Nisei soldiers in Italy and fair play at home, October 1943

Vol. 17, No. 15, October 16, 1943. 8 pages. View this issue

News from the Italian front led this eight-page issue. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson disclosed that Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark had praised the combat record of the 100th Infantry Battalion, and a United Nations radio report told of Japanese American soldiers entering Benevento and rescuing 22 trapped American parachute troops. Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt asked for fair treatment of Japanese Americans in Collier’s, and the paper’s editorial argued that selective service should return for all nisei.

Elsewhere, Carey McWilliams answered questions at a JACL forum, and Bill Hosokawa wrote as a nisei soldier guarding German prisoners in Alabama. Mary Oyama reviewed reader mail on her Liberty article. Other pages covered the Chinese exclusion repeal, resettlement in Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit, and Japanese Canadians leaving British Columbia camps. The paper also reported on calls in California for deportation, and on vandals looting stored goods of evacuees in Los Angeles.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• General Clark Lauds Nisei Combat Record, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark praised the combat record of the 100th Infantry Battalion in Italy, according to a report disclosed by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. The Japanese American unit trained at Camp McCoy and Camp Shelby before entering action in Italy for the first time.
• Nisei Soldiers In Action at Attu, Report, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sgt. Kunihiro Nakao, a veteran of fighting at Attu, visited Heart Mountain with his bride and revealed he had been stationed in Alaska for about a year. He took part in at least one hand-to-hand engagement and described living on captured Japanese rations.
• Japanese American Troops Enter Benevento After Heavy Fighting, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A United Nations radio broadcast reported that a detachment of Japanese American soldiers led by Captain Taro Suzuki entered Benevento and rescued 22 American parachute troops trapped behind enemy lines. The unit silenced Nazi machine guns and mortars during the fighting.
• Mainland Nisei Wins Seaman’s Campaign Bars, by P.C. Staff, page 1. First Shipmate Sam Tsutomu Kasai, one of the few mainland nisei in the merchant marine, has earned campaign bars for service in the Mediterranean, North Atlantic and Asiatic areas. He persistently sought enlistment after being rejected at first.
• Fifteen Promotions Announced in Infantry Regiment at Camp Shelby, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Six Japanese American officers were newly assigned to units within the regiment, and fifteen temporary promotions were announced. The promotions include staff sergeants, sergeants, corporals and technicians.

National

• Mrs. Roosevelt Asks Fair Play For Loyal Japanese American Group in Collier’s Article, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an article in Collier’s, called on Americans to take an objective view of the Japanese problem and asked for fair treatment of Japanese Americans. She traced the history of discrimination against Oriental immigrants and the losses suffered by evacuees.
• Post-War Dispersal Program Urged for Japanese Canadians, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Vancouver council proposed dispersing Japanese Canadians throughout the continent after the war so they would be absorbed into the general population. The proposal was criticized as Nazi-like by opponents who called deportation the alternative.
• Californians Amazed At Treatment Accorded Japanese in Midwest, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Solano County assessor F. Ellard Williams said California assessors were surprised to see Japanese Americans dining freely in Chicago hotels. He said the treatment contradicted the belief held by many Californians that all Japanese were interned.
• Evacuees Not Internees, Says Attorney General, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Attorney General Francis Biddle told the West Virginia Bar Association that relocation of 100,000 persons of Japanese ancestry is proceeding without invading constitutional rights. He said evacuees in relocation centers are not interned.
• Nisei Files Suit Against Estate Of Japanese Alien, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mrs. Martha Tanaka filed claims against the estate of George Shirotae, an alien who died last August, seeking reimbursement for care and funeral expenses. Probate Judge Walter F. Stahluth of St. Louis County studied the claim, unsure whether the government could intervene.
• Rep. Eberharter Defends Nisei In Congress, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Rep. Herman Eberharter of Pennsylvania answered congressional criticism of Japanese Americans by noting that loyal units are serving overseas. He responded to Rep. Elliott of California, who had predicted bloodshed if the WRA continued releasing evacuees.
• Doho Reports Okano Hailed in Yenan Visit, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The anti-fascist Japanese and English language newspaper Doho reported that Japanese Communist leader Shitzu Okano arrived in Yenan, China. Doho, which resumed publication in New York, said Okano was conferring with Mao Tse-tung.
• Inadequate Health Facilities Menace ‘Little Tokyo’ Residents, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dr. Ruth J. Temple and Mrs. Joseph Kaplan spoke on the health and housing problems in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, now occupied by war migrants including southern Negroes. They warned of juvenile delinquency and called for a social center and public health center.
• Salt Lake Telegram Criticizes ‘Light Sentences’ Given Youths, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Salt Lake Telegram editorially criticized the 60-day suspended sentences given three youths who attacked Japanese American farm workers at a Provo labor camp. The paper called the leniency almost an invitation to further violence.
• Los Angeles Group Organizes Movement to Exclude Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The People’s World reported that the California Citizens Council launched a petition for a Japanese Exclusion Law. The article criticized the campaign as part of a broader race-hate movement.
• Roosevelt Backs Repeal of Chinese Ban, by P.C. Staff, page 8. President Roosevelt urged Congress to repeal the Chinese exclusion law and extend citizenship to Chinese residents. He called it a correction of a historic mistake and a meaningful display of friendship to an ally.
• Hostel For Evacuees Will Be Opened by Detroit Committee, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A hostel and cooperative residence for Japanese American evacuees will be established in Detroit under the War Emergency Commission of the Detroit Council of Churches. Similar hostels have already opened in Chicago, Cincinnati and Cleveland.
• Evacuee Doctor Receives Colorado Medical License, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Dr. Howard Suenaga, a Hawaii-born evacuee, received his Colorado medical license from the State Board of Medical Examiners. He is the first Japanese American evacuee to practice medicine in Colorado.
• California Real Estate Group Wants to Deport Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The California Real Estate Association asked for immediate deportation of disloyal Japanese and other aliens at its annual convention. The group also commended Lt. Gen. DeWitt for removing persons of Japanese ancestry from the coast.
• California Grange Head Asks Deportation Of U.S. Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 8. George Schlmeyer, master of the California State Grange, urged exclusion of persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast for the duration and deportation afterward. He argued segregation of loyal and disloyal persons was impossible.

