Draft for Japanese Americans and the WRA under fire in 1943

Vol. 17, No. 3, July 24, 1943. 8 pages. View this issue

The Senate military affairs committee recommended that Japanese Americans be drafted in the same manner as other residents, and the report noted that more than 7,500 already served in the U.S. Army. The same front page told of a plan to enroll Japanese American women in the WACs from September 1, praise for nisei soldiers at Camp Wolters, and Dillon Myer’s NBC broadcast on segregating disloyal evacuees. Editorials and columns by Carey McWilliams, Bill Hosokawa and Saburo Kido took up loyalty, race and the Dies committee.

Inside are a debate with Congressman John Costello, a Congress vote approving $48,170,000 for the War Relocation Authority, and news that Minoru Yasui would be freed July 29. Smaller items cover Camp Shelby’s combat team, a Superman comic storyline, and worries among residents at Rohwer and Minidoka, the Hunt center.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Draft for Japanese Americans Is Recommended by Senate Military Affairs Committee, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Senate military affairs committee recommended that Japanese Americans be drafted in the same manner as other residents. The report noted that more than 7,500 Japanese Americans already serve in the U.S. Army.
• WACs to Open Ranks to Japanese American Women, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Assistant Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson announced that a limited number of American-born women of Japanese ancestry may enlist in the WACs beginning September 1. He said the plan followed the success of army recruitment of Japanese American men.
• Camp Wolters Nisei Soldiers Win Praise, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Camp Wolters officers report that nisei personnel are good soldiers and strong athletes, with a softball team that has won 14 of 16 games. Major Kenneth J. Foster said the nisei are as capable and loyal as any soldiers under his command.
• Nisei Soldier Back From Africa Writes to P.C., by P.C. Staff, page 1. S/Sgt. Paul J. Sakai, who has seen action in North Africa, wrote to the Pacific Citizen praising the paper’s fight for democracy on the home front. His mother is in the Hunt relocation center and his brother was recently inducted into the Army.
• Late Volunteers Drill Doubly Hard to Catch Up, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Recruits who volunteered late are training intensively at Camp Shelby in a class organized to help them catch up with the Nisei Combat Team. Instructors report the men show keen desire to learn.
• Mainland Volunteers Attend Rookie School to Catch Up, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Several volunteers who joined the Nisei Combat Team at Camp Shelby describe their motivations for enlisting. Men from Cleveland, Poston, and Montebello explain why they chose to serve.
• What’s in a Name?, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The post office of the Nisei combat team at Camp Shelby faces challenges from many soldiers sharing identical names. The article describes how postal clerks identify men by serial number and unit.

