic monument" rather than a "memorial" to possibly "make it less contentious."

The employee was also instructed to write a separate memo recapping the allegations against Hughes and efforts to investigate his past. That memo, dated Feb. 7 and distributed to the council, referred to the allegations against Hughes as "rumors."

The report the public saw at Tuesday's council meeting contained only a footnote to the controversy -- indicating it had been "satisfactorily resolved." And the item was on the consent agenda, which is reserved for issues not warranting council debate or public testimony.

Courtney said he now agrees the city should have done better, but says he didn't seek to downplay concerns about Hughes. Elected officials, he said, had expressed no lingering doubts about Hughes after receiving the Feb. 7 memo, so he felt, "if they are OK with it, I'm going to move this forward."

Courtney said he hadn't personally supervised the investigation of Hughes -- that had been handled by a city employee laid off during budget cuts last year. And he said that the project had the backing of a historic resources volunteer, David Lindstrom, who had done some of the early research and was convinced all the good the former mayor had done tipped the balance in his favor.

"Our feeling was, Dr. Hughes' work and life was so overwhelmingly positive," Lindstrom said.

The council says it is committed to making sure nothing like this happens again. It's creating a task force to set criteria for honoring community leaders or citizens.
Bruce Robnett, a Sam Barlow High School history teacher whose classes cover the local impact of internment, agrees more discussion is warranted.

"I think there needs to be more awareness of the people who had this happen to them," Robnett said. "Before we honor the mayor."

(BainbridgeHistorians note: Agreed Mr. Robnett. There needs to be an entire overhaul of your current curriculum so students get the full story of why the evacuation happened, who it happened to, and including those who resisted ethnic Japanese returning to their pre-Pearl Harbor properties and businesses.)

Portland Oregonian joining in the slimefest...

2006-03-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

The Portland Oregonian has about as much credibility as the Seattle P.I. these days so it's natural to take their editorials with a grain of salt....

From my understanding the evidence for all this is past issues of the Portland Oregonian? Oh yes, and don't forget the "anecdotal evidence".

http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/114238772192220.xml&coll=7

Gresham blunders in proposing honor for racist mayor

Dr. Herbert H. Hughes appears to have reflected the worst anti-Japanese prejudices of his time
Wednesday, March 15, 2006

A botched attempt to honor Gresham's longest-serving mayor, while ignoring his malevolence toward a minority group, has reopened an excruciating chapter in Gresham's history. Make that: Oregon's history.

And the simplest way to handle it is to forget it ever happened.

Forget how Gresham city officials glossed over some disturbing evidence in Mayor Herbert H. Hughes' career, dismissing it as "rumors."

Forget, as fast as we can, Hughes himself. Scrap, as well, of course, all further misguided attempts to memorialize him. Or maybe there's a better way. We'll get back to that in a second.

A country doctor who lived with his mother and sisters most of his life, Hughes served as Gresham's mayor from 1941 to 1956. He grew roses and chysanthemums, freely dispensed medical advice, delivered 5,000 babies and, in his time, was a beloved civic leader.

He was also, apparently, a bigot.

As we all know from our own experience, those things are not mutually exclusive. Babies -- roses -- beloved -- bigoted. Still, the virulence of Hughes' hatred towards Japanese Americans stands out even by the standards of his own time. As The Oregonian's Robin Franzen and Eric Mortenson reported Sunday, Hughes helped ignite a hate-mongering campaign that flared briefly in late 1944, aimed at stripping Japanese Americans of everything they had left, which in many cases wasn't much.

When 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced to relocate to internment camps during World War II, some lost everything they owned. But then-Mayor Hughes and a dozen other men formed Oregon Anti-Japanese Inc., apparently to ensure they would never get it back. Some in Hughes' group favored expulsion of Japanese Americans, or a constitutional amendment to revoke their citizenship. Thanks to some courageous leaders, including the Rev. John L. Magoon, Gresham came to its senses.

Did Hughes come to regret his involvement in this group? Some believe he did, but no one has substantiated that claim. "We certainly would love to see evidence that he had a change of heart," says Chip Larouche, with the Portland chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League.

In 1993, President Clinton apologized to Japanese Americans for their internment. The nation's actions, he wrote, were rooted in "racial prejudice, wartime hysteria and a lack of political leadership." While Hughes accomplished some good things, he failed a key test of his time and led his community in the wrong direction.

Maybe Gresham should research Hughes' career, unblinkingly, and create an unorthodox memorial, with the full participation of the Japanese American community. While acknowledging Hughes' dark side, it could also pay tribute to those courageous Oregonians who argued on the right side of history.

This is beyond the scope of what Gresham had in mind, of course. But it would help us all to remember exactly what happened. Remembering a beloved bigot might be better for Oregon than just agreeing to forget him.

(BainbridgeHistorians note: See if you can pick out the list of historical inaccuracies in this editorial...)

Reparations activists in Oregon slime beloved former mayor who's been dead for 42 years...

2006-03-17T16:30:00.000-08:00

Of course resisting those ethnic Japanese who wanted to return after Japan surrendered was wrong. That's not the focus of sharing this post.

Major Hopkins resisted ethnic Japanese returning to Bainbridge so somebody changed the name Camp Hopkins to Camp Yemoalt a couple of years ago thus sullying the man's name on Bainbridge for generations to come.

The focus of this post is this: Coming up with "anecdotal evidence" that the mayor of Gresham, Oregon refused to deliver an infant based on ethnicity 42 years after he's dead and buried and 60 years after the war is wrong, not to mention sleazy.

That's disturbing and the Gresham City Council is a bunch of pansies for caving on this issue and allowing one of the city's fathers to be slimed by a bunch of ethnic activists.

Gresham buries monument project for a former mayor

Controversy - Officials respond to information linking him more closely to an anti-Japanese group during WWII
Friday, March 17, 2006
ROBIN FRANZEN

GRESHAM -- The effort to honor former Gresham Mayor Herbert H. Hughes with a monument is officially over.

The City Council killed the proposal Thursday after learning that Hughes' role in an anti-Japanese group during World War II was larger than first thought.

"It just needs to go away," City Council President Shane Bemis said Thursday. "It would be difficult to honor someone with that background."

Hughes, who served the city from 1941 to 1956, had previously been linked to an anti-Japanese group, Oregon Anti-Japanese Inc., in one local newspaper article in 1944. But a second article, in 1945, was uncovered this week during The Oregonian's review of news reports of the time.

A previous city investigation had wrongly concluded that Hughes had been named only once in print and only as a temporary director in connection with the group, which sought to keep Japanese Americans from returning to their homes after they had been sent to internment camps.

"It is clear that while the original research (into Hughes' background) was well-intentioned, it was not complete," Bemis said Thursday. "This proposal," he added, "should not have come forward to begin with."

John Kodachi, president of the Portland chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, said Thursday that he was glad to hear of the council's decision.

"Racism should never be condoned, let alone with a historic monument, " Kodachi said. "We are very pleased that the City Council has listened to the community's concerns -- and I mean community in the broadest sense."

The first article naming Hughes appeared Nov. 30, 1944, in the Gresham Outlook. In it, Hughes was listed as one of a handful of governors of Oregon Anti-Japanese Inc. "until permanent organization is effected."

This was the only news article identified by the city's investigation of Hughes, leading a citizen volunteer and a park planner looking into his past to conclude his involvement was probably temporary. City officials, according to documents, considered the matter "satisfactorily resolved."

However, the second Outlook article, dated Jan. 4, 1945, reported on the group's application for incorporation and listed Hughes on the board of directors, along with about a dozen other men. This article -- apparently missed by the city's reviews -- lists the group's directors.

Hughes was the longest-serving mayor in city history, and, for many, a beloved figure. As a medical doctor, he delivered more than 5,000 babies and often made house calls. When he retired as mayor, the city declared "Dr. Hughes' Day," and when he died in 1964, the business district closed out of respect.

Although there was interest by some Gresham residents in honoring "Doc" Hughes as early as 2003, it was only this month that such a proposal got as far as a City Council agenda.

City officials failed to solicit input from the Japanese American community. And on March 7, as they prepared to act on the proposed monument without debate, they received a rush of protest from Japanese Americans, and others, who learned of it hours before the council meeting.

One critic of the idea offered new anecdotal evidence alleging that Hughes had refused to treat a pregnant Japanese American woman -- his mother-in-law -- in late 1941 because of her race.

As a result, the council postponed taking action and called for the creation of a task force to examine how to better handle memorial projects in the future.
Even with the monument called off, the city continues to hammer out the details of that yet-unnamed group, which is expected to establish criteria over the next two to four months for honoring community leaders.

City spokeswoman Laura Bridges-Shepard said Thursday that such a task force should help the city avoid a similar controversy in the future by involving experts who best understand the complexities of historical research. Such experts, she said, might come from the Oregon Historical Society or the Oregon State Archives.

"We want to do this right," Bridges-Shepard said. "We want to develop a process that stands the test of time."

(BainbridgeHistorians note: Does anybody else find the sub-headline a poor choice of words? It says "Controversy - Officials respond to information linking him more closely to an anti-Japanese group during WWII". Wouldn't it have been more controversial if he had been closey linked to a pro-Japanese group during WWII? Wasn't the United States fighting a war against Japan at the time?)

Second half of Professor Murphey's piece

2006-03-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

A Question Long-Since forgotten: Was Mere Relocation a Dangerously Indulgent Policy?

Many officials on the West Coast and in the western states wanted actual internment, not just relocation, for the duration of the war. Hindsight shows that this wasn't necessary. As it turned out the evacuation and relocation worked well to protect both the national security and the Japanese-Americans themselves. It's easy to lose sight of the fact today, though, that the decision not to intern was made at great risk. Experience during the war did demonstrate that there were a sizeable number of Japanese-Americans who militantly supported Japan. If they had conducted even one massive act of sabotage, would the risk have been worth it? How many lives, say, was the risk worth? 100? 1000? 10,000? Whose lives?

The Criticism of an Inference

After the war began, authorities anticipated acts of sabotage on the West Coast - but none occurred. Why? The critics of the evacuation argue that this is evidence that there were no disloyal persons of Japanese ancestry. A number of American officials at the time, however, including Earl Warren, drew diametrically the opposite inference: that there must be some who were willing to commit sabotage, but that for some reason they were being held back rather than being exposed. Warren and the others, including the columnist Walter Lippmann, considered it an ominous sign.

This inference was later ridiculed - in fact, called "vicious" and unprofessional - by the Congressional Commission on Wartime Relocation. Each reader should be able to decide for himself whether the reasoning was flawed (and, for those who agree with the critics who say that it was, whether it can appropriately be characterized as vicious).

A Critically Important Choice: Mass Evacuation or a Case-by-Case Loyalty Determination

The normal course of law in a legal system that respects individual rights looks at the guilt of individuals, providing each "due process." The critics of the evacuation invoke this as the basis for a bitter denunciation of American policy, since it treated the Japanese-Americans as a group. The critical view would follow almost naturally from a position that acknowledges virtually no need for protective measures in the emergency: If the threat were slight, it would hardly outweigh the important value to be given to due process.

We have already seen, however, that there was a vital need for immediate action. The critical view would also be reasonable if the American government had had an expeditious way to determine, by investigation and hearings, the loyalty of each person on an individual basis. But this was a virtual impossibility, given the cultural insularity of the Japanese-American community. (To make any practical sense, it presupposes that many of the Japanese-Americans would have come forward in hearings as witnesses against other Japanese-Americans; but we have seen the internal pressures, including murderous beatings, that the pro-Japan element could have brought to bear against it.)

When the war was within months of being over, Justice Murphy on the Supreme Court found it easy to embrace the contrary view, but in the first case to come before the Court he had said that "the military authorities could reasonably have concluded at the time that determinations as to the loyalty of individual ...persons of Japanese extraction on the West Coast could not be made without delay that might have had tragic consequences.

"Chief Justice Stone, writing for the Court, agreed, saying: "We cannot say that the war-making branches of the government did not have ground for believing that in a critical hour such persons could not readily be isolated and separately dealt with."

Justice Jackson made a curious bifurcation reminiscent of Pontius Pilate's washing of his hands: that courts should continue even during wartime to hold to individual due process, but that they shouldn't interfere with the military if it found it necessary not to do so.

Why Wasn't the Same Done With the Hawaiian Japanese-Americans ?

The point is sometimes made that the evacuation from the West Coast was inconsistent with having left the Japanese-American population on Hawaii. The answer is that with the - declaration of martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in December 1941, Hawaii was placed under direct military control. It is said to have been "governed like a military camp for all its inhabitants." This was not done on the mainland.

Why Weren't Americans of German and Italian Extraction evacuated?

