March 1945: a revised draft oath and the fight over Japanese Americans’ return

Vol. 20, No. 13, March 31, 1945. 8 pages. View this issue

A change to the draft oath led the news. The War Department revised the oath on Selective Service Form 304A, removing language that implied prior allegiance to the Japanese Emperor. Much of the rest of the issue followed Japanese Americans returning to the West Coast. Stories told of vandalism in San Jose and Gardena, shots fired into the Madera home of a Nisei veteran, and an Oregon law tightening limits on alien land ownership. Robert W. Kenny, California’s Attorney General, wrote about who was stirring up trouble over the return, and Bill Hosokawa reported on the planned closing of the War Relocation Authority camps.

Soldiers’ stories fill many pages. Sgt. Tadao Beppu of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team received the Soldier’s Medal, and a mother at Rohwer received her son’s Distinguished Service Cross. Pvt. Isao Kawauchi of the 100th Infantry Battalion visited his sister at Manzanar.

What’s in this issue

National

• War Department Revises Oath Required of Nisei in Filing Special Draft Questionnaire, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Department revised the oath Japanese American draftees must take on Selective Service Form 304A, removing language that implied prior allegiance to the Japanese Emperor. The original oath had been used in relocation centers during the 1943 volunteer registration.
• Gila Mystery Solved; Find Evacuee’s Body, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The remains of Otomatsu Wada, 72, missing from Gila River for two years, were found under a mesquite tree near the camp. An inquest was scheduled to determine the cause of death.
• Vandals Smash Store Window in San Jose, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Vandals smashed a plate glass window of a returned evacuee’s building in San Jose using a barber chair headrest. Police reported the incident as the second of its kind in recent weeks.
• Hawaii Resolution Asks Navy to Take Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Territorial Senate resolution introduced in Hawaii asks Congress to require the Navy to accept qualified Japanese American volunteers. It also requests that the Army and Navy accept them for medical and nursing corps service.
• Oregon Passes Anti-Alien Land Ownership Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Governor Earl Snell signed a bill tightening Oregon’s land law to bar aliens ineligible for citizenship from owning, operating, or controlling agricultural land. The law took effect immediately upon the governor’s signature.
• Madera Night-Riders Fire Into Home of Nisei War Veteran, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Five shots were fired from a speeding car into the Madera home of recently discharged Nisei veteran Minoru Ohashi, with one bullet passing within inches of him. The FBI joined the police investigation.
• Judge Orders New Trial in Oregon Case, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Judge Latourette granted a new trial in Masayuki Fujimoto’s suit against the Berghs, who had leased his farm and refused to surrender it. The new trial was ordered because the plaintiff had not shown compliance with OPA rental control laws.
• Spanish Government Quits as Go-Between for Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Spanish government ordered its diplomatic missions abroad to stop representing Japanese interests after sending a demand for satisfaction to Tokyo. The protest concerned executions of Spanish nationals and destruction of Spanish property in the Philippines.
• Escheat Case Filed Against Evacuee Family, by P.C. Staff, page 3. California filed escheat proceedings against the Kitahara family, whose land near Reedley is valued above $150,000. The state contends the land is actually owned by the parents despite being held in the names of their citizen children.

Military & Veterans

• One Nisei Soldier Wounded in Europe, by P.C. Staff, page 1. PFC Tamotsu Hirokawa was slightly wounded in France and awarded the Purple Heart. He has four brothers in the armed services, three of whom are overseas.
• Nisei Soldier Saves U.S. Army Command Post in Philippines, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Japanese American soldier intercepted and translated Japanese commands, helping an American command post repel an attack on Camotes Island. Major Cortez A. Kitchen described the four-hour fight that left 30 enemy dead.
• Sgt. Beppu Awarded Soldier’s Medal for Rescue of Comrades, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Tech. Sgt. Tadao Beppu of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team received the Soldier’s Medal for rescuing four comrades from an overturned truck near Cecina, Italy. He was recuperating from combat wounds at the time.
• DSC Awarded to Mother of Hero at Rohwer Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Distinguished Service Cross was presented to the mother of Tech. Sgt. Ted T. Tanouye, killed in action on the Italian front. The citation described his single-handed silencing of enemy positions during an attack on a strategic hill.
• Sgt. Beppu Awarded Soldier’s Medal, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Nisei soldier was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for saving four comrades from an overturned truck. He was recuperating from combat wounds.
• Japanese American Members of ‘O’Connor Task Force’ Win Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Task Force commanded by Major Emmett L. O’Connor, composed largely of Japanese American soldiers, broke a two-day German stalemate in the Vosges Mountains and earned the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation. The unit routed at least three Nazi battalions and paved the way to the liberation of Belmont-sur-Buttant.
• Nisei Engineers Win Prize at Pacific Base, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Japanese American Engineer Chowhounds unit won the Rare Orchid Prize for the top appearing area on post for the third time. Their barracks and grounds were recognized as the best in the post competition.
• Private Wounded on the Field Despite Own Painful Wound, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Nisei soldier from Chicago went through heavy fire to aid a wounded comrade despite his own painful injury. He dressed the wound and assisted three others to safety.
• Nisei GI Meets Sister in Camp After 15 Years, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Pvt. Isao Kawauchi, a veteran of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Combat Team, visited his sister at Manzanar for the first time in nearly 15 years. He wears the Purple Heart and Distinguished Unit Citation.
• Kauai Private Awarded DSC for Extraordinary Heroism, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Pfc. Masata Nakae of Lihue, Kauai received the Distinguished Service Cross for single-handedly breaking up a German counterattack near Pisa, Italy. He was twice wounded during the action and holds the Purple Heart.
• Nisei Sergeant Worry in France, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Technical Sergeant Thomas T. Sagimori of the 442nd describes his platoon, reduced from 45 men to 13 through combat, with 13 different platoon leaders. He considers the rescue of the Lost Battalion the toughest assignment his unit faced.
• Japanese American Girls from New York Act as Hostesses for Overseas-Bound Nisei GIs, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Two hundred overseas-bound Nisei combat troops from Camp Shanks attended a USO dance at Nyack, N.Y., where 112 Nisei girls from New York City served as hostesses. The girls were recruited with help from the New York JACL.
• General’s Wife Visits Granada Evacuee Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Mrs. Mark W. Clark visited the Granada relocation center and praised the Japanese American soldiers who fought under her husband’s command in Italy. She met the mother of Peter Masuoka, killed in action.