Incarceration & Redress

• Best Arraigned In Cody Court on Forgery Charge, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Earl Best, former WRA assistant steward, pleaded not guilty to forgery charges in Cody, Wyoming, and was bound over to district court. Bond was set at $2500, and Best had been a star witness for the Dies committee investigating WRA administration.
• Issei Evacuee Learns About U.S. Justice in Kansas City, by P.C. Staff, page 2. George Akiyama, an issei evacuee from Tule Lake, had his wallet snatched in Kansas City. Bystanders helped apprehend the thief, who attacked Akiyama and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
• WRA Objective of Closing Relocation Camps Told at Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Leroy H. Bennett, director of the Gila River relocation center, told a Phoenix club that few evacuees will return to the West Coast. He said the WRA’s objective is to close all centers except Tule Lake as soon as possible.
• Cleveland Area Nisei Lauded By Official, by P.C. Staff, page 2. WRA official W.S. Myers defended the 600 Japanese Americans working in Cleveland, saying they have established an excellent reputation for industry. He disputed a Chicago report that camp residents were deteriorating.
• Chicago Special Spurs Relocation At Granada Center, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A railroad coach filled with Granadans relocating to the Chicago area was scheduled to leave Amache on October 11. Project director James G. Lindley announced the arrangement, citing employment opportunities in the East.
• Relocation Center Art Featured in Asia Magazine, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Asia magazine featured prize-winning relocation center art in a two-page spread from an exhibit at the Friends Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Artists included Chiura Obata, Paul Zaima, Frank Taira and Gene Sogioka.
• Nisei Shop Model Factory Commended By U.S. Navy, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The ship model factory at the Gila River relocation center has been commended by the Navy as one of the highest grade model shops in the country. More than 500 models have been produced for Navy training.
• Honda Executed in Colorado Prison for Murder of Wife, by P.C. Staff, page 3. George Masayoshi Honda, a Denver restaurant operator, was executed in the Canon City gas chamber for the murder of his wife. Prison officials reported his last hope was for an American victory in the war against Japan.
• Vandals Loot Stored Goods Of Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Household effects of more than 100 Japanese American families stored in two Los Angeles Buddhist temples were looted and damaged by vandals. WRA officials brought evacuees from Granada to identify the remaining property.
• Report Evacuee Is Successful in Relocation Minneapolis, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Relocation supervisor Elmer L. Shirrell reported that Nisei have been absorbed into Minneapolis industry so successfully that demand for them exceeds supply. Clement White was transferred and succeeded by Harold Mann.
• Huge Evacuee Donation (Two Hundred Thousand Yen Overseas Remittance), by P.C. Staff, page 7. A donation was made by Japanese American students to support local schools. This item is a brief news note about the gift.
• What About Hugh Kiino?, by S. Burton Heath, page 8. S. Burton Heath argues in Harper’s that the problems of evacuation and relocation could have been foreseen and mitigated. He traces the delays in segregating loyal from disloyal evacuees and the WRA’s shortcomings in relocation.
• Canada May Close One Evacuee Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Canadian commissioner George Collins said one of the evacuee settlements in British Columbia may close as individual resettlement succeeds. More than 25 percent of evacuees in the interior towns have already left.
• Populations Reduced As Japanese Canadians Relocate on Outside, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The population of Japanese Canadian evacuees in British Columbia interior camps has fallen from 23,000 to 16,336 as residents relocate to jobs outside the restricted zone. The reduction follows the Canadian policy of individual relocation.
• No Evacuation of Malheur Area Planned, Says WRA Official, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Ottis Peterson, acting WRA regional director, denied a Weiser newspaper report that evacuees would be removed from Malheur County, Oregon, on three days notice. He said the WRA was not cancelling seasonal leaves.
• Boise Valley JACL Discusses Aid For School Test Case, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Boise Valley JACL discussed raising funds to support a test case for evacuee school children forced to pay tuition in Idaho public schools. A benefit dance was announced for October 16.