Another point of criticism asks why the Japanese-Americans evacuated but people of German and Italian ancestry were not. This has a double edge: it suggests that the evacuation really wasn't necessary; and it sugqests that the evacuation was racially motivated.

Senator Hayakawa, though, wrote "the answer is obvious. Germans and Italians, having come to America earlier than the Japanese and in far greater numbers, were already well-known to Americans in 1941." The same point was expressed in a letter that the city officials of Madera, California, wrote to then-attorney general Earl Warren in early 1941: "The general feeling about the Italians is that they are well assimilated, and we do not regard even the Italian aliens alien in fact... So Far as we know, there are no German aliens in this community." The distinction lies in the vast difference in assimilation. The Germans and Italians had long-since become mixed with the general population.

Whether the Exclusion Should Have Been Ended Sooner

In their late-1944 opinions, the Supreme Court justices were especially sensitive to whether the exclusion order should have been rescinded once the tide of military fortune shifted in favor of the United States. (The various concurring and dissenting opinions would, in fact, make an excellent case study in the vagaries of the liberal mind, since a certain ideological sentimentality became apparent once the improving war situation allowed it.)

As it was, the order was rescinded as of January 2, 1945, when there were still more than seven months of warfare remaining with Japan. The argument is that it is unconstitutional to constrain an American citizen even a day longer than necessity requires, and that as time went on many of the Japanese-Americans were clearly known to be loyal. If it is agreed, however, that a group evacuation and resettlement was justified, it becomes a neat matter of timing as to when, precisely, the program should have been abandoned.

The Roosevelt administration did not wait until the end of the war, but simply took longer than the critics assert it should have. We have seen that beginning in early 1944 "certificates of exemptions were granted to some to return to the West Coast. What is important, though, is to remind ourselves that the country was very largely occupied with other tasks. It shouldn't be necessary to recite the vastly complicated preoccupations that held Americans' attention in 1944 and 1945. Meanwhile, the relocation of many of the Japanese-Americans to eastern and mid-western communities was going on apace. While it is technically arguable that the exclusion order should have been rescinded earlier, the failure to do so seems understandable.

Was the Relocation a Product of 'Racism'?

Much public opinion on the West Coast had long been hostile to Japanese and other Asian immigration. Organized labor was for many years prominent among its opponents. And there is no question but that public opinion was inflamed against the Japanese during World War II, especially right after Pearl Harbor. This feeling was most intense on the West Coast, for a very specific reason: the National Guard units from eleven western states were fighting in the Philippines, where they were tortured and starved by their Japanese captors. Their families and friends felt passionately about it. Throughout the war, one of the motivating factors in the policy of evacuation and resettlement was to protect the Japanese-Americans from public anger. It is easy today to say that anger 'Racist,' but we have reason to be suspicious of attitudes taken under much more comfortable circumstances forty and even fifty years after the fact. To argue that the anger was vicious has, itself, a certain vicious quality about it. The point to keep in mind is that there were ample reasons for the evacuation that had nothing to do with racism.

Justice Black wrote level-headedly about this in 1944: "To cast this case into outlines of racial prejudice, without reference to the real military danger which were present, merely confuses the issue. Korematsu was not excluded from the Military area because of hostility to him or his race ... He was excluded because we are at war with the Japanese Empire...."

Justice Stone discussed whether there are occasions when national origin can be considered in making policy: "Because racial discriminations are in most circumstances irrelevant and therefore prohibited, it by no means follows that, in dealing with the perils of war, Congress and the Executive are wholly precluded from taking into account those facts and circumstances which are relevant ... and which may in fact place citizens of one ancestry in a different category from others."

The Aftermath

The U. S. Supreme Court had the matter before it in three cases: Hirabayashi v.. United States, 32O U.S. 81 (1943); Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944); and Ex Parte Endo, 323 U.S. 283 (1944).

In the course of this discussion I have had occasion to quote much of the thinking expressed there. Hearings were held by the House of Representative's "Select Committee Investigating National Defense Migration" (the "Tolan Committee") in February and March of 1942. In 1948, Congress passed the "Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act" under which approximately $38 million was paid to evacuees for property losses (though extensive measures had been taken by the Army and the War Relocation Authority to store and safeguard their property during the war).

Critics later argued that additional money should have been paid for loss of earnings and for intangible damages such as "stigma" and "psychological impact." In the late 1960s, a movement called "the redress movement" got underway. Reflecting the importunities of that movement, President Gerald Ford in 1976 issued a proclamation saying "we know now what we should have known then: not only was [the] evacuation wrong, but Japanese-Americans were and are loyal Americans."

In 1980, Congress created the "Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians." It issued its report, entitled "Personal Justice Denied," on February 22, 1983. John J. McCloy later wrote that "the manner and the atmosphere in which the hearings were held was outrageous and a disgrace." He said that "I have been before this Congress many times in hearings, but I have never been subjected to the indignities that I was at the hearings of the Relocation Commission. Every time I tried to say anything in favor of the United States or in favor of the President of the United States, there were hisses and boos and stomping of feet."

David F. Trask, the chief historian for the U.S. Army Center of Military History, sees the Report as virtually an advocacy brief "to present the case against the Government in the most favorable light ... Facts and arguments that might tend to support a contrary conclusion are either excluded or rejected." We have seen how it totally overlooked the existence of MAGIC, the decoded Japanese dispatches, which is a key to understanding why the Roosevelt administration took the action it did. In 1988, hearings were held by the House Subcommittee on Administrative Law and Governmental Relations. In 1988, Congress passed the "Japanese Money Bill" under which more than $2O,000 was paid, with an apology, to more than 60,000 of evacuees. As a part of this, in October 1990 checks for $20,000 each were sent to 490 former evacuees who had returned to Japan and are citizens there.

The Long-Term Effect on the Japanese-Americans

Though it has nothing to do with the merits of the evacuation, it is worth mentioning as a concluding note that the long-term effects on the Nisei and succeeding generations have almost certainly been favorable. Senator Hayakawa wrote that "as one talks with Nisei today, one gets the impression that the wartime relocation, despite the injustices and economic losses suffered, was perhaps the best thing that could have happened to the Japanese-Americans on the West Coast. As many say, the relocation forced them out of their segregated existence to discover the rest of America ... The relocation thus resulted in the Americanization of the Japanese in one generation after immigration - a record for non-English-speaking immigrants of any color.

Conclusion

The circumstances during World War II were much more complicated that those who would damn the United States as having "viciously set up concentration camps for the Japanese-Americans" ever admit. My study of the subject has persuaded me that Americans have nothing to be ashamed about this episode, even though it is regrettable that such a thing should ever have to happen.

The search for historical accuracy isn't a panderer's game to curry favor; to seek the truth is no slander against anyone.

2006-03-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

This has not been posted in its entirety, yet. I'll get the rest up asap.

The World War II Relocation Japanese-Americans
Dwight D. Murphey
The Wichita State University Journal of Social, Political and Economic Issues - Spring, 1993

In the war over American identity - the culture war - that has raged since the 1960s, it has been common for the Left, deeply entrenched in our media, schools and academic life, to paint the American mainstream as vicious and racist.

As I checked some books out of the Wichita State University library just before beginning this article, the young librarian noticed the subject of the books and offered the information that "there's an excellent book that arrived recently about the internment of the Japanese-Canadians in Canada. Canada did the same thing we did!"

He was surprised, though, when I said "there were substantial differences." The Canadians actually interned them - and didn't let them return to the west Coast of Canada until 1949. Did you know that in this country, we sent their college-age young peopleto hundreds of American universities?"

"After the war?," he asked."No, while the war was going on," I told him.

That was the end of the conversation since he lost relish for it. It was pretty obvious from the little that I had said that I wasn't repeating the politically correct view on the subject.

It's doubtful whether, in talking to the young librarian, I had happened upon anyone particularly radical. It's more likely that his perceptions reflect the well-nigh universal understanding among "the (properly) informed public" on such issues as the relocation of the Japanese-Americans.

Kent State, the Hollywood Blacklist, etc. - which is that Americans have shown their true colors by a series of bigoted, essentially vicious, acts. Among that "informed public," there is even a certain delight in it, as though it's a vindication of all they know. A large number of Americans think it is perfectly normal wo want to believe the worst about the United States.

What is important to a student of today's on-going but one-sided "war over American culture," is to realize that these perceptions are a result - one of the many legacies - of the sixties, which in turn had raised to a fever pitch the hostile cultural critique the Left had been making of 'bourgeois' society since the 1820s).

Dr. Ken Masugi, a resident Fellow at the Claremont Institute, stated the point succinctly when he testified before Congress in 1984 that the currently-accepted view is the product of "Japanese-Americans who were activists in the Sixties and then became lawyers and community organizers.

"The intent, he said, is to achieve "one of the goals of the Sixties protest movements: To show that America is a racist society, and that even in the case of World War II, America's noblest foreign war, America was corrupt, having its own 'concentration camps.'

Very little was heard about the World War II relocation of the Japanese-Americans before the New Left. According to the 1982 Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation, "those representing the interests of civil rights and civil liberties in Congress, the press and other public forums were silent or indeed supported exclusion ...

A poll of the Northern California Civil Liberties Union in the spring of 1942 showed a majority in favor of the evacuation orders." Nor was there any opposition in Congress. At the end of the war, the Japanese-Americans themselves who fought in Italy and France raised funds for a memorial to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. So we can see that although the evacuation raises issues all Americans will want to consider, it is largely an issue born out of more recent cultural alienation.

An interesting aspect is that the Cognoscenti's perception of American viciousness does not take as its target simply a certain 'redneck' portion of the American population. The New Left turned its anger every bit as much against 'liberals.' With regard to the Japanese-American issue, those who are alienated do not shrink from denouncing as guilty the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration and such personalities as Earl Warren and Milton Eisenhower.

As with all these things, the ideas become as common as the air we breathe. That is made especially evident when an idea appears in the "Dear Abby" newspaper feature. On April 13, 1992, Abigail Van Buren was so proud of something she'd written years ago that she repeated it:

"In 1980 I wrote: 'To our everlasting shame, approximately 100,000 loyal American citizens were held in concentration camps for the duration of World War II. Their "crime?" They were of Japanese descent."

It's time for an Honest Look in writing about subjects involved in the culture war, it is not my intention to do a series of pieces - white-washing American history, I much prefer to approach them as an objective scholar.

If Americans have done something-shameful, American in general and conservatives in particular should want to be among the first to know it; those who cherish our history would be poorly served by dishonest and partisan scholarship. When I started my study of the removal of the Japanese-Americans I knew virtually nothing about it, and I have remained ready to report whatever I found. It obviously should not be a disqualification, however, for a scholar to begin his study of any of these issues without an inbred animus against the United States.

Nor should proving the scholar's "objectivity" require him to find reason for America to be ashamed when that isn't called for. With that in mind, I will state right now the conclusion I have reached and that will emerge from this article. It is that the United States did not act shamefully in its treatment of persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II. In fact, a better case could be made for a diametrically opposite criticism: that the treatment was so tender-hearted that it actually jeopardized the security of the United States during a desperate war.

In the intolerant context of today's ideological arguments, it is predictable that a conclusion favorable to the United States will be presented as "offensive" to the many splendid people of Japanese ancestry who now form a part of the American people.

But, of course, that would be nonsense. The search for historical accuracy isn't a panderer's game to curry favor; to seek the truth is no slander against anyone.

I was among those who were thrilled when Kristi Yamaguchi received her Olympic gold medal in skating at Albertsville, France, to the strains of the national anthem. She has represented this country beautifully with her world championship in Munich in 1991 and her U.S. national title in Orlando early in 1992. And there is no question but that America lost an excellent citizen last year with the death of S.I. Hayakawa. In a more normal climate it would go without saying that no insult is intended to the likes of Yamaguchi or Hayakawa by an honest study of the World War II removal issue.

The Topics We Will Examine

There is so much to the subject that, like a good debater, it is well to start by telling them what you are going to tell them": Most of what follows will relate to two large questions.

First, what exactly was done regarding the persons of Japanese ancestry? And, second, why was it done; i.e., what was its necessity?

Each of these involves a good many facets. When we have furnished them, we will review the U.S. Supreme Court decisions relating to the issue, and tell of the various follow-ups in the form of Congressional inquiries, a Presidential commission, and the payment of damages on two occasions.

Some Terms to know

Anyone dealing with this issue soon gets to know the names that have been given in Japanese to the various groups that have come to this country. The generic name that applies to all those in the United States who are of Japanese origin is "Kikkei." Of these, the "Issei" are those who came to this country as immigrants, the "Nisei" are the first generation born in the United States, and the "Sansei" the second. There is a separate word - "Kibei" - for those who returned to Japan for their education.