Community

• First Act of Violence in Gardena Noted, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Someone hurled a lead pipe through the front window of a Gardena home occupied by two Japanese Americans returning from evacuation. Police began an investigation, and no serious damage was reported.
• Stockton Council Supports Return, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Stockton Inter-Racial Council urged the community to adopt a friendly and democratic attitude toward returning evacuees. The council’s position was recorded in an official resolution.
• Resettlement Aid Assured for Evacuees in Cleveland Area, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Cuyahoga County commissioners agreed on March 30 to fund resettlement assistance for evacuees after a legal question about poor relief funds was resolved. Several families awaiting furniture purchase assistance were expected to receive checks soon.
• Soldier Comes Home to Assist Return of Family to Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Staff Sgt. Richard K. Kawasaki returned from the Aleutians on emergency furlough to help his family return to their Cressey, California home. Neighbors welcomed the Nishihara and Kawasaki families back to the community.
• Olympia High Students Favor Return of Nisei Pupils, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Former classmates and teachers at Olympia High School in Washington expressed support for the return of Japanese American students. The Olympus student newspaper quoted several students and an editor urging acceptance.
• Greenwood Declines to Endorse Plan to Expel Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Municipal Council of Greenwood, British Columbia declined to endorse a Victory Council resolution calling for a referendum on the postwar expulsion of persons of Japanese ancestry from Canada.
• Anti-Evacuee Groups Plan Statewide Body, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Representatives of anti-Japanese American organizations from five California counties planned to form a statewide group to prevent evacuee return. Their stated purpose was to block return to California homes and farms.

Commentary

• Clarification Needed, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editors call on Brig. Gen. William H. Wilbur to clarify his testimony about an enemy espionage system on the Pacific Coast, which the Hearst press misread as implicating Japanese Americans. They note that anti-Nisei groups have seized on the ambiguity.
• Ickes and the OPOPL, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editors criticize Interior Secretary Ickes for a letter advising evacuees not to return to the West Coast, a position that won praise from the Oregon Property Owners Protective League. They argue this reflects appeasement of bigotry.
• On the Allied Side, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editors highlight the racial diversity of Allied forces in Italy and the Pacific, including the Japanese American Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion. They argue this multiracial fighting record should inform postwar policy.
• Post-War Planning, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editors urge postwar planners to build racial harmony into national policy, including preserving the FEPC and creating a minorities department in the President’s cabinet. They cite wartime discrimination against Japanese American and Negro workers as evidence of the need.
• From the Frying Pan: Die Is Cast for Closing of WRA Camps, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Hosokawa reports that the House budget message projects WRA relocation functions ending by June 30, 1946, with eight camps funded for six more months. He urges those seeking an extension to focus on helping evacuees find jobs and housing.
• Vagaries, by P.C. Staff, page 4. This column notes the Hood River American Legion ran an ad saying no Japanese wanted, two weeks after agreeing to restore Nisei names to its honor roll. It also reports on an OPOPL meeting that offered door prizes to draw a crowd.
• Attorney General Kenny: Groups Which Oppose Nisei Return, by Robert W. Kenny, page 5. California Attorney General Robert W. Kenny identifies five types of people stirring trouble over the return of Japanese Americans, from prejudiced individuals to economic interests disguised as patriotism. He urges law enforcement to protect returning families’ rights.
• Vindication for Nisei, by St. Louis Post-Dispatch, page 5. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch praises the Hood River Legion post for restoring Nisei names to its honor roll after initially removing them. The editorial notes it would have been better to avoid the error in the first place.
• Evacuee Girl Starts Work in Los Angeles Relocation Office, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Elva Shinozaki became the first Japanese American to be employed by a Los Angeles civilian war agency since the evacuation, starting as a secretary at the WRA office. She had previously worked two years in the Cincinnati office.

In-Depth

• McWilliams Believes Evacuation Hastened Assimilation of Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Carey McWilliams told a Chicago audience that the 1942 evacuation had hastened the assimilation of Japanese Americans into the broader population. He urged that they be considered part of the minority question rather than an enemy alien problem.

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