Nisei under threat in California, and the ILWU’s stand in Stockton

Vol. 20, No. 22, June 2, 1945. 8 pages. View this issue

The Stockton dispute led this issue. After warehouse workers refused to work with Nisei, Local 6 of the ILWU moved to enforce its ban on racial discrimination. President Richard Lynden said most members had signed pledge cards, and the ringleaders faced trial and expulsion. Other pages followed the reaction, including statements from the FEPC’s Harry L. Kingman and a race relations council. On the first page, Levi Multanen of Parlier received a suspended sentence in the first arrest among 21 shooting incidents against returned evacuees in California.

Elsewhere in the issue are reports from Italy on the 442nd, memorial services for fallen soldiers, and an American Mercury article on the 100th Infantry Battalion. Larry Tajiri wrote on Japanese Canadians, and Bill Hosokawa wrote about an immigrant’s heritage. Ferguson McKeown told the story of Frank Hachiya of Hood River. On the last page, Mine Okubo’s painting Checkers won a prize in San Francisco.

What’s in this issue

Community

• ILWU Leaders Act to Enforce Discrimination Pledge in Stockton Incident Over Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Local 6 of the ILWU moved to enforce its constitutional ban on racial discrimination after warehouse workers in Stockton refused to work with Nisei. Union president Richard Lynden said most members had signed pledge cards and that the ringleaders would face trial and expulsion.
• Trial Date Set in Aftermath of Attack on Doi Family Farm, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Placer County bartender was arraigned on charges of contributing to the delinquency of minors involved in the attempted dynamiting of the Sumio Doi farm packing shed. The prosecutor said he might dismiss a related charge against another defendant depending on further evidence.
• Vast Majority of Californians Accept Returning Nisei, Reports Correspondent for Monitor, by Kimmis Hendrick, page 3. Christian Science Monitor correspondent Kimmis Hendrick reported that most Californians wished to live peacefully with returning Japanese Americans. He said the widely publicized incidents had occurred mainly in rural areas and were motivated by economics or hoodlumism.
• Two Nisei Give Music Recital in New York, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Soprano Tomi Kanazawa and pianist Florence Takayama gave a joint recital in New York that the New York Times described as well attended and enthusiastic. The program included works by Bach, Shostakovich, Brahms and Chopin.

Military & Veterans

• Report One Nisei Killed, One Wounded, One Liberated, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Casualty reports this week included Eddie Yukio Fukui, believed to be the first Nisei killed on Okinawa, and Toshiyuki Tagami, wounded in Italy. A Nisei soldier liberated from a German prison camp was also reported.
• Nisei Troops Use ‘Mouse Trap’ Play to Annihilate Germans, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The 2nd Battalion of the 442nd captured 67 German soldiers and killed or wounded 50 in an early morning ambush near Gragnana, Italy. Forward observer Lt. John Slocum’s artillery screen and Major Robert Gopel’s pincer movement trapped the attackers.
• 100th Infantry Battalion Most Decorated Unit in U.S. Army History, Says Mercury Article, by Blake Clark and Oland D. Russell, page 2. An article in the June American Mercury describes the 100th Infantry Battalion as the most decorated unit in U.S. Army history. The authors note its members resisted attempts to single them out and that their record demonstrates loyalty.
• Action by Cleveland Medic Saves Lives of Two Casualties, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Corporal Frank Yano, a medical jeep driver with the 442nd, rescued two wounded soldiers during the fighting in the Vosges mountains. He evacuated them through intense German shelling to the collecting point.
• Captain Fukuda Promoted to Major, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mitsuru Fukuda, a veteran of the famed 100th Battalion now serving with Nisei troops in Italy, received promotion to major. He was honored by the Milwaukee Nisei Council last September during a furlough.
• Services for Fallen Nisei Soldiers Held in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Members of the 442nd held a memorial service on May 6 in Italy honoring comrades who died in combat. Colonel Virgil Miller praised the regiment and urged the men to secure benefits and equal opportunity for the families of the fallen.
• Memorial Rites Held by 442nd Service Companies, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Service companies of the 442nd held a memorial service at Novi Ligure, Italy, honoring fallen comrades in a simple outdoor ceremony. Chaplain Yost read the Honor Roll and Colonel Miller spoke of the sacrifices made.
• Veterans May Get Navy Jobs in Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Vice Admiral D. W. Bagley announced that Nisei veterans would be offered employment in the 14th Naval District in Hawaii, the first Japanese Americans hired at Pearl Harbor installations since the war began. He said they would receive fair treatment under the GI Bill.
• Frank Hachiya of Hood River Fought and Died for Democracy, by Ferguson McKeown, page 5. Oregon journalist Martha McKeown recounts the life of Frank Hachiya, a Hood River Nisei who studied political science and enlisted after Pearl Harbor. He was mortally wounded on Leyte after volunteering to bring back vital prisoner information.
• Four Germans Surrender to Nisei Medic, by P.C. Staff, page 7. During the Allied offensive in Italy, Staff Sergeant Minoru Masuda of Seattle accepted the surrender of four German soldiers who came to the 2nd Battalion aid station. He said they explained that they were the only survivors of their platoon.
• Liaison Pilot Technique Used to Deliver Ammunition to Troops, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Transportation officer 1st Lt. Robert A. Guthrie delivered badly needed communication wire to a mountain battalion of the 442nd by borrowing liaison planes. He flew as an observer and dropped the wire within 30 minutes of the request.