Although I include these names for their informative value, I will use them sparingly in this article, since I think that for most readers they may prove more confusing than helpful.

The First Main Question: What Was Done?
Presence of Japanese-Americans on the West Coast

Japan had followed a policy of strict separation from the world From 1638 until Commodore Matthew C. Perry broke its isolation in 1854. The Japanese government placed strict limits on emigration until in 1884 it granted the right to emigrate freely. A few Japanese came to the United States before the turn of the century.

Between 1901 and 1908, however, both the United States and Japan allowed unrestricted migration from Japan - and 127,000 Japanese came to this country. This immigration was severely restricted in 1908, and a "Gentleman's Agreement" was entered into with Japan limiting the flow, after which Japanese continued to enter in lesser numbers. Immigration from Japan was barred totally beginning in 1924. American law did not provide for citizenship for those who had come, but those who were born in the United States automatically became citizens, and had duel citizenship with Japan. The 1940 Census showed 126,975 persons of Japanese origin in the United States; of these, 79,642 had been born here.

Immediate arrest of 'Dangerous Aliens' After Pearl Harbor

Within days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, approximately 3,000 Japanese aliens classified as dangerous were arrested and incarcerated by the Department of Justice. These were individuals under suspicion by American intelligence, which beginning in 1939 had begun to compile lists of persons considered dangerous in case of war.

Declaration of West Coast as a Military Zone; Exclusion of Persons of Japanese Origin

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This authorized the establishment of military areas from which people of all kinds could be excluded. Lt. General John L. Dewitt was appointed the military commander to carry out the Executive Order. In March, Gen. Dewitt declared large parts of the Pacific Coast states military areas in which no one of Japanese descent would be allowed to remain. The exclusion order affected Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast by forcing them to move inland. Its only effect upon those who already lived inland was to bar them from going to the quarantined areas on the West Coast.

Col. Karl R. Bendetsen was named Director of the Wartime Civil Control Administration to handle the evacuation. Also in March, Roosevelt created a civilian agency, the War Relocation Authority (WRA), to assist the evacuees. Milton Eisenhower, brother of later president Dwight Eisenhower, was named Director.

Congress ratified the evacuation by enacting legislation that made it a federal offense for anyone to violate the exclusion order.

A short-lived plan originally was to assist the Japanese-Americans in a process by which they would move inland "on their own recognizance" as individuals and families. Bendetsen says that "funds were provided for them [and] we informed them...where there were safe motels in which they could stay overnight." This was ended almost immediately, by late March, however. The need for a more organized system became apparent, Bendetsen says, when most of the Japanese-Americans were not able to make arrangements to relocate quickly even with some help. A second reason was that the governors of Western states (reflecting public opinion in their states) objected strongly to thousands of people of Japanese origin moving into their States without oversight. These objections were reiterated at a Governors' Conference for ten western governors on April 7.

(There was a continuing tension, lessening over time, between the desire to let the evacuees relocate freely and the desire that much of the public had to have them monitored closely.)

This led to the "assembly center phase," during which the evacuees were moved to improvised centers such as race tracks and Fairgrounds along the West Coast pending the construction of ten "relocation centers" in eastern California, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and as far east as Arkansas. During this phase, federal officials made extensive efforts to lessen public hostility. As those feelings subsided, approximately 4,000 families went ahead to move inland "on their own recognizance" to communities of their choice before the assembly center' phase was over at the end of the summer of 1942. Bendetsen says that all of the Japanese-Americans could have moved on their own at any time if they had seen their way clear to do it.

The assembly centers are criticized as having had "barbed wire and searchlights," overcrowding, lack of privacy, and inadequate medical care. But Bendetsen disputes much of this, as we will see in my later discussion of whether the evacuees can properly be said to have been "interned."

Hastily improvised and purely temporary quarters for thousands of people who have been uprooted from their homes on short notice could not have been pleasant. There is no incongruity, however, between this and the fact, also true, that the government worked with the evacuees themselves to take extraordinary measures to make the centers as comfortable as possible. In the short time they existed, some centers opened libraries; movies were shown regularly; there were Scout troops, arts and crafts classes, musical groups, and leagues for basketball and baseball. Three hundred and fifty people signed up for calisthenics class at Stockton. All had playgrounds for children, and one even had a pitch-and-putt golf course. The centers were run almost entirely by the Japanese-Americans themselves.

As the ten relocation centers became ready, the evacuees were moved to them from the assembly centers. These were under the jurisdiction of the War Relocation Authority. Dillon S. Myer became the Director of the WRA in June when Milton Eisenhower resigned to become the deputy director of the Office of War Information. The relocation centers' highest population, of 106,770, was attained on November 1, 1942. The construction of the camps was of the type used for housing American soldiers overseas - which is to say, the centers were Spartan but functional. Senator S. I. Hayakawa later described them as "dreary places: long rows of tarpaper-covered wooden barracks ... Each room had a stove, a drop light, an iron cot and mattress... But the WRA," he said, "headed by the wise and humane Dillon Myer, ... made life as comfortable as possible for them." It's worth noting that no families were ever separated during the process.

As with the assembly centers, the critics found fault with much about the relocation centers. For example, the level of health care has been the subject of continuing dispute. Dillon Myer, however, says that "the professional care was excellent (and) was free."There were messhalls for meals, and a large number of community enterprises, which included stores, theaters, hairdressers, community theaters, and newspapers. There was ping-pong, judo, boxing, badminton, and sumo wresting. Again, there were basketball and baseball leagues (along with some touch football). The Santa Fe center had "gardens, two softball diamonds, two tennis courts, a miniature nine-hole golf course, a fenced forty-acre hiking area, ... classes in calligraphy, Chinese and Japanese poetry ...." The Massachusetts Quakers sponsored art competitions. Libraries featured Japanese-language sections. There were chapters of the American Red Cross, YMCA, YWCA, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts. State Shinto, with its emperor - worship, was barred, but otherwise the evacuees worshipped as they pleased.

The government paid a salary equal to a soldier's pay ($21 per month) to those who worked in the centers.

Each of the camps (except Tule Lake, which came to be quite different from the others for reasons we will see later, had fully accredited schools through the High school level. There were nursery schools, kindergarten, the teaching of instrumental music, school choruses, achievement testing, high school newspapers and annuals, dances, active Parent-Teacher Associations, student councils and class officers. When graduation was held at the Topaz camp, the University of Utah lent the necessary caps and gowns. Present-day critics such as Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, however, reflecting today's 'multiculturalist' ideology, object to the assimilationist objectives of the instruction, which sought to Americanize the students. (This is inconsistent with the criticism that is also made, with bitter charges of 'racism,' that during the 192Os and 193Os Americans hadn't welcomed an assimilation of Japanese immigrants, and had enacted laws to prevent it.)

Much of the credit for the livability of the centers goes to the Japanese-Americans themselves, whose energy and intelligence immediately made the best of the situation. This was accomplished in an active relationship with the WRA.

Subject to a veto that the WRA could exercise, each relocation center (as had been the assembly centers) was governed internally by the Japanese-Americans themselves, who elected representatives from each block.Even before the relocation centers became filled, collegeage students began to leave to attend American universities. At the beginning of the Fall semester in 1942, approximately 250 students had left for school, attending 143 colleges and universities. By the time the war was over, 4,3OO college-age students were attending more than 3OO universities around the country (though not on the West Coast). Scholarships were granted based on financial ability. Foundations and churches funded a 'National Japanese-American Student Relocation Council' to help with college attendance.

The centers were intended, as their name suggests, to be places in which the evacuees could stay while they were being relocated around the country. Myer says "never was there any policy of confinement for the duration." "As early as September 1942," S. 1. Hayakawa tells us, "hundreds of Issei railroad workers were restored to their jobs in eastern Oregon." At one point, $4 million was appropriated to help those who wanted to start businesses away from the centers. In 1943, 16,000 people left the centers on indefinite leave; and 18,000 more followed in 1944. Others left the centers on a seasonal basis, such as the 5,000 who helped harvest the sugar beet crop in several western states. Field offices were maintained by the WRA in Midwestern and eastern cities to find jobs for those willing to go out on their own. Churches maintained hostels in four cities to provide short-term quarters for those who wanted to leave the centers to look for jobs. It is for all these reasons that those who were in charge say that relocation, not internment, was the goal.

Many of the evacuees, however, remained in the centers for the duration of the war. Critics attribute this to a lack of alternatives, as though the evacuees were trapped, but Bendetsen credits the fact that life was acceptable within the centers. "Many elected to stay in the relocation centers while being gainfully employed in nearby pursuits in the general economy ...The climate of hostility which presented intractable problems in the very early phases had long since subsided."

Beginning in early 1944, with still a year and a half of war to go, "certificates of exemption" began to be issued to those who, having passed security investigations, wanted to return to the West Coast. Then in November 1944 the cabinet decided to lift the exclusion. This was announced by the War Department on December 18 and took effect on January 2. With that, the process of disassembling the centers got underway. The war with Japan ended in August 1945, and the last of the centers, except Tule Lake, was closed on December 1, 1945.The Tule Lake Center Used for InternmentThe center at Tule Lake, California, started out as a relocation center but before long was turned into an actual internment camp - a "segregation center" - for those Japanese-Americans who were hostile to the United States. It housed those who applied to be repatriated to Japan, if they had not withdrawn the application by the middle of 1943; those who answered "no" to a loyalty questionnaire and didn't clear up the problem in special hearings held for the purpose; those against whom the government had evidence of disloyalty; and the family members of those in the first three groups.

Were the Relocation Centers an 'Internment'?

There is no question but that the evacuees were forced by law to leave their homes on the West Coast and to either stay in the centers or relocate elsewhere in the United States by receiving leaves for the purpose. Their exclusion from the West Coast was not voluntary, and after the short-lived initial phase their relocation had to be done through the centers, which granted leave, temporary or indefinite, for the purpose. But, except for those arrested as 'dangerous aliens' right after Pearl Harbor and those who were later segregated at Tule Lake, were the Japanese-Americans 'interned' in the centers? And were the centers, as is often charged, 'concentration camps'?

What is important to realize is that these questions are largely issues of characterization. Those who seem to place the evacuation in the worst light stress the 'humiliation' and' affront to our loyalty' inherent in being made to relocate. They especially like to refer to the centers as 'concentration camps,' thereby evoking images akin to Nazi death camps. (One of the many books on the subject speaks of "the parallel experience of the German Jews.") Even Senator Hayakawa; who certainly felt no alienation toward the United States, later spoke of the evacuation as an affront that said in effect that "we doubt your loyalty." (I have a hard time accepting even Hayakawa's notion about this, since the evacuation was premised not on a doubt about the loyalty of all Japanese-Americans but rather on an inability rapidly to sort out who was loyal to the United States and who to Japan. The officials of the Roosevelt administration always acknowledged that a great many of the Japanese-Americans were loyal.)

The substance of the charge of 'internment' is contradicted by the fact that resettlement outside the centers was diligently pursued throughout the process. Hayakawa says that by January 2, 1945, half of those evacuated had "found new jobs and homes in mid-America and the East.

"What is most often pointed to in support of the charge of 'internment' and even of the centers being 'concentration camps' is that there were "fences and guards." Even Hayakawa speaks of the centers as being "behind barbed wire, guarded by armed sentries." The role of fences and guards, though, seems to depend largely upon perception.

In 1984 a House subcommittee asked Bendetsen about earlier testimony that there had been barbed wire and watchtowers, and he testified that "that is 100 percent false ... Because of the actions of outraged U.S. citizens, of which I do not approve, it was necessary in some of the assembly centers, particularly Santa Anita,... to protect the evacuees ... and that is the only place where guards were used. [As to] relocation centers... there was not a guard at all at any of them. That would not be true of Tule Lake [after it became a segregation center].

"I have scrutinized the follow-up questioning by the subcommittee's counsel to see whether any effort was made to shake Bendetsen's testimony by confronting him with specifics that would contradict it. He had testified to the same effect in 1981, and the subcommittee staff could easily have been prepared with specifics to ask him about if they existed.

I have given the same scrutiny to the questioning at the time he testified before the Commission on Wartime Relocation in 1981. In neither case were specific follow-up questions asked, despite many allegations to the subcommittee and earlier to the Commission that the centers were guarded. Although I don't feel that the conflict in reports is definitively resolved in my mind, I assign considerable weight to this failure to-cross-examine Bendetsen about specifics, which were supposedly known to the subcommittee and the Commission, when there was plenty of opportunity to do so.

In 1981; Senator Brooke had asked him in general terms about "the voluminous testimony we have had describe (sic) these camps quite differently from the way you've described them."

