January 1945: return to the West Coast and the fight over who may come home

Vol. 20, No. 3, January 20, 1945. 8 pages. View this issue

The return of Japanese Americans to the West Coast ran through this eight-page issue from the first column to the last. Federal and state agencies at a San Francisco conference promised help, without discrimination, to those going back to Pacific Coast farms. Dillon Myer told Los Angeles officials that federal agencies would protect returning rights, and Mayor Fletcher Bowron welcomed them. Against that stood boycott petitions in Placer County, the Hood River American Legion post and State Senator Irwin Quinn. Editorials and Bill Hosokawa’s column answered the opposition, and Floyd Schmoe described a Washington bus incident.

The issue also carried casualty lists for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and other Japanese American units, Staff Sgt. Howard I. Ogawa’s account of Tech. Sgt. Terry Mizutari, and Toshio Mori’s piece from his brother’s diary. A Little Tokyo temple dispute in Los Angeles, JACL chapter news and community notes fill the later pages.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Federal, State Aid Promised Japanese American Evacuees Who Return to Coast Farms, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Federal and state agencies at a San Francisco conference pledged assistance without discrimination to Japanese American evacuees returning to Pacific Coast farms. Kido voiced evacuees’ concerns about relief stigma and possible job discrimination.
• Pacific Citizen Non-Member Rate Raised to $3.00, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Pacific Citizen will raise its non-member subscription rate from $2.50 to $3.00 effective February 1 to help cover rising production costs. The paper has operated at a slight deficit and hopes the increase will help it meet expenses.
• Joe Scott, Noted Attorney, Repudiates Lechner Committee, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Catholic layman and attorney Joseph Scott resigned from the board of the Americanism Educational League in protest of its attitude toward Japanese Americans. He praised the citizenship record of Japanese American youths he encountered during his years in Los Angeles public service.
• Evacuees Released In Montana Case, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Minoru Horino and Kikuji Matsushita, charged with impersonating federal officers, were released for insufficient evidence. They remain on bond pending draft evasion trial.
• Victory Committee To Sponsor Dance, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Nisei Victory Committee of Salt Lake City will hold a Cupid’s Ball on February 9 at Whitney Hall. Admission is $2.50 a couple.
• Placer County Citizens Join Evacuee Boycott Group, by P.C. Staff, page 7. About 300 Placer County residents, led by a VFW commander, signed a petition agreeing to boycott returning Japanese Americans. The first returning Japanese American family to the county was the Doi family from Granada.
• Vacaville Forum Condemns Boycott Against Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Open Forum of Vacaville passed a resolution condemning the boycott of former Japanese American residents. The forum also resolved to welcome loyal Americans back to their former homes.
• Maritime Union Lauds Move to Aid Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The CIO National Maritime Union praised the Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play for assisting returning evacuees. The union letter stresses that racial distinctions have no place at sea or in the war effort.
• Charge False Racial Issues Raised in L. A., by P.C. Staff, page 7. Rev. L. B. Brown denied a reported fight between Black residents and Japanese evacuees in Little Tokyo. He said the story was promoted by interests seeking to evict the Providence Baptist Association from the temple.
• L.A. Buddhists File Suit on Temple Issue, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple filed suit to recover its building from the Providence Baptist Association after a lease expired. The Baptist group refused to vacate.
• Nisei Wins Bars At Texas Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Ted Miwa, brother of Ken Miwa of Chicago, was commissioned Second Lieutenant after graduating from the Provost Marshal General’s officer candidate school at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
• Blackfoot Nisei May Organize JACL Chapter, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Pocatello JACL announced it would help form a new Blackfoot, Idaho chapter after a membership drive. Officers-at-large were appointed to canvass the area.
• Osida Leads Snelling Team to Victory, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Osida scored nine points as the Fort Snelling team defeated the All-Stars 36-33. The game was a basketball contest among Nisei soldiers.
• Salt Lake Issei Wounded Fatally in Auto Accident, by P.C. Staff, page 7. M. Kondo of Salt Lake City died the day after his car skidded and overturned on icy pavement east of Price, Utah. He was injured fatally in the accident on January 17.
• St. Louis Nisei Schedule Dance For February 10, by P.C. Staff, page 7. St. Louis Nisei will hold a dance themed Meet Me in St. Louis at the Jefferson Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom on February 10. Al Tucker’s orchestra will play.
• L.A. County Supervisors Drop Opposition to Return of Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors reversed its earlier position and decided not to discourage Japanese Americans from resuming county civil service jobs. Supervisor John Anson Ford argued they deserve the same treatment as other employees.
• Three Nisei Evacuees Return To Hood River, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Three former Hood River residents returned without incident despite efforts by locals to organize a welcoming committee to discourage them. The Hood River American Legion post reaffirmed its opposition in a newspaper advertisement.
• Memorial Rites Held for Nisei Killed in France, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Memorial services were held in Pocatello, Idaho for Pfc. Kenichi Tsumaki, killed in action in France on November 7. The article summarizes his military service with Company K, 100th Battalion.