Community

• Hattiesburg to Have Special USO for Nisei Combat Unit, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A new USO club house will open in Hattiesburg under Rev. Melvin H. Harter to serve Japanese American Combat Team enlisted men. The center will include a lounge, kitchen and office, with formal opening planned for October 18.
• Japanese American Ball Nines Sweep Honors in Shelby Loop, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Teams from the Japanese American Combat Team won both halves of the non-division league season at Camp Shelby. The Infantry and Field Artillery nines both played strong ball and drew many former professional players.
• Evacuee Coaches Girls Football Team, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Sammy Kajikawa, a former Arizona State College baseball star, is coaching a girls football team at the Granada relocation center. The team has drawn attention from the community.
• Nisei Visitors Sing U.S. Song at Alien Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Two nisei youths sang God Bless America at the Crystal City internment camp as their parents, Japanese nationals scheduled for repatriation, watched during the morning flag raising. The story was relayed from a Chicago Sun report.
• Two Win Honors, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Kiku Fukuyama and Elinor Umezawa, formerly of Granada, were among 23 Doane College students honored for scholarship in 1942-43. The honors were reported by the Granada Pioneer.
• Nisei, Chinese Soldiers Honored at Special Services in Denver, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Special services at California St. Community Church honored 14 Nisei soldiers and three Chinese soldiers. Rev. Taro Goto preached and the soldiers later picnicked at City Park and visited the museum.
• Newspaper Declares Verdict Is Invitation to Further Violence, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Salt Lake Telegram editorially condemned the light sentences given to youths who attacked Japanese American farm workers at Provo. The paper noted the attack involved a stolen car and possible other law violations.
• Topaz Youth Chosen Class President at Heidelberg College, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Paul Tani, formerly of Topaz, was elected freshman class president at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio. He is the brother of Henry Tani, former San Francisco JACL executive secretary.