Bendetsen replied: "A great part of the testimony was given by people who were not yet born then ... You had testimony available from many people who were not given an opportunity to present it, some of whom were physically intimidated by the people who were in attendance day after day ... I have received a barrage of mail...

There were many people who in good faith wanted to testify that they thought the conditions were nowhere close to some of the testimony which you heard."Photographs are provided in some of the literature showing watchtowers and guards. It is important as to each photograph to know the specific date and location. The persons at Tule Lake, for example, were under guard to keep them in; and photographs from early 1942 would relate to the assembly center phase.

As we will see in my discussion of the military situation, there were strong reasons for an actual internment, which is what Earl Warren, who was then the attorney general of California, wanted. But that is not what the Roosevelt administration did. It chose to steer a middle course between those who wanted no evacuation at all and those who, like Warren, wanted the Japanese-American population closely monitored. To call it an "internment" is at most a half-truth.

Economic Losses; Care of Property

A number of unscrupulous persons took advantage of the situation in which the Japanese-Americans found themselves between the time of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and early March of next year. But once the Army took charge of the evacuation, extensive efforts were made to safeguard the evacuees' property.

Col. Bendetsen testified:"When you are told that the household goods of the evacuees after I took over were dissipated, that is totally false. The truth is that all of the household goods of those who were evacuated or who left voluntarily were indexed, stored, and wharehouse receipts were given. And those who settled in the interior on their own told us, and we shipped it to them free of charge. As far as their crops were concerned, the allegations are totally false. I used the Agriculture Department to arrange harvesting after they left and to sell the crops at auction, and the Federal Reserve System, at my request, handled the proceeds. The proceeds were carefully deposited in their bank accounts in the West to each individual owner. And many of these farms were farmed the whole time - not sold a bargain prices, but leased - and the proceeds were based on the market value of the harvest."

As we will see later, Congress passed a "Claims Act" in 1948 under which approximately $38 million was paid to the evacuees for property losses.

The critics assert that additional compensation should have been granted for mental suffering, but that is a different issue than whether there was a wanton taking of their property. Many millions of people, including Americans of all origins and by no means limited to the Japanese-Americans, experienced uncompensated mental suffering in World War II.

The Second Main Question: Why Was it Done?
The Nature of the Military Emergency

A state of severe military vulnerability existed in December 1941 and early 1942. The American Pacific Fleet, our first line of defense in the Pacific, was destroyed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7. The Japanese at the same time attacked Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Wake and Midway Islands. The next day, they invaded Thailand. Within less than a week, Guam fell. By Christmas, they had taken Wake Island and had occupied Hong Kong.

Manila fell on January 2, and Singapore on February 10. The Battle of the Java Sea on February 27 resulted in a major naval victory for Japan. By early March, Japan had control over Rangoon, Burma and the Netherlands East Indies. The struggle at Bataan and Corregidor marked the end of the Japanese conquest of the Philippines.The Hawaiian Islands and the West Coast of the United States were open to attack. On February 23, a Japanese submarine shelled an oil field along the California coast. Two days later, five unidentified planes were spotted and Los Angeles underwent a black-out. The United States hastily made preparations for war.

The extent of its unpreparedness is illustrated by the draftees' use of wooden guns in their maneuvers in Louisiana in early 1942.

Japanese Exploitation of West Coast Vulnerability

The critics of the evacuation often argue that there was no demonstrated military necessity for it. 'The Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation speaks of "the clamor" by California officials for protective action, and says that "these opinions were not informed by any knowledge of actual military risks." The extensive critical literature mocks the perception of danger, suggesting it was a figment of hysterical imaginations.But this is nonsense. The danger was palpable - and apparent to anyone who considered the situation. Earl Warren, as attorney general of California, testified before a select committee of Congress (the Tolan Committee") on February 2I, 1942, and submitted letters from a number of local officials. Some pointed out to the vulnerability of the water supply and of the large-scale irrigation systems: "It would be absolutely humanly impossible," one of them wrote, "for the small force now available in the sheriffs office to make even a pretense of guarding this tremendous farm territory and the irrigation system." Another pointed that "a systematic campaign of incendiarism would cause terrific disaster" during the California dry season from May until October. The city manager of Alameda observed that "we have the naval air' station at one end the island...There are five major shipyards along the northern edge and there is the Oakland Airport at the eastern end of the island." Warren provided maps showing that the Japanese-American population lived in close proximity to virtually all strategic locations.Many scenarios suggest themselves.

Espionage, sabotage, and aid to an invading army are obvious possibilities. To appreciate the danger, we need to have a very real sense of what a terrible toll could have been taken if even another Pearl Harbor had been replicated. The potential was for much more than that, however.In addition to the civilian population, there was much that was important militarily and economically along the West Coast; it was clearly exposed; and there were few means to defend it. In my opinion, this was enough in itself to create a critical emergency, to be met as humanely but as effectively as possible.

It should not be necessary for the America government to have known specifically of plans for espionage and sabotage.Nevertheless, there was definitive evidence of Japan's intent to exploit the situation. On December 4, 1941, the Office of Naval Intelligence reported a Japanese "intelligence machine geared for war, in operation, and utilizing west coast Japanese."

On January 21, 1942 a bulletin Army Intelligence "stated flat out that the Japanese government's espionage net containing Japanese aliens, first and second generation Japanese and other nationals is now thoroughly organized and working underground," according to the testimony of David D. Lowman, a retired career intelligence officer who has written extensively on declassifiedintelligence from World War II.

The Commission on Wartime Relocation contradicted this in its 1982 Report when it said that "not a single documented act of espionage, sabotage or fifth column activity was committed by an American citizen of Japanese ancestry or by a resident Japanese alien on the West Coast."

This claim is often repeated in the critical literature, but is blatantly false.

Amazingly, the Commission ignored the most important source of information about espionage, which is the dispatches sent by the Japanese government to its own people before and during the war. U. S. Navy codebreakers had broken the Japanese diplomatic code in 1938, and the decoded messages were distributed, on a basis "higher than Top Secret," to a small handful of top American officials under the codename "MAGIC."

Lowman testified in 1984 that "included among the diplomatic communications were hundreds of reports dealing with espionage activities in the United States and it's possessions ... In recruiting Japanese second generation and resident nationals, Tokyo warned to use the utmost caution ... In April 1941, Tokyo instructed all the consulates to wire home lists of first- and second-generation Japanese according to specified categories."

The result, he said, was that "in May 1941, Japanese consulates on the west coast reported to Tokyo that first and second generation Japanese had been successfully recruited and were now spying on shipments of airplanes and war material in the San Diego and San Pedro areas. They were reporting on activities within aircraft plants in Seattle and Los Angeles. Local Japanese... were reporting on shipping activities at the Bremerton Naval Yard...The Los Angeles consulate reported: "We shall maintain connections with our second generation who are at present in the Army to keep us informed"... Seattle followed with a similar dispatch."

A number of officials within the Roosevelt administration opposed the evacuation of the Japanese-Americans from the west coast, but Lowman makes a telling point: that the President, the Secretary of War, the Army Chief of Staff, the Director of Military Intelligence, the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Director of Naval Intelligence, and the Chiefs of Army and Navy Plans - all of whom received MAGIC - favored evacuation. It was those who did not have knowledge of the Japanese dispatches who found it possible, somewhat incongruously, to entertain doubts.

Critics who damn the United States for the evacuation have sought to minimize the significance of MAGIC. John J. McCloy, who was Assistant Secretary of War during the war, testified in 1984 that "word has gone out now from the lobbyists to 'laugh off the revelations of MAGIC."The Commission on Wartime Relocation, established by Congress in 1980 and composed of such prominent figures as Arthur E. Goldberg, Arthur S. Flemming, Senator Edward Brooke, and Robert F. Drinan, didn't bother to laugh MAGIC off - it simply ignored it. McCloy testified in 1984 that "proof that the Commission did not conduct an investigation worthy of the name is demonstrated by the fact that it never identified the existence of MAGIC ...This should have been presented at the outset of any objective investigation." He pointed out that "though the existence of MAGIC was a closely guarded secret at the time of the attack, by the time [of] the Commission's investigation the existence of MAGIC known by all knowledgeable military and intelligence sources in this country, and Japan, as well."

The Unassimilated Nature of the World War II Japanese-American Community

The nature of the Japanese-American community on the West Coast at the time of World War II posed a dual problem. Because it was tightly--knit and unassimilated, it was attractive to Japan as a field for cultivation; at the same time, it was virtually impenetrable to efforts of the American government to sort out those whose loyalties were with Japan.In one of the Supreme Court opinions, Justice Stone wrote that "there is support for the view that social, economic and political conditions which have prevailed since the close of the last century ... have intensified their solidarity and have in large measure prevented their assimilation." Stone estimated that as many as 10,000 of those born in the United States had "been sent to Japan for all or part of their education." He observed that even those who stayed in the United States to go to school "are sent to Japanese language schools outside the regular hours of public schools in the locality." S.I.. Hayakawa wrote that it was true that "reverence for the emperor was taught in the Japanese-language schools." (He added that what was not known was that the children had nevertheless grown up to be loyal Americans. But, as we will see later, that is not sustainable as so sweeping a generalization, since not all did.)

The critics blame American Caucasians For this lack of assimilation, pointing to the hostility that had been shown toward Asian immigrants by labor unions and others on the West Coast during the prior decades. That, though, is another issue, one that asks whether it is wrong for the citizens of a country to oppose large-scale immigration by people who are considerably different from themselves. What is relevant to the question of the military emergency during World War II is not who was at fault for the Japanese-American community's lack of assimilation, but the uncontradicted fact that they were not assimilated.

An odd thing about the critical literature, now quite voluminous, is that it never speaks to an obvious question: What precisely was going months prior to and immediately after Pearl Harbor? I would think that those who argue that there were virtually no pro-Japanese loyalists among the Japanese-Americans would devote considerable attention to showing just how the internal dynamic of that community worked to assure that. We are expected to believe, as though it's a given, that a "racist" America's attractions were so obvious that no one would look back longingly to Japan, despite strong continuing ties with the mother country. The literature is strangely silent about this aspect, which could provide important information.

How Loyal Were the Japanese-Americans?

We now come to the most sensitive part of the study, since the "politically correct" thing to say is that all of the second-generation Japanese-Americans (the Nisei, who were the first born here) were pro-American. I have already referred to Senator Hayakawa's sweeping generalization, which is bound to be appealing: "they had grown up loyal Americans."

Accordingly, it is important to note again that it is no refection on today's American's of Japanese ancestry to take an honest look at what the situation was fifty years ago during World War II.

Many did strongly identify with the American side, and even distinguished themselves in combat on behalf of this country. An all-Nisei National Guard unit from Hawaii, the lOOth Battalion, fought in Italy, winning much distinction, and was later merged into a newly-formed group, the 442nd Combat Team, which went on to fight in both Italy and France. In all, close to 9,000Japanese-Americans served with these units. They were honored by President Truman in 1946 after a parade down Constitution Avenue, and in turn raised money for a memorial to President Roosevelt. An additional 3,700 Nisei served as translators and interpreters in the Pacific Theater. In all, out of the combined mainland and Hawaiian Japanese-American populations, a total of more than 33,000 served in some capacity during the war.To focus exclusively on this, however, obscures the truth, which taken as a whole was much more complex.

Here are some aspects of that complexity:

(To be continued...)

Facts Sen. Inoue chose to ignore!

2006-03-05T21:01:00.000-08:00

H.R.893, excludes 5,000 Latin Americans of German descent and unknown number of Latin Americans of Italian descent who were relocated, interned, and deported to Axis countries from December 1941 through February 1948. Furthermore, the bill does not include the almost 11,000 Americans of German descent or the 3,500 Americans of Italian descent who were relocated, interned and deported to Axis countries from December 1941 through February 1948. Those excluded suffered the same harms, i.e., arrest, internment, and deportation, as did the Latin Japanese Americans.

Anyone want to take a guess as to why Senator Inoue chose to ignore the rest of the story?

Politicians are at it again.

2006-02-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

I'll blog more on this later. Read it for yourself and consider the ramifications of a bunch of politicians writing your history.

No point in having scholars if this is how American history is written.

109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2296

To establish a fact-finding Commission to extend the study of a prior Commission to investigate and determine facts and circumstances surrounding the relocation, internment, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent from December 1941 through February 1948, and the impact of those actions by the United States, and to recommend appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

February 16, 2006

Mr. INOUYE (for himself, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. LEVIN, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To establish a fact-finding Commission to extend the study of a prior Commission to investigate and determine facts and circumstances surrounding the relocation, internment, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent from December 1941 through February 1948, and the impact of those actions by the United States, and to recommend appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

(a) Findings- Based on a preliminary study published in December 1982 by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, Congress finds the following:

(1) During World War II, the United States--
(A) expanded its internment program and national security investigations to conduct the program and investigations in Latin America; and
(B) financed relocation to the United States, and internment, of approximately 2,300 Latin Americans of Japanese descent, for the purpose of exchanging the Latin Americans of Japanese descent for United States citizens held by Axis countries.