Incarceration & Redress

• WRA Relocation Program Told by Dillon Myer in NBC Broadcast, by P.C. Staff, page 1. WRA director Dillon S. Myer announced plans to segregate disloyal evacuees into a single center and predicted eventual abandonment of the centers. He said loyal Americans can render valuable aid to the war effort through outside employment.
• WRA Budget Approved by Congress, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Congress approved $48,170,000 for the War Relocation Authority for fiscal year 1943-44 despite Dies committee criticism. The Senate debate initially cut $5,000,000, but the House restored it.
• Ickes Defends Operation of WRA Centers, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Interior Secretary Harold Ickes denounced Dies committee testimony suggesting Parker Dam could be blown up by Poston evacuees. He said there was no evidence any evacuee had connection with the stolen dynamite.
• Relocation of Loyal Evacuees Will Be Continued, Declares War Mobilization Director, by P.C. Staff, page 1. War Mobilization Director James F. Byrnes stated that loyal evacuees will continue to be released from centers for outside employment. He indicated that West Coast areas would remain closed to former residents for now.
• Debated on National Network: Costello Contentions Regarding Loyalty, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Town Meeting of the Air broadcast featured Congressman John Costello arguing for continued exclusion and Carey McWilliams opposing it. The debate covered loyalty, mob violence, and government protection of minorities.
• N.Y. Liberals Ask President to Condemn Dies Committee, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Forty-two liberals sent a joint letter to President Roosevelt urging condemnation of Dies Committee activities that stir prejudice against Japanese Americans. The letter commended the WRA for encouraging resettlement outside the military zone.
• WRA Opposes Use of Hunt as Prison Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The WRA told Idaho Governor Bottolfsen that the Minidoka center cannot be leased for housing prisoners of war. A War Department official cited Geneva Convention rules against housing prisoners of different nationalities together.
• Minoru Yasui Gets Freedom on July 29, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Federal Judge Fee reduced the sentence of Minoru Yasui, convicted in the curfew test case, to eight months and 10 days with credit for time served. The judge said the offense appeared minor since Japanese had been removed from the coast.
• WRA to Discuss Segregation in Denver Conference, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A WRA conference in Denver will plan the segregation of disloyal from loyal evacuees, with National Director Dillon Myer meeting with camp directors. Segregation was expected to begin around September 1.
• Dies Committee Member Backs Loyal Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Representative Karl Mundt, a Dies Committee member, said War Department files show many loyal Japanese Americans serve in the armed forces. He also said the WRA has not been unduly extravagant in feeding evacuees.
• Dillon Myer Predicts Eventual Abandonment of WRA Centers; Says Camps Are Undemocratic, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dillon Myer told a House committee that permanent confinement of loyal citizens is unconstitutional and that relocation centers should be temporary. He outlined the WRA leave regulations and the Supreme Court’s Hirabayashi decision.
• Need for Justice in Segregation, by Saburo Kido, page 7. Kido comments on the planned segregation of relocation center residents beginning September 1, calling it a difficult but necessary process. He argues that residents classified as disloyal should still have a path to rehabilitation.
• Post-War Problems Worry Residents of Arkansas Center, by Associated Press, page 8. Evacuees at Rohwer voice uncertainty about returning to the West Coast after the war and reject resettling in the Deep South. Storekeepers and professionals expressed concern about rebuilding businesses.
• Hunt Payroll Slashed as Aid to Relocation, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Evacuee employment at the Minidoka center has been cut about 30 percent to speed relocation. Project Director Harry Stafford said relocation rehabilitates evacuees and contributes to the war effort.

Community

• Santa Barbarans Form Chapter of Fair Play Group, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Santa Barbara chapter of the Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play was organized with Episcopal minister John Pettus as chairman. Members said they do not currently advocate return of Japanese Americans to the coast until the war ends.
• Ex-Missionary Conducts One-Man Good-Will Campaign on Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Owen Still, a former Christian missionary in Japan, has spoken in numerous Oregon and Arizona communities to promote understanding of evacuees. He reports that public sentiment against Japanese Americans is less strong than newspapers suggest.

Commentary

• An Editorial: Let This Minority Know, by New Republic (reprinted), page 3. A reprinted New Republic editorial praises Dillon Myer for refuting Dies Committee falsehoods about Japanese Americans. It argues the committee fosters race-baiting and urges accelerated resettlement of loyal persons of Japanese ancestry.
• Editorial: The Record Gets Straightened, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial welcomes the administration’s statement on the WRA as a correction to malicious misinformation. It notes the statement reinforces that evacuation implied no individual disloyalty and that rehabilitation of loyal evacuees should continue.
• Death of a Myth, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes a Superman comic storyline in which the hero is sent to a relocation center to expose a fictional evacuee fifth column. It warns that the story exploits a falsehood and maligns loyal Americans.
• Not a Race War, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises former ambassador Joseph Grew for insisting the war with Japan is ideological rather than racial. It argues the Dies Committee investigation ultimately clarified the government’s policy toward Japanese Americans.
• Carey McWilliams Expresses Hope for Relaxing Ban Against Return of Evacuees to Coast, by Carey McWilliams, page 5. McWilliams argues that loyal evacuees should be released and permitted to return to the West Coast before the war ends. He contends that race-based agitation against evacuees undermines American citizenship and plays into enemy propaganda.
• From the Frying Pan: California Mind Practices Self-Hypnotism, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa criticizes California witnesses who claim Japanese Americans are disloyal based on racial background. He mocks the logic of prejudice and highlights contradictory testimony from pro-exclusion advocates.
• Timely Topics: Race Is Not All-Important, by Saburo Kido, page 7. Kido argues that loyalty is an individual question rather than a matter of racial background. He notes that no nisei has been arrested for sabotage and urges that loyal nisei be given the chance to prove themselves.

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