Commentary

• Nisei and the Draft, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that the army has proven nisei loyalty and courage in Italy, Attu and the South Pacific, and that selective service should be reinstituted for all nisei on the same basis as other Americans. It holds that segregated units served their purpose and that the draft must be race-free.
• A New Cultural Pattern, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that the American cultural pattern, imported from Britain, was never truly changed to include new racial groups. It calls for a new, truly democratic cultural pattern that extends full rights to all citizens.
• A Japanese Pro-Democrat, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial introduces cartoonist Taro Yashima and his new book The New Sun, which depicts the life of a pro-democrat in Japan. It notes his arrests and imprisonment for anti-militarist cartoons and cites Dr. Sun Fo’s hope for a democratic Japan.
• Nisei Political Attitudes, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The article traces how pre-war nisei political thinking followed conservative patterns, and how evacuation prompted a more progressive reexamination. It argues that the political fate of nisei is tied to other minorities.
• Nisei vs. Nazis in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 4. A German prisoner was astonished to see Japanese American soldiers in American uniforms fighting for the United States. The editorial suggests such encounters could undermine German morale.
• Nisei and Public Relations: Mary Oyama Reviews Letters, Comments Received on Recent Article in Liberty Magazine, by Mary Oyama, page 4. Mary Oyama reviews reader mail responding to her Liberty article, finding that a majority were sympathetic. She identifies four misconceptions that must be corrected through public relations work.
• From the Frying Pan: Some Impressions of a Nisei Fighting Man, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. A nisei soldier guarding German prisoners in Alabama reflects on his experience and the surprising warmth of local citizens. He describes how the Germans responded to humane treatment and how he found acceptance.
• Joe Masaoka’s Column: Racial Democracy of Hawaii Feels New Wartime Tensions, by Joe Masaoka, page 5. Joe Masaoka writes that Hawaii’s long tradition of racial integration is being strained by wartime migration and emerging Jim Crow attitudes. He warns that Hawaii Japanese workers may demand better wages after the war, provoking conflict with economic interests.
• Saga of the Heart, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa reflects that a future book on Japanese Americans will record the fears, hopes and emotions of those who adjusted to life beyond the camps. He frames the nisei’s experience as central to that story.
• Segregation Train, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A quoted report describes nisei youths in segregation centers who have adopted American styles and slang despite being labeled disloyal. It argues the greatest tragedy is that these young nisei are cut off from their American identity.
• Legion Attitude on Chinese Exclusion, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The California department of the American Legion passed a resolution favoring repeal of Chinese exclusion, defeating the usual race-baiting. The article also notes the House Immigration Committee’s move toward repeal.
• Evacuation May Boomerang on Racists, by Saburo Kido, page 5. The author argues that evacuation has aroused the rest of the country to the dangers of racial uprooting, and that dispersal has shown nisei to be good citizens. He says the agitators’ falsehoods are now viewed with suspicion.
• Nisei Interested in Repeal of Chinese Ban, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The article says repeal of the Chinese exclusion act would signal the end of Pacific Coast domination over Oriental questions. It argues that if Congress acts rightly on that issue, nisei can expect fair consideration.
• Information Necessary To Fight Agitation, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Pacific Citizen is praised for informing readers about movements against persons of Japanese ancestry. The author argues knowledge of the opposition is necessary to fight back effectively.
• Public Sentiment Bi… (Letter), by Howard Imazeki, page 6. Howard Imazeki writes that American public sentiment is swinging back toward tolerance and human justice. He expresses confidence that the view that a Jap is a Jap will lose strength.
• Minority Groups (Letter), by Abe Oyamada, page 6. Abe Oyamada thanks the JACL and the Pacific Citizen for their courageous work presenting the struggles of minority groups. He credits the paper with raising the status of nisei as Americans.
• Budding Writers, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The article observes that nisei writers tend toward either simple issei-style English or overly ornate jargon. It offers a critique of common grammatical and idiomatic errors in nisei writing.
• Public Relations and the Letters from Our Readers: Via V-Mail, by Sgt. William T. Ishida, page 6. A nisei sergeant serving in the South Pacific writes that the Pacific Citizen keeps overseas nisei informed. He notes that the wounded and the dead must not have died in vain.
• McWilliams Answers Questions of Nisei at JACL Forum, by Carey McWilliams, page 7. Carey McWilliams answers questions on nisei autonomy, assimilation and dispersal, arguing against both extreme positions. He cautions that dispersal can strip communities of cultural content and produce only tolerance rather than acceptance.
• Nisei Employed By Cooperatives In Eastern Area, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Three nisei, Ariye Oda, Sachiko Yamada and Chester Ogi, are employed by eastern cooperative groups according to the Cooperative Builder. The article notes they have been warmly accepted by their co-workers.
• Ann-Nisei’s Column: War Conditions Open New Careers for Qualified Nisei, by Ann-Nisei, page 7. The column encourages qualified nisei women to pursue professional careers now opening in teaching, research, social work and industry. It advises them not to take just any job but to seek work matching their training.
• Evacuee Donation Will Buy Books to Further Friendships, by P.C. Staff, page 7. A twenty-five dollar donation from Japanese American students at Palos Verdes will fund books promoting understanding between peoples. Mrs. Dill Nance of Pasadena reported the donation to the East and West Association.

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