(2) Approximately 2,300 men, women, and children of Japanese descent from 13 Latin American countries were held in the custody of the Department of State in internment camps operated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service from 1941 through 1948.

(3) Those men, women, and children either--
(A) were arrested without a warrant, hearing, or indictment by local police, and sent to the United States for internment; or
(B) in some cases involving women and children, voluntarily entered internment camps to remain with their arrested husbands, fathers, and other male relatives.

(4) Passports held by individuals who were Latin Americans of Japanese descent were routinely confiscated before the individuals arrived in the United States, and the Department of State ordered United States consuls in Latin American countries to refuse to issue visas to the individuals prior to departure.

(5) Despite their involuntary arrival, Latin American internees of Japanese descent were considered to be and treated as illegal entrants by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Thus, the internees became illegal aliens in United States custody who were subject to deportation proceedings for immediate removal from the United States. In some cases, Latin American internees of Japanese descent were deported to Axis countries to enable the United States to conduct prisoner exchanges.

(6) Approximately 2,300 men, women, and children of Japanese descent were relocated from their homes in Latin America, detained in internment camps in the United States, and in some cases, deported to Axis countries to enable the United States to conduct prisoner exchanges.

(7) The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians studied Federal actions conducted pursuant to Executive Order 9066 (relating to authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe military areas). Although the United States program of interning Latin Americans of Japanese descent was not conducted pursuant to Executive Order 9066, an examination of that extraordinary program is necessary to establish a complete account of Federal actions to detain and intern civilians of enemy or foreign nationality, particularly of Japanese descent. Although historical documents relating to the program exist in distant archives, the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians did not research those documents.

(8) Latin American internees of Japanese descent were a group not covered by the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. App. 1989b et seq.), which formally apologized and provided compensation payments to former Japanese Americans interned pursuant to Executive Order 9066.
(b) Purpose- The purpose of this Act is to establish a fact-finding Commission to extend the study of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to investigate and determine facts and circumstances surrounding the relocation, internment, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent from December 1941 through February 1948, and the impact of those actions by the United States, and to recommend appropriate remedies, if any, based on preliminary findings by the original Commission and new discoveries.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMISSION.

(a) In General- There is established the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese descent (referred to in this Act as the `Commission').

(b) Composition- The Commission shall be composed of 9 members, who shall be appointed not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, of whom--
(1) 3 members shall be appointed by the President;
(2) 3 members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, on the joint recommendation of the majority leader of the House of Representatives and the minority leader of the House of Representatives; and
(3) 3 members shall be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate, on the joint recommendation of the majority leader of the Senate and the minority leader of the Senate.

(c) Period of Appointment; Vacancies- Members shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. A vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment was made.

(d) Meetings-
(1) FIRST MEETING- The President shall call the first meeting of the Commission not later than the later of--
(A) 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act; or
(B) 30 days after the date of enactment of legislation making appropriations to carry out this Act.
(2) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS- Except as provided in paragraph (1), the Commission shall meet at the call of the Chairperson.

(e) Quorum- Five members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members may hold hearings.

(f) Chairperson and Vice Chairperson- The Commission shall elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among its members. The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson shall serve for the life of the Commission.

SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

(a) In General- The Commission shall--
(1) extend the study of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, established by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Act--

(A) to investigate and determine facts and circumstances surrounding the United States' relocation, internment, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent from December 1941 through February 1948, and the impact of those actions by the United States; and

(B) in investigating those facts and circumstances, to review directives of the United States armed forces and the Department of State requiring the relocation, detention in internment camps, and deportation to Axis countries; and
(2) recommend appropriate remedies, if any, based on preliminary findings by the original Commission and new discoveries.
(b) Report- Not later than 1 year after the date of the first meeting of the Commission pursuant to section 3(d)(1), the Commission shall submit a written report to Congress, which shall contain findings resulting from the investigation conducted under subsection (a)(1) and recommendations described in subsection (a)(2).

SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

(a) Hearings- The Commission or, at its direction, any subcommittee or member of the Commission, may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act--
(1) hold such public hearings in such cities and countries, sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, receive such evidence, and administer such oaths as the Commission or such subcommittee or member considers advisable; and
(2) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, documents, tapes, and materials as the Commission or such subcommittee or member considers advisable.

(b) Issuance and Enforcement of Subpoenas-
(1) ISSUANCE- Subpoenas issued under subsection (a) shall bear the signature of the Chairperson of the Commission and shall be served by any person or class of persons designated by the Chairperson for that purpose.
(2) ENFORCEMENT- In the case of contumacy or failure to obey a subpoena issued under subsection (a), the United States district court for the judicial district in which the subpoenaed person resides, is served, or may be found may issue an order requiring such person to appear at any designated place to testify or to produce documentary or other evidence. Any failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt of that court.

(c) Witness Allowances and Fees- Section 1821 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply to witnesses requested or subpoenaed to appear at any hearing of the Commission. The per diem and mileage allowances for witnesses shall be paid from funds available to pay the expenses of the Commission.

(d) Information From Federal Agencies- The Commission may secure directly from any Federal department or agency such information as the Commission considers necessary to perform its duties. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission.

(e) Postal Services- The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

SEC. 6. PERSONNEL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

(a) Compensation of Members- Each member of the Commission who is not an officer or employee of the Federal Government shall be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel time) during which such member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the Commission. All members of the Commission who are officers or employees of the United States shall serve without compensation in addition to that received for their services as officers or employees of the United States.

(b) Travel Expenses- The members of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission.

(c) Staff-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Chairperson of the Commission may, without regard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate the employment of such personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to perform its duties.
(2) COMPENSATION- The Chairperson of the Commission may fix the compensation of the personnel without regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification of positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

(d) Detail of Government Employees- Any Federal Government employee may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege.

(e) Procurement of Temporary and Intermittent Services- The Chairperson of the Commission may procure temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individuals that do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

(f) Other Administrative Matters- The Commission may--
(1) enter into agreements with the Administrator of General Services to procure necessary financial and administrative services;
(2) enter into contracts to procure supplies, services, and property; and
(3) enter into contracts with Federal, State, or local agencies, or private institutions or organizations, for the conduct of research or surveys, the preparation of reports, and other activities necessary to enable the Commission to perform its duties.

SEC. 7. TERMINATION.
The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the Commission submits its report to Congress under section 4(b).

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) In General- There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal year 2007.

(b) Availability- Any sums appropriated under the authorization contained in this section shall remain available, without fiscal year limitation, until expended.

Insulting the memory of FDR

2006-02-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Now that February 19th is rolling around, what a good time to re-read a piece from last year by Les Kinsolving.

Hope you'll also take time to reflect on the battle of Iwo Jima which began February 19, 1945 from which 6,000 United States Marines never returned.

Insulting the memory of FDR by Les Kinsolving

http://www.leskinsolving.com/

The Associated Press reporter in the House of Representatives told me, "we didn't report the passage of the Honda resolution because it was done with a voice vote, with just a handful of members on the floor."

But this resolution was introduced by Rep. Michael Honda, a Democrat of California, whose website advertises him as having "spent his early childhood with his family at Amache, Colo., concentration camp during World War II."

This is an insult to the U.S. Supreme Court's liberals such as Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black and Willaim O. Douglas, who, in the 1944 Korematsu case, ruled emphatically against the "concentration camp" libel. They also ruled constitutional the relocation of all Japanese resident aliens and Japanese-Americans from the three West Coast states and parts of Arizona.

This resolution, passed by that device of non-accountability the voice vote, also insulted the memory of our great wartime president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as well as Johns Hopkins University President Milton Eisenhower, director of the War Relocation Authority.

This resolution calls for a "National Day of Remembrance to increase public awareness of the events surrounding the restriction, exclusion and internment of individuals and families during World War II."

Congressman Honda claims this is a "shameful chapter in U.S. history," ordered by President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 signed on Feb. 19, 1942 – the day this Honda resolution designates as a National Day of Remembrance.

What is really shameful is the fact that most of U.S. media today refuses to report the historical fact that our U.S. intelligence code-breakers who broke the Japanese code discovered hundreds of Japanese aliens and Japanese-Americans in those West Coast states who were functioning as spies for Imperial Japan.

They were watching all of our Naval shipping and had infiltrated many of our defense plants. But had they been arrested, this would have compromised and ended our breaking of that Japanese code – which later helped the United States win the decisive Battle of Midway.

The hundreds of Japanese spies on our West Coast had to be stopped without any revelation that we had broken the Japanese code.

For this reason, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 – for which the Honda resolution is now defaming him.

Dr. Roger McGrath has been professor of history at both UCLA and California State University at Northbridge. He is also a major in the U.S. Marine Corps, Reserve Intelligence. He has also been a technical adviser and participant on television's A & E, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, TNT, ABC and Disney.

He has written for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Harpers, the Encyclopedia of the American West and the American Conservative, in which he wrote the following in the March 15th issue about Honda's resolution passed by the House:

Honda's resolution contains a series of misrepresentations that have passed for fact for so many years that they are now generally accepted without question. Moreover, the resolution posits President Jimmy Carter's Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment and its report, "Personal Justice Denied," as the final authority on the subject. After "20 days of hearings" and "over 750 witnesses," the commission concluded that E.O. 9066 was not justified by military necessity but was the result of "race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership."

That conclusion, however, is contrary to the facts as revealed by MAGIC, the decryptions of coded Japanese transmissions. The commission ignored MAGIC entirely in its original report, as it did witnesses who were available to proffer information supporting Roosevelt's order. The few witnesses who attempted to testify in support of E.O. 9066 were drowned out by an unruly mob of spectators.

This commission's incredible behavior, as well as the reparations voted by Congress of $20,000 to each of 82,000 evacuees ($1.6 million) were termed "shameful" by California's U.S. Sen. S.I. Hayakawa. He also described "a wolf pack of dissident young Japanese-Americans making an unconscionable raid on the U.S. Treasury."
(The senator was, in turn, denounced by these people as "a banana: yellow on the outside, white on the inside.")

Dr. McGrath also reports:

John J. McCloy, the assistant secretary of war in 1942, who monitored the evacuation and relocation, said the proceedings were "a horrendous affront to our tradition for fair and objective hearings. ... Whenever I sought in the slightest degree to justify the action ... ordered by President Roosevelt, my testimony was met with hisses and boos such as I have never, over an experience extending back to World War I, been heretofore subjected to. Others had similar experiences ... it became clear from the outset of my testimony that the commission was not at all disposed to conduct an objective investigation."

The officer in charge of the evacuation, Karl R. Bendesten, was subjected to similar treatment and simply stopped in the middle of his testimony. "I knew it would be fruitless," said Bendesten. "Every commissioner had made up his mind before he was appointed."
One of U.S. media's most inexcusable wrongs is the widespread confusion of the words "internment" and "relocation."

There were only 17,000 Japanese aliens and Japanese-Americans interned. They were quite justifiably interned, because those who were U.S.-born declared their loyalty to Emporor Hirohito. One-third of these were Japanese-Americans who renounced their American citizenship.

There was no need to relocate any Japanese aliens or Japanese-Americans from the Territory of Hawaii – because immediately after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army quite justifiably imposed martial law.

Dr. McGrath reports:
The great majority of Japanese were not interned but required only to relocate outside of the Western Defense Zone, an area that included California, the western halves of Oregon and Washington, and a small portion of Arizona. Those who were not able to move were eventually taken to relocation centers, built with the same materials and on similar patterns as Army bases.

Japanese could leave a relocation center if they could re-establish themselves outside of the Defense Zone, and some 35,000 did so. Those who relocated on their own by the end of March 1942 did not go to the centers.

Among those who relocated on their own and never went to any relocation center were the Toguris of California. They moved to Chicago and opened a food store.

Their daughter, Iva, UCLA Class of 1940, had moved to their homeland along with thousands of other U.S.-born Japanese. This daughter is still alive. She was known to many as "Tokyo Rose." She was found guilty of treason. But instead of being hanged (like the British hanged "Lord Haw Haw"), she was sent to the Women's Federal Prison in Alderson, W.Va. – from which she was released after being pardoned by President Gerald Ford on his last day in the White House.