Incarceration & Redress

• First Arrest Made on Coast in Terror Raids Against Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Levi Multanen of Parlier received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to firing shotgun blasts into the home of Charles Iwasaki, the first arrest among 21 shooting incidents against returned evacuees in California. Officials characterized the attacks as hoodlumism.
• WRA in 1946, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises WRA’s resettlement program and its position that the centers should close by the end of 1945. It urges the agency to keep its West Coast offices open for at least a year after the camps close.

National

• Race Relations Council Hails ILWU Action in Stockton Case, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The American Council on Race Relations and the Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play commended ILWU Local 6 for its firm stand against discrimination. Both groups urged California authorities to act against vigilante attacks on returning Nisei.
• ILWU Editor Sees Outside Influences in Stockton Dispute, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Morris Watson, ILWU information director, told the Chronicle that an anti-Japanese element appeared behind the Stockton rebellion. He said the union would not accept discrimination and that the refusal began when a single Nisei resident was turned away from work.
• FEPC Official Commends Action Taken by ILWU, by P.C. Staff, page 2. FEPC regional director Harry L. Kingman praised the ILWU for its stand against employment discrimination against Japanese Americans. He also cited a San Francisco piledrivers local that refused to refer workers to discriminatory employers.
• Colonel Pence Awarded Distinguished Service Medal, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The War Department awarded the Distinguished Service Medal to Col. Charles W. Pence, who organized and commanded the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The citation said the unit was rated among the best fighting units in the Army.

Commentary

• The Canadian Nisei, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial notes that Japanese Canadians were evacuated and denied military service, while a small number now volunteer for the British Commonwealth forces. It argues that the Canadian government has bowed to racist pressure and calls for the facts about Nisei service to be made known.
• Funds for the JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial reports that readers contributed over $4,000 in two months toward the JACL’s 1945 budget, which is expected to reach at least $40,000. It describes the expansion of league offices as necessary in these critical years for Americans of Japanese ancestry.
• Fighters for Freedom, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The column profiles the Japanese Peoples’ Emancipation League, an anti-militarist coalition based in Yenan that seeks an end to the war and a democratic Japan. It notes that the group’s program is consistent with Allied demands for unconditional surrender.
• A Heritage of Courage for the Nisei, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa tells the story of an immigrant from Japan who came to America as a boy and built a life in the West, then returned to the Pacific coast after relocation. He argues that Japanese American pioneers share a record of honorable residence in the United States.

Arts & Entertainment

• Nisei Artist Wins Prize in San Francisco, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Mine Okubo’s painting Checkers won the Arthur and Anne Bailhache Purchase award at the San Francisco Art Association’s ninth annual watercolor exhibition. A full show of her drawings and paintings of relocation center life was also scheduled.

Thank you for exploring the Pacific Citizen archive. The title, introduction and contents on this page were written by an AI model from scans of the printed issue, so they may contain mistakes. If you spot one, we would be grateful if you let us know.