National

• Fishing Ships To Be Given Back to Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. WRA director Dillon Myer announced that Japanese American fishermen returning from relocation centers will regain their vessels and resume operations under the same rules as other fishermen. The Coast Guard has assured that owners will get their boats back.
• Pacific Citizen Non-Member Rate Raised, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Duplicate entry omitted.
• Mayor Bowron of Los Angeles Welcomes Japanese American Evacuees Back to California, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron officially welcomed returning Japanese Americans and pledged city support for their resettlement. Several Nisei veterans and residents attended the reception.
• Jewish Veterans Condemn Prejudice Against Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Massachusetts Department of Jewish War Veterans formally protested the omission of Japanese American soldiers’ names from honor rolls in Gardena and Hood River. The state commander voiced the protest.
• Quinn Demands Federal Ban On Fishermen, by P.C. Staff, page 5. California State Senator Irwin Quinn called for federal action to stop Japanese Americans from resuming commercial fishing off the California coast. He also proposed legislation to block their return to the state.
• Dworshak Asks For Closing of WRA Centers, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Rep. Henry Dworshak introduced legislation to close all war relocation centers by June 30, except those holding evacuees whose loyalty is questioned. He is a longtime critic of Secretary Ickes and the Roosevelt administration.

Military & Veterans

• War Department Identifies 363 Wounded, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Department identified five Japanese American soldiers killed and 363 wounded in action in Europe, presumably with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The lists include the next-of-kin contacts for each casualty by state and camp.
• The Death of a Hero: This Is How Sgt. Mizutari Fought–And How He Died, by Staff Sgt. Howard I. Ogawa, page 2. Staff Sgt. Howard Ogawa recounts the combat service of Tech. Sgt. Terry Mizutari from the New Britain landing through his death in New Guinea in June 1944. Mizutari was killed defending a command post during a counterattack and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star.
• Nisei Troops Wounded in Action, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Lists of Japanese American soldiers wounded in action, organized by the War Relocation Authority center or state of next-of-kin. The entries include names, ranks, and family contacts.
• War Department Lists Western Front Casualties, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The War Department’s casualty lists name Japanese American soldiers killed, wounded, or missing in France and Italy, with next-of-kin addresses by state. The lists also include a Central Pacific wounded report.
• Nisei Soldiers Play Vital Role in Pacific, Says Colonel, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Lt. Col. Ivan W. Meyer, former 41st Division intelligence chief, praised the Nisei interpreters and translators who served with him in the New Guinea sector. He said they performed splendidly and were valuable to the Pacific campaigns.
• Captain Kinoshita Awarded Bronze Star For Battle Action, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Capt. Robert Kinoshita, formerly of Heart Mountain, received the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster after being wounded three times in France. He declined relief from duty after his first wound.
• Three Infantrymen Return from War Against Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Three Nisei infantrymen returned to the United States after jungle combat in the China-Burma-India theater. Sgt. Katsushiro Kono received the Bronze Star for holding his post under fire.
• War Department Announces Awarding of 4 Silver Stars, 9 Bronze Stars to Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The War Department announced Silver and Bronze Star awards to Japanese American infantrymen for action in the Mediterranean and Pacific. The published citations describe acts of heroism under fire.
• Army, Government Prepared To Uphold Rights of Nisei Returning to Coast, Says Myer, by P.C. Staff, page 8. WRA Director Dillon Myer told Los Angeles officials that federal agencies will protect returning evacuees’ rights. He clashed with police commissioners over identification requirements and criticized the vociferous minority opposing their return.

Commentary

• The March of Hate, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial condemns the Hood River American Legion post’s white paper against Japanese Americans and the broader organized West Coast opposition to evacuee return. It argues these anti-evacuee groups stand outside democracy and serve selfish economic interests.
• The Oshiro Case, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial reviews Brown v. Oshiro, a property lease case involving an evacuee hotel in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo, now pending appeal. It notes the ACLU and JACL filed amicus briefs supporting Oshiro’s economic frustration argument.
• The Nisei and the Polls, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial critiques a National Opinion Research Center poll finding 61 percent opposed job equality for Japanese Americans, arguing the question’s wording confused citizens with the Japanese enemy. It notes education levels correlated with support for equal opportunity.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa dismisses the recycled and threadbare arguments of West Coast anti-evacuee groups as disproven half-truths. He contrasts them with the loyal service of Nisei soldiers and the federal government’s conclusion that evacuees are loyal.
• Decorations Won By Nisei in Marianas, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A letter writer corrects the Pacific Citizen’s earlier report on Saipan citations, noting that only two of the men received Bronze Stars for the specified campaign. The writer adds that several AJA soldiers with the 27th Infantry Division received the DSC, Silver Stars, and Bronze Stars.
• Incident Illustrates Attitude Held by West Coast Residents, by Floyd Schmoe, page 5. Schmoe describes a Bellevue, Washington bus driver who angrily ordered a returning Nisei off his bus. Local bystanders, including former neighbors, intervened and forced the driver to apologize.
• Nisei Soldier Wants Letters from Friends, by Sgt. George Suda, page 6. Sgt. George Suda, serving in the Philippines, asks former Seattle JACL friends to write to him and emphasizes how much overseas soldiers value mail. He describes the grim campaigns the Nisei have fought and says the paper’s news inspires them.
• From My Brother’s Diary, by Toshio Mori, page 6. Mori shares a diary entry from his brother at the front in France describing the restlessness of combat veterans and the wet, miserable night in a foxhole. The entry ends with the men’s laughter and the comfort of hot coffee at dawn.

JACL

• Civil Rights Fund, by P.C. Staff, page 4. A Nisei sergeant serving in India donated $50 to the JACL Civil Rights Fund and urged his fellow Nisei to exercise their citizenship rights more fully. The editorial notes the donation alongside contributions from an Issei and the Topaz center residents.

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