The relocation centers to which the great majority of Japanese resident aliens or citizens were sent were relatively easy to leave if one could obtain a job anywhere outside the West Coast states. Dr. McGrath reports:

More than 4,300 Japanese left to go to college at government expense and thousands left to work on farms. Meanwhile, in the relocation centers the death rate was lower and the birth rate higher than that of the general American population. So, too, was the graduation rate from high school. At the time, the Japanese-American Citizens' League (JACL) praised the government for providing the relocation centers. Dillon Myer, the director of the War Relocation Authority, said, "Nothing was done regarding the relocation centers without the approval of the JACL."

And by contrast to the wonderfully humane treatment of those in relocation centers – who, later, received $20,000 apiece – U.S. prisoners of the Japanese, including survivors of the Bataan Death March, were paid just $1 per day for being in that Hell-On-Earth.

One of the many references which thoroughly discredit Congressman Honda's defamatory resolution is "MAGIC: The Untold Story of U.S. Intelligence And The Evacuation of Japanese Residents From The West Coast During World War II."

The author is the late David Lowman, former special assistant to the director, National Security Agency.

Dr. McGrath also notes that the American Japanese Claims Act of 1948 led to the provision of $35 million paid on thousands of Japanese-Americans claims for lost or damaged homes, or even crop loss, as a result of their being called away from their homes during a national emergency – just as so many millions of American men were called away from their homes to serve in our armed forces where half a million of them were killed fighting our national enemies.

McGrath concluded his article with a notation I hope the U.S. Senate will use in seeking to set aside and properly expose Congressman Honda's defamatory and history-distorting Day of Remembrance resolution:

If I were a loyal American of Japanese descent, I would not have been pleased with the evacuation order. Nor would I have been thrilled with having to uproot myself from my home on the Pacific Coast. However, as an emergency wartime sacrifice, it is hardly the greatest.
Just ask those Marines who regard February 19 as their Day of Remembrance. On that date in 1945 they stormed ashore on Iwo Jima, where more than 6,000 of them died. That's a sacrifice to remember – and honor.

Art Jacob's story of wartime internment

2006-01-26T19:22:00.000-08:00

Please take a moment and read.

Shouldn't this also be included in the Sakai curriculum?

The link is here.

Growing Fat 'n' Happy with the Japanese American Reparations Movment

2006-01-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

I'm glad Dave Niewert is a mouth for the Japanese American reparations movement rather then a Friend of Historical Accuracy. Like his buddy Eric Muller, Dave has found exploiting the wartime sufferings of others is great business!

Sadly, rather than allowing for open debate of the history, Dave and his buddy Muller long ago banned me (attempted to) from participating in the discussion on their web blogs. No big loss really. Dave and Eric prefer to preach to the peanut gallery who are their regular readers.

A recent assinine comment from Dave deserves a response here at Friends of Historical Accuracy.

Art Jacobs was interned with his parents alongside ethnic Japanese during the war. Art has devoted a good portion of his life ensuring the history of the internment of ethnic Germans and their American born children also be acknowledged.

Fortunately for historical accuracy, he is succeeding but it's hard work.

Apart from maintaining The Freedom of Information Times widely regarded as the best source for information on German American internment, Art spends much time scanning the mass media for stories on the "Japanese American Internment" and responds with a letter asking for acknwledgement of the German American Internment.

A friend of historical accuracy would demand no less, right?

Sometimes members of the mass media will respond to Art with a polite acknowledgement, others will attempt to debate the history (find they are losing and stop responding) - and on occassion a publication will actually print a correction to their original article and mention the internment of other Axis nationals rather than just ethnic Japanese.

Then sometimes the responses are so assinine they demand a response from me.

Such is the case with Dave Niewert. Read the exchange for yourselves.

Here is the intial letter from Art to a faculty member at University of California at Riverside.

The letter was copied to Dave.

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Arthur D. Jacobs" <adjacobs@cox.net
To: <celeste.durant@ucr.edu CC: <dneiwert@hotmail.com
Subject: The rest (or should I say the truth) of the story....
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2006 04:21:10 -0700
RE: The Legacy of Japanese Internment Examined
UCR Hosts Award Winning Journalist at "Issues and Dialog" Lecture Series (January 19, 2006).
From: http://www.newsroom.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=1225

Dear Ms. Durant:

In this article you report: "His [David Neiwert] talk, titled "Memory and Meaning: the Continuing Relevance of the Japanese-American Internment," will focus on how race continues to be a critical subtext of American politics, affcting both domestic and foreign policies."

First, I want to let you know that Mr. Neiwert does not understand the internment program of World War II. It was not racist! Almost 11,000 German Americans and 3,300 Italian Americans were interned-that we know of. Furthermore almost one million permanent resident aliens, 600,000 Italian Americans and 300,000 German Americans lost their freedoms and civil liberties during World War II. As a matter of fact, they were branded as "Alien Enemies."

And you also report: "David Neiwert, one of the nation's leading journalists on the subject of race, culture and politics,..." Second, it is hard for me to understand how Mr. Neiwert can be considered one of the leading journalists on the subject of race, culture and politics if he does not have a full understanding of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration's WWII internment program. The internment program was not racist.

For myths on internment I invite you to read the web page of factual information on the myths arrest and internment during World War II; see: http://www.foitimes.com/internment/Myths.htm.

Sincerely,

Arthur D. Jacobs
Major, USAF Retired

P.S. Mr. Neiwert, I located your e-mail address after I wrote this e-mail to Ms. Durant. ADJ

In typical fashion here is the response from Dave Neiwert.

-----Original Message-----
From: David Neiwert [mailto:dneiwert@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 7:20 PM
To: adjacobs@cox.net; celeste.durant@ucr.edu
Subject: RE: The rest (or should I say the truth) of the story....

Mr. Jacobs: You seem all too willing to gloss over the fact that the vast majority of Japanese Americans who endured internment camps during World War II were American citizens -- which was certainly not the case for either the Italian or German internments. Neither was there a mass evacuation of any geographical area based entrirely on race for Italians or Germans. To claim that it was not racist also grossly overlooks the kind of rationalizations that were proferred by the military authorities for the evacuation and relocation. I consider folks like yourselves, in terms of historical accuracy, to be roughly akin to Holocaust deniers, with whom I also have a great deal of experience. Feel free to respond, but do not expect any further response from me.

-- David Neiwert

That's a pretty moronic comment for Dave to make to a German American who spent the war alongside ethnic Japanese in Crystal City, Texas. I know Art's story and suffice to say the suffering endured by Art was above and beyond that endured by the vast majority of ethnic Japanese.

Dave still hasn't (most likely won't) acknowledge the difference between the Deptartment of Justice Relocation Camps and the Wartime Relocation Authority Relocation Centers.

Here's a quick refresher.

“Relocation” refers to voluntary or enforced movement from the West Coast exclusion area to locations in non-effected states from which movement to jobs and schools in other states was arranged. Approximately 9,000 ethnic Japanese relocated voluntarily, 30,000 relocated from centers to other states and 4,300 left centers to attend college.

The civilian War Relocation Authority ran relocation centers. Originally the centers were to be temporary points that evacuees could relocate from, not points that they were to relocate to. This was an admitted failure from the beginning as some uprooted ethnic Japanese didn’t speak fluent English, had few relatives or friends east of the exclusion area and were greeted with hostility from many locals. The alternative was to wait out the war in the centers.

Internment camps were run by the Department of Justice and held only enemy aliens who had been deemed security risks and their U.S. citizen family members who were allowed at their choice to stay with them. Internees included 10,995 Germans, 16, 849 Japanese (5,589 who voluntarily renounced U.S. citizenship and became enemy aliens), 3,278 Italians, 52 Hungarians, 25 Romanians, 5 Bulgarians, and 161 classified as “other”. Only a small fraction of enemy aliens were interned. Japanese citizens with families were sent to Crystal City, Texas and lived side-by-side with German and Italian families. Single men were sent to internment camps in other states. Not all enemy aliens were placed in internment camps, and no American citizen was forcefully placed in an internment camp. If you were interned it was determined that you, a spouse or parent was an enemy alien and a security risk.

It should be noted that all 16,849 Japanese enemy-aliens including the 5,589 that renounced American citizenship were eligible for an apology from the United States and a $20,000 reparations payment while the Germans, Italians, Hungarians, Romanians and Bulgarians received nothing.

Also, German Americans on the east coast and throughout the country were arrested, interned, and in some cases deported. Almost 11,000 German Americans were interned in the U.S. during World War II. Many German Americans sat, worked, played and went to school in the same camps as their Japanese American counterparts.

Furthermore even before the first person was interned, 600,000 Italian Americans and 300,000 German Americans were deprived of their civil liberties when they (all persons, male and female, age 14 and older) were required to register as "Alien Enemies." This registration entailed photographing, fingerprinting and the issuance of identification cards which the Alien Enemies had to have on their possession at all times. In addition they were forbidden to fly; to leave their neighborhoods; to possess cameras, short-wave radio receivers, and firearms. Finally, these persons were required to report any change of employment or address to the Department of Justice.

Moreover, approximately two-thirds of the adults among those evacuated were Japanese nationals--enemy aliens. The vast majority of evacuated Japanese-Americans (U.S. citizens) were children at the time. Their average age was only 15 years. In addition, over 90% of Japanese-Americans over age 17 were also citizens of Japan (dual citizens)under Japanese law. Thousands had been educated in Japan. Some having returned to the U.S. holding reserve rank in the Japanese armed forces.

Then Dave comments on a "mass evacuation based entirely on race" which in reality was based on ethnic origin as Chinese and Filipinos were not evacuated because they were not enemy aliens as the Japanese were - along with their Japanese children who were American citizens based on birthright citizenship, many having dual citizenship.

Dave also fails to mention this MAGIC intercept. It doesn't mention Germans or Italians.

Dave doesn't acknowledge this either:

1.Office of Naval Intelligence memorandum for the Chief of Naval Operations, Feb 12, 1941,"Japanese Espionage Organization in the United States," which suggests that the information therein be brought to the attention of the President and stating that the Japanese government had decided to strengthen its intelligence network by, among other moves to employ "Nisei Japanese and Japanese resident nationals" using extreme caution in doing so.

2. The Tachibana case (March 1941) about which Peter Irons' wrote in his "Justice at War":"...There was no question that Tachibana headed an espionage ring on the West Coast that enlisted a number of Japanese Americans, both aliens and citizens (sic), nor that the government knew the identities of its members..."

3. Military Intelligence Div. 336.8, Honolulu, 14 October 1941. "Japanese Ex-Service Men's Organization" which reports on two Japanese ex-military member groups active in the U.S. with 7200 members, stating in part: "...these two organizations have pledged to do sabotage (railroads and harbors)in the states mentioned (California, Washington, Oregon, and Utah) in time of emergency. Similar organizations are in Hawaii. Sixty-nine local units of these two organizations are said to be carrying on activities."

4. U.S.Army MID Information Bulletin No.6 of Jan.21, 1942,titled "Japanese Espionage," forwarded to Ass't SecWar John J. McCloy by Brig. General Mark J. Clark,then Deputy Chief of Staff, U.S.Army, which, among its conclusions states: "Their espionage net containing Japanese aliens, first and second generation Japanese and other nationals is now thoroughly organized and working underground."

I could go into more detail regarding Japanese nationalism among ethnic Japanese in America and the ten years of the Japanese-American press convincing the rest of us that Japanese invasions of Manchuria and China were a good thing. I could also discuss comparisons between Japanese naval power and German and Italian naval power or the fact the vast majority of ethnic Japanese had been in America just fourty years prior to Pear Harbor that many had initially arrived with no intention of staying...

For people like Dave Niewert that's irrelevent and get's in the way of his lucrative business hurling assusations of racism. Discussing broad historical contexts of historical events isn't Dave's thing.

In Dave's world if someone hurls a racial epithet at you, don't go inside the gas station and call the police. You go inside the gas station take a knife off the shelf and go back outside and stab the guy to death! (That's another book by Dave. He makes his living off the sufferings of others, you know.)

Same with Dave's foray into the reparations movement.

Preach to the peanut gallery.

Hurl acccusations of racism.

Call a guy interned alongside ethnic Japanese during the war a "holocaust denier" and run away.
In a word, Dave is pathetic!

I'm glad Neiwert is a mouth for the Japanese American reparations movment and not Friends of Historical Accuracy.

Art Jacobs is a man of integrity, a public educator and veteran.

His story is the truth and deserves to be acknowledged - not shoved under the carpet because an ethnic minority grievance group lobbied a bunch of politicians to pass a law giving them millions in taxpayer dollars to re-write history with pigs like Niewert (and his buddy Muller) feeding at the trough.

Ken Masugi on Brian Hayashi

2006-01-20T09:43:00.000-08:00

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Here's a link to Ken Masugi's comments on a book by Brian Hayashi regarding the evacutaion. I look forward to reading it.

The link is here.

Scroll down a ways to read it. I'll take a chance and paste it below should you have trouble with the link.

Brian Hayashi's Democratizing the Enemy: The Japanese-American Internment
Historian Brian Hayashi’s Democratizing the Enemy (Princeton University Press) appeared in 2004, the same year as Michelle Malkin’s In Defense of Internment. Both make highly unorthodox arguments about the relocation of ethnic Japanese during WW II, with Malkin’s work (which I read in manuscript) earning notoriety and making its mark in popular circles and irking a host of usual suspects. (See historian Charles Lofgren’s review of Malkin; my response in the current issue is not on-line.) By contrast, the astounding work of the scholarly Hayashi (a Japanese-American from Hawaii, who taught at Yale and now teaches at Kyoto University) appears to have sunk into obscurity. I have just read his book, which should set the new standard for scholarship on the relocation. Unlike Malkin, he condemns the relocation, “despite the obvious presence of Japanese nationalistic sentiments before and during the camps, since people cannot and should not be locked up on the basis of political sentiment but rather on the basis of acts committed.” Hayashi has the integrity of an historian to uncover the facts and let readers judge for themselves whether his conclusions should be theirs.
One great virtue of Hayashi’s book is that it considers the motivations of Imperial Japan and the influence of Japanese nationalism over the ethnic Japanese. He is particularly astute at pointing out the role of Japanese immigrants in Japan’s other conquests. Pre-relocation violence against ethnic Japanese is also a focus, as is violence against pro-American Japanese Americans by those supporting Japan. (Hayashi is good at underscoring the pro-Japan sympathies of immigrants, my own father’s generation.) And he does not neglect Imperial Japan’s radio broadcasts to ethnic Japanese, urging them to retain their dignity as Japanese subjects and promising them good treatment after the war. On this point the book dust jacket's remarkable cover painting, of news of the atomic bombing received at a relocation camp, deserved close study. Whatever good treatment the Japanese received, he argues, was more to secure good treatment for American POWs than for any humanitarian reasons. Here I think Hayashi errs in not appreciating the internal policy debate and subsequent inconsistencies in policy toward ethnic Japanese and other minorities. For some purposes they were ordinary American citizens (and hence subject to the draft and as workers in even defense-related industries), and for other purposes they were potential agents of the enemy. That led to ambiguous treatment.
The other main weakness of Hayashi’s outstanding work is its failure to deal with the Niihau episode, the strongest part of Malkin’s book. (In this often overlooked part of the Pearl Harbor attack, a Japanese pilot successfully urged a Japanese American couple to assist him in taking over a Hawaiian island.) Together, Hayashi and Malkin provide a means of better appreciating today’s challenges to democratic liberty in the war against terrorists from abroad. That we should not today intern or relocate mass populations does not mean we cannot learn from our World War II experience, its strengths and its flaws.

How the Go For Broke folks tell it....

2006-01-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

"Holocaust historians conclude that the Nisei liberated Kaufering IV Hurlach. This camp housed about 3,000 prisoners. Hurlach was one of 169 subordinate slave labor camps of Dachau. Dachau, like Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Mathausen and Ravensbruck, was surrounded by hundreds of sub-camps. In Germany alone, there were 956 sub-camps."

You can read that here.

However it is stated here:

"The photo below shows American soldiers standing at the gate into the Kaufering IV camp. The TV series "Band of Brothers" depicted the Kaufering IV sub-camp in one of the episodes.

The Kaufering IV camp was near the town of Hurlach; the camp had previously been called Schwabmünchen. Before the Nazis abandoned the camp, they burned some of the barracks buildings. Dr. Charles P. Larson, a US Army doctor, examined 258 bodies at the Kaufering IV camp and reported that 189 had probably died of typhus or starvation, while 86 had apparently been burned to death, 11 had been shot inside the camp and 17 more had been gunned down outside the camp. Dr. Larson also did autopsies on some of the bodies at the Dachau main camp and determined that none had died from poison gas."

The photo credits are from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Those aren't Japanese Americans in the photos and I didn't see any Japanese Americans in the "Band of Brothers" episode either.

The Go for Broke guys don't go into a lot of detail regarding the comments they've posted, and what they have posted contradicts the history provided on the other site , a site that has received the good graces of a professor of German History at UC Santa Barbara and author of what is widely recognized as the most authoritative history of Dachau.

That doesn't stop the Go for Broke guys from editorializing their falsified history,

"Many Japanese American soldiers returned to American concentration camps, like Manzanar, Minidoka and Poston. They helped move their parents and siblings out of the barbed wire camps. They found work and housing and tried to pick up their lives. But they would never forget the sight of the starving Jewish prisoners.

In the spring of 1945, the men in the 522nd had participated in one of the greatest ironies of World War II. Members of a persecuted minority, the Japanese Americans reached out to members of another persecuted minority, the European Jews.

These two minority groups were victims of the most blatant disregard for civil liberties and human rights that a government ever perpetrated against its people - one for being of Japanese ancestry, the other for being of the Jewish faith."

What an outrage and an embarrasment that the Japanese American Reparations Movement would compare this and this - to this, this and this.

Who Liberated Dachau? Part Two

2006-01-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

In a follow-up to the previous post, I located a few pictures from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum regarding Japanese Americans (?) and Dachau.

Check out picture number four and a caption which reads...

Two Japanese-American soldiers with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion stand in front of the crematorium in the Dachau concentration camp soon after the liberation.

One of those pictured is Bob Ikeda.

The 522nd Field Artillery operated as an independant battalion in the southern German campaign in the spring of 1945. The enlisted men of the battalion were all Japanese Americans from the west coast and Hawaii. Units of this battalion liberated prisoners on one of the death marches from Dachau near the town of Waakirchen on May 2, 1945.

Date: May 1945 Locale: Dachau, [Bavaria] Germany
Credit:
Copyright: Agency Agreement (No Fees)

First off, there is no mention of Japanese Americans liberating Dachau at the USHMM website.

Secondly the picture is so blurred that I can't make out the face of the soldier on the left.

Thirdly, the soldier on the right doesn't look like an ethnic Japanese to me. He looks Native American. In fact he looks a lot like my cousin who's 100% Gros Ventre American Indian from Blaine County, Montana.

I've lived amongst Asians and Indians all my life. That's enough time to recognize one from the other and I'm willing to wager that is a picture of Native American soldiers from the Thunderbird Division.

The post provides a name "Bob Ikeda". There is no credit for the photographer so how can this be verified? Copyright is listed "Agency Agreement (No Fees)". Which agencies agreed to post this?

Unfortunately I have become skeptical of any history provided by Japanese Americans since the money bill fiasco of 1988. I could be wrong and if you can solve the mystery please do.

Until then I suspect this picture is planted by the reparations movement. It is historically questionable and deserves to be treated with skepticism.

Who liberated Dachau?

2005-12-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

"In the meantime, whilst I was in and around Dachau, my Dad was still considered a Prisoner of War and being interned in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Many members of the 442nd RCT throughout the war had parents, brothers and sisters in the so-called Relocation Centers throughout the United States."

-Katsugo Miho 522nd Field Artillery Battalion 442nd RCT

That's quite an image isn't it? Ethnic Japanese American soldiers with relatives in so-called "concentration camps" liberating another concentration camp. It's understandable why the Japanese-American Reparations Movement would use the image to support their agenda.

But is it true?

Recently I came across this site regarding Dachau concentration camp. I stayed up all night reading the entire site and now my eyes hurt. Sometimes the writing feels like sympathy for the Nazis. That's uncomfortable regardless of the historical truth. Perhaps the writing is detached or perhaps it is the tone of history from a German's point of view.

The historical detail is provided in a dry, dispassionate manner. You'll see what I mean if you read about the Dachau trials and the massacre of SS soldiers by Americans on liberation day.

Take a look at it. The writer isn't a Holocaust denier but he also isn't afraid to admit the Americans were capable of unjust harshness towards the Germans under "battle fury".

My motto is "Objective to the point of callousness" and this site is a good definition of that.

http://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/Contents.html

One section of the site is titled, "Which Division Liberated Dachau".

http://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/DachauLiberation/LiberationDay3.html

Here's the tie-in to this blog. The producer of the site provides the piece by a Nisei veteran that has become the crux for the Japanese-American Reparations Movement's claims that Nisei vets liberated Dachau.

The following quote is from an article posted on the web site of the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee in San Jose, California. I am familiar with this piece as it is found at various pro-reparations sites on the web. This little blurb on an otherwise extensive site on the unrelated history of Dachau is what prompted me.

Here are the vet's comments in part:

Liberation of Dachau by Japanese Americans 522nd Field Artillery Battalion 442nd RCT
April 29th 1945

The 522nd liberated several of the sub camps near Dachau and actually opened the main gate at the Dachau concentration camp. Some 5000 survivors of the Dachau concentration camp were liberated by elements of the 522 on April 29th 1945.

On April 29th 1945, Staff Sgt. George Oiye was member of a forward observer team (patrols to search for targets for artillery to shoot ) for artillery battery C leading the 7th Army racing into Germany. Elements of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion were spread out over a 30 mile radius. They had orders to destroy military targets in Munich and to demolish the headquarters of the dreaded SS. They also had warnings to be on the look out for top Nazis such as Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun (Hitler's mistress). They chased the retreating German units, captured and disarmed them.

According to 522 records they were the first Allied unit to reach Dachau.

Unintentional Liberators"We weren't supposed to be there" said Oiye. Since they were spread out over such a wide area (30 KM) and Dachau was so big they simply ran into it. Japanese American soldiers shot the lock of the main gate of the outer perimeter fences. Then opened the barbed wire gates of the infamous crematorium the site were thousands of Jewish prisoners bodies were burned into ashes. The building had tall smoke stacks and large ovens with bodies smoldering still inside. Prisoners were often gassed or died of the harsh slave labor conditions at Dachau.

"War was one thing but that kind of treatment of mankind; that is not normal" Oiye stated. Some of the 522nd soldiers found ladies handbags made of human skin. He could remember seeing "intricate" tattoos on these handbags. Gloves and lampshades were also found to made of human skin. Other soldiers reported that dozens of prisoners that were horribly tortured and murdered.

The producer of the Dachau site then responds:

Note that the article quoted above mentions that the Japanese-American liberators "opened the barbed wire gates of the infamous crematorium."

The present wire gate that opens from the prison enclosure into the area where the crematorium is located was not there on April 29, 1945 when Dachau was liberated.

There were no bodies smoldering inside the ovens because the Germans had run out of coal to burn the corpses as early as December 1944.

If any ladies handbags made of human skin were ever found at Dachau, they were not put into evidence at the American Military Tribunal where the Dachau Commandant and 39 of his staff members were put on trial.

There were 31,432 survivors of Dachau liberated on April 29, 1945, not 5,000 as claimed in this article by the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee in San Jose, CA.

Who to believe? The creator of the Dachau website provides historical detail that directly contradicts the claims of Staff Sgt. Oiye. Why would Oiye tell an untruth?

The Nisei vet story probably started after a Dachau survivor reported she had been assisted by an Asian looking American soldier and the Japanese-American Reparations Movment ran with it from there.

I would suggest Dachau survivors who witnessed any "Asian looking" American soldiers came across members of the 45th Thunderbird Division with a large percentage of American Southwest Native Americans and Latino Americans.

The 45th Thunderbird Division and the 42nd Rainbow Division are also in dispute regarding who actually liberated Dachau first.

Like the inflated medal counts and Senator Akaka introducing legislation allowing Bill Clinton to pass out medals and upgrades to Japanese American veterans many years and miles away from the battlefield in complete defiance of American military tradition (and against the advice of the Pentagon's leading historian ordered to study the matter) - American Nisei vets with the help of the Japanese American Reparations Movement making claims to Dachau have again sullied their once admirable reputations.

What a tragedy.

UPDATE: Upon purchasing what many consider the authoritative text of the history of Dachau, I discovered the author, a history professor at UC Santa Barbara, has a site that mention the Dachau link above. The professor says this is the site he forwards to those interested in learning more about the history of Dacgau. The tone of my inital post may have sounded skeptical regarding the source I was using. The professor's assurace provides more confidence in using this source.

Here is the link.

Latest on Fujimori...

2005-11-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

Koizumi to snub Toledo at APEC

By REIJI YOSHIDA
Staff writer

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi revealed Thursday he has turned down an offer to meet with Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit, which starts Friday in Pusan, South Korea.
"I don't think we have time," Koizumi said at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo, without elaborating.

This remark confirmed earlier media reports that Japan had rejected Peru's request for a summit in Pusan.

Japan-Peru ties have been strained since the abrupt departure to Chile last week of fugitive former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who had been living in de facto exile in Japan since October 2000, when he faxed his resignation from the presidency from a Tokyo hotel. He was given Japanese citizenship and a Japanese passport after his arrival.

Fujimori had planned to run in next year's presidential election, and his trip to Chile, where he was promptly arrested, was seen as the first step toward a political comeback.

Peru has requested that Chile extradite Fujimori, who faces 21 charges, ranging from sanctioning death squads to embezzlement.

Lima has protested Japan's handling of the case, effectively recalling Peruvian Ambassador in Tokyo Luis Macciavello.

Despite his apparently tight schedule in Pusan, Koizumi does have time to meet with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos during the APEC meeting.

The Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday that Koizumi and Lagos will meet Friday to discuss such issues as those related to talks on a free-trade agreement and reform of the United Nations.

The Japan Times: Nov. 18, 2005
(C) All rights reserved

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20051118a2.htm

Who's Tom Kawakita?

2005-11-13T14:30:00.000-08:00

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

In case you're wondering who Tom Kawakita was, here's an historical summary:

Kawakita v. United States, 343 U.S. 717 (1952)

Tomoya (Tom) Kawakita was born in the United States in 1921. His parents were Japanese nationals. Therefore, Mr. Kawakita had dual nationality with both the United States and Japan. On March of 1941, Mr. Kawakita decided to attend the University of Meiji in Japan. Although war broke out between the United States and Japan in December, 1941, Kawakita remained at school. After graduation, Kawakita sought employment as an interpreter. He never attempted to join the military of either country. Kawakita worked for a private company engaged in mining and processing of minerals for munitions. He worked on the island of Honshu, on which, there was also a Japanese prisoner of war camp supervised and managed by Japanese military personnel.

In early 1945, approximately 400 American prisoners-of-war were housed at the camp on Honshu. These men had been in captivity under terrible circumstances for almost two and half years, and due to malnutrition, inadequate health care, confinement and hard work, the American prisoners were suffering and in bad condition. Kawakita aided the Japanese military in numerous ways, both requested and not requested by the military personnel, and in the course and scope of giving aid to the Japanese, Kawakita abused the American prisoners. The American prisoners were used as workers for the mine until August, 1945, when the camp was surrendered to the American military forces. Kawakita then assisted the American military forces with interpreting services. In June, 1946, Kawakita sought re-entry to the United States and took the oath of allegiance to America.

Once back in America, Kawakita started graduate studies at USC. While in a store in Los Angeles, Kawakita was recognized by Willliam Bruce, a former POW. Bruce reported Kawakita to the authorities. The FBI arrested Kawakita in June of 1947, and before the end of the month, he was indicted for 15 acts of treason. Kawakita entered a plea of "not guilty" on the grounds that he had renounced and/or abandoned his United States citizenship and was expatriated at the time of providing assistance to the Japanese military on Honshu.

The District Court jury found Kawakita guilty of eight overt acts of treason as follows:

1. Kawakita knocked an American prisoner of war into the camp cesspool and beat the POW repeatedly on the head as he tried to crawl out of the cesspool.

2. Although Kawakita had no authority and no military duties, he swore at the prisoners, beat them, threaten them, and punished them for either resting, or not working faster and harder at the mine, and for not filling their quota of ore.

3. Kawakita and Japanese guards lined up about 30 POWs, and as punishment for making clothing out of Red Cross blankets, beat the POWs or forced them to beat each other. Kawakita hit prisoners who, he thought, did not hit other prisoners hard enough.

4. Kawakita threw stones and dirt and prisoners forced to run around the camp because they finished work early.

5. Kawakita forced a prisoner to carry a log up an icy slope. When the prisoner fell and became badly injured, Kawakita did not seek assistance for the prisoner for over five hours.

6. Kawakita forced a prisoner to kneel on bamboo sticks jammed into the joints of the prisoner’s knees. The prisoner was forced to keep his arms above his head holding a bucket of water. When the prisoner tired and bent his elbows, Kawakita would hit him. Kawakita engaged in this torture of American POWs for no other reason other than he was bored on Honshu island.

7. Kawakita repeatedly taunted the American POWs with statements such as: "We will kill all you prisoners right here anyway, whether you win the war or lose it. You will never get to go back to the States." And " I will be glad when all the Americans is dead, and then I can go home and live happy."

The jury found that all of these overt acts of cruelty actually gave aid and comfort to the enemy. Kawakita was convicted of treason and sentenced to death.

On appeal to the United States Supreme Court, Kawakita argued that (1) he had lost his US citizenship by registering in Japan as a Japanese national, and (2) that a person who has dual nationality can only be guilty of treason to the country where he resides, not to the other country that claims him as a national. The Supreme Court rejected both of these arguments holding that (1) Kawakita was a national of the United States upon his birth and that he had never renounced it, and (2) a person who holds dual nationality will be subject to the claims of both nations. The Court wrote, "One who wants that freedom can get it by renouncing his American citizenship. He cannot turn it into a fair-weather citizenship, retaining it for the possible contingent benefits but meanwhile playing the part of the traitor."

The United States Supreme Court confirmed the District Court conviction of treason against Kawakita, and stated that it would not interfere regarding the imposition of a death sentence. In refusing to reverse both lower courts, the Justices wrote, the "flagrant and persistent acts of petitioner" against the POWs was such that a trial judge had great leeway in reaching the decision of death.

On the last day of President Eisenhower’s administration, he commuted Kawakita’s death sentence. Kawakita was then released from prison, stripped of his US citizenship, and roughly deported to Japan.

Fujimori becomes a Japanese or a Peruvian as the situation suits him...

2005-11-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Having followed the Alberto Fujmori saga from the time he became president of Peru, I cannot help but draw parallels to ethnic Japanese on the West Coast prior to WW2.

Of course the Japanese-American reparations movement constantly reminds the American people (at taxpayer expense) that ethnic Japanese colonies in Hawaii and on the West Coast were as red blooded American as any that had arrived in North America prior to the American Revolution. The history is more complex than that.

As you may know, Fujimori is a nisei from Peru who became that country's first ethnic Japanese president (any country's for that matter)and then fled to Japan after accusations of corruption and murder were charged against him. Fujimori received Japanese citizenship because his parents were issei in Peru.

Over 60 years after the end of Word War 2, it is hard to believe ethnic Japanese are still playing the dual citizenship card when it suits them.

If the controversy is arising in 2005, you can imagine what circumstances must have been like for America's political and military leaders immediately after Pear Harbor.

A Peruvian government official made the following statement in today's Daily Asahi, "Fujimori becomes a Japanese or a Peruvian as the situation suits him."

Here's how the United States Supreme Court dealt with another ethnic Japanese born in America, Tom Kawakita, who used the dual citizenship ploy in an attempt to escape justice for war crimes....

"One who wants that freedom can get it by renouncing his American citizenship. He cannot turn it into a fair-weather citizenship, retaining it for the possible contingent benefits but meanwhile playing the part of the traitor."

Here's the Asahi article: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200511120133.html

Peru pulls Japan envoy in protest
11/12/2005

The Asahi Shimbun

Accusing Tokyo of interfering in its attempts to extradite former President Alberto Fujimori from Chile, Peru on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Japan.

The move followed a meeting Wednesday in Santiago, Chile, between Japanese Embassy officials based there and Fujimori.

Fujimori, who also holds Japanese citizenship, has been in police custody since his unexpected arrival from Japan on Sunday.

In a statement, Peru's Foreign Ministry said officials had spoken to Japanese Ambassador Hitohiro Ishida and confirmed that embassy officials in Chile had met with Fujimori. In light of this, the statement said the government had decided to end the mission in Japan of Ambassador Luis Macchiavello.

Officials at the Japanese Embassy in Lima said, however, that Ishida had spoken with Peruvian Foreign Ministry officials on Tuesday prior to the meeting between embassy officials and Fujimori.

Foreign Ministry officials in Tokyo were clearly eager to head off a diplomatic confrontation and charges of interference. They said the embassy officials met with Fujimori purely to check on his health and into the conditions of his detention.

"It will not be to our advantage to have others think that we are trying to protect Fujimori," said one Foreign Ministry official.

High-ranking ministry officials explained that they were treating Fujimori like any other Japanese national detained overseas.

Ministry officials admitted there was little they could do because actively working on Fujimori's behalf could be construed as interfering in the domestic politics of Peru.

Fujimori had lived in self-exile in Japan after fleeing Peru in 2000 when a huge graft scandal caused his government to collapse.

Officials in both Peru and Chile have already called on Japan not to interfere in the matter.

Prior to Fujimori's departure from Japan, Lima had twice asked Japan to extradite him to face charges of corruption and of authorizing death squads during his 1990-2000 rule.

Japan did not comply with those requests on grounds that no extradition treaty exists between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Taro Aso tried to downplay any connection between the meeting by embassy officials in Chile and the recall of Peru's ambassador to Japan.

Ministry officials explained that the meeting by embassy officials in Santiago was common practice for any Japanese national detained overseas.

However, because Fujimori had the support of influential politicians and celebrities in Japan, Foreign Ministry officials felt they had to demonstrate they were doing everything possible as he holds Japanese citizenship.

A Peruvian newspaper reported meantime that Fujimori used his Japanese passport to enter Mexico in a chartered jet on his way to Chile.

The newspaper La Republica reported that Mexican immigration officials in Tijuana recognized Fujimori but allowed him to come and go as he planned only a transit stop.

When Fujimori landed in Santiago, he showed his Peruvian passport, the newspaper said.

The Peruvian government has criticized Fujimori in the past for his use of his two passports.

In September, when Fujimori obtained a new Peruvian passport, a government official in Lima said, "Fujimori becomes a Japanese or a Peruvian as the situation suits him."(IHT/Asahi: November 12,2005)

Good read in today's Asahi Evening News

2005-11-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

This is a pretty good read. This quote motivated me to share it with you.

"Precisely because history can be rewritten by governments and politically motivated individuals, each historian must strive for personal freedom and integrity to pursue historical reality."

-Akira Iriye, 71, a Harvard professor who is the first Japanese to have served as president of the American Historical Association

The piece was pleasant after having just read another reparations based diatribe here.

It gets old having to constantly correct what the reparations revisionists write and since they are funded by the American taxpayer they are relentless. Can't give up the fight, though because that's what they want.

Hopefully any person who would take the time to read this blog or visit Friends of Historical Accuracy has the knowledge to read Gary Okihiro's piece and pick out the historical untruths for themselves.

The column on Professor Iriye is here. Please give it a read.

The link may eventually die, so I'll paste it below.

I wonder if any more Bainbridge Islanders know the militarist textbooks discussed in the piece were also in use up and down the West Coast, many in English for the sake of the Nisei.

I wonder if Bainbridge Islanders know some ethic Japanese were coming out of the never discussed Japanese "Language" School on Bainbridge making comments such as "You'll be working for us someday!" to the white kids.

That's another chapter of forgotten history on Bainbridge Island. Well, deliberately forgotten for many, but never all of us...

We can rewrite history, but not erase the past
11/01/2005

Sixty years ago, a fifth-grader in Tokyo wrote in his diary: "Today being the first day of Allied occupation, American planes are flying extremely low and leisurely. This is most vexing, but there is nothing I can do but concentrate on my studies."

Later, at the order of the occupation forces, schoolchildren would smear black ink on passages in their textbooks that were deemed militaristic. This represented a complete refutation of their perception of Japanese history, which until then had been grounded in their absolute faith in the emperor.

From this experience, the boy awakened to the fact that history can be rewritten according to the outcome of a war.

This boy grew up to become Akira Iriye, 71, a Harvard professor who is the first Japanese to have served as president of the American Historical Association.

In his just-published memoirs titled "Rekishi o Manabu to Iukoto" (Studying history) from Kodansha Gendai Shinsho, Iriye recalls that his starting point as a historian went back to that time when he saw his school textbook whose passages were blackened with a brush.

Not one to subscribe to the simplistic theory that history is written by the victors of wars, Iriye asserts, "Precisely because history can be rewritten by governments and politically motivated individuals, each historian must strive for personal freedom and integrity to pursue historical reality."

The uniqueness of Iriye's scholarship lies in the fact that, in shunning the myopic vision of those who focus only on one nation, he paints an overall picture of the international community by keeping an eye on economic and cultural trends that cross national borders. He believes firmly that "scholarship must be free from nationalism."

The British historian E.H. Carr wrote, "History is an unending dialogue between the past and the present." But surely, this does not mean history can be interpreted so as to suit contemporary views.

Passages in school textbooks can be blacked out with ink, but history can never be erased. What we need is a sensible discourse with our blacked-out past. An example has been set by Iriye, whose dedication to the study of history had its starting point in his boyhood as a fervent little nationalist.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 31(IHT/Asahi: November 1,2005)