Redress under pressure at the American Legion and VFW conventions

Vol. 97, No. 10, September 2, 1983. 8 pages. View this issue

Redress and anti-Nikkei resolutions ran through the front page. Nisei delegates lobbied at the American Legion convention against resolutions that grew out of a Washington state post, after a Puyallup memorial to the World War II incarceration (often called internment) was dedicated. At the VFW convention, Commander-in-chief James Currieo withdrew his resolution opposing an apology or reparations after pressure from 14 Nisei VFW posts in California. Also on page 1, the Army ordered the records of 11 court-martialed Nisei soldiers corrected, and the U.S.-Japan trade deficit drew comment from officials and business leaders.

Bill Marutani’s East Wind column on page 4 weighed the compensation paid to ITT against the unpaid debt to 120,000 incarcerated Japanese Americans. Elsewhere are a Minidoka reunion of Hunt High School graduates by Sally Macdonald, Ron Wakabayashi on preparing for the 1984 national convention in Honolulu, and the restoration of the Issei Memorial Building in San Jose’s Japantown.

What’s in this issue

National

• U.S.-Japan Trade Trauma Varies Geographically Inside U.S., page 1. Japanese officials and business leaders discussed the persistent U.S.-Japan trade deficit, with some arguing Japan’s market is opening under Prime Minister Nakasone while others point to growing hostility reflected in lawsuits against Japanese firms. The article explores differing regional reactions to trade friction and notes the trade deficit grew from $12 billion in 1980 to $19 billion the following year.
• American Legion Convention Rejects Anti-Nikkei Resolution, page 1. Nisei delegates successfully lobbied against resolutions at the American Legion convention that originated from a Washington state post following dedication of a Puyallup internment memorial. Illinois Legion officers were noted as key supporters of the Nisei cause in opposing the measures.
• Currieo Withdraws Redress Resolution at VFW Convention, page 1. VFW Commander-in-chief James Currieo withdrew his resolution opposing apology or reparations to Japanese Americans at the 84th National VFW Convention after pressure from 14 Nisei VFW posts in California. The Nisei posts enacted a counter-resolution protecting constitutional civil rights and plan to present it at the 1984 convention.
• Chol Soo Lee Admits Guilt for Unconditional Freedom, page 1. Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee pleaded guilty to second-degree murder of a fellow prison inmate in exchange for unconditional freedom, ending his decade-long legal battle that began with a wrongful murder conviction in San Francisco’s Chinatown. A broad coalition of Asian American supporters had fought for years to overturn his original conviction and secure his release.
• American Says No Lineup of Firms to Enter Japanese Market, page 2. Speakers at Japan-America Society events cautioned that scapegoating Japan would not solve U.S. economic problems, urging Americans to increase productivity and savings instead. A Johns Hopkins professor noted that decentralized U.S. diplomacy has worsened perceptions of bilateral relations between the two nations.
• Wah Mee Club Massacre Trial Hands First Verdict, page 2. A defendant was found guilty of aggravated first-degree murder in the execution-style slaying of 13 people at the Wah Mee Club, one of the worst mass homicides in U.S. history. Defense attorney John Henry Browne had asked jurors to return that verdict rather than seek the death penalty.
• Meiji Era Survey Off by 470 Meters, page 5. A mapping error from the Meiji era was discovered using U.S. satellite and laser technology, revealing that the Japanese archipelago is actually 470 meters closer to the Asian continent than previously charted. Japan’s Maritime Safety Agency will instruct vessels to correct their marine charts accordingly.

Military & Veterans

• Army Clears Record of 11 Court-Martialed Nisei, page 1. The Army Board for the Correction of Military Records ordered that the records of 11 Nisei soldiers court-martialed in 1944 at Ft. McClellan for refusing combat training be changed to credit their confinement time and show honorable discharges. The soldiers had refused training to protest the treatment of their families held in relocation centers, and two board members dissented from the decision.
• First Nisei Promoted to Two-Star Army General, page 3. Maj. Gen. Walter K. Tagawa received his second star in ceremonies at Fort Shafter, becoming the first Nikkei to hold the rank of major general with more than 28 years of active commissioned Army service. He previously commanded the IX Corps Reserve and is a practicing architectural engineer in civilian life.

Community

• Historical Building in San Jose J-town Restored, page 1. The 73-year-old Victorian-style building in San Jose’s Japantown, formerly Kuwabara Hospital and later JACL headquarters, has been restored at a cost of $300,000 and renamed the Issei Memorial Building. A dedication and open house ceremony is planned for Sept. 25 with Mayor Tom McEnery and architect Richard Tanaka participating.
• Minidoka’s Hunt High Graduates of ’43, ’44 Gather at Seattle Reunion, by Sally Macdonald, page 3. Graduates of Hunt High School, located within the Minidoka internment camp, held a reunion in Seattle drawing more than 70 percent of surviving classmates from 16 states. Organizers emphasized a sentimental, non-political tone, featuring a slide show of camp life and recalling classmates who died in military service during the war.
• Fire Destroys Four Shops; Suspect Arson, page 3. A shopping center built by Vietnamese businessman Tuan Nguyen over eight years burned to the ground in San Jose, with fire officials suspecting arson after the blaze started in a restaurant kitchen. Nguyen, who fled Vietnam in 1975, vowed to rebuild the complex that housed several successful Vietnamese businesses.
• California First Reports Dividend, page 3. California First Bank announced a cash dividend of 27 cents per share for the third quarter of 1983, payable to shareholders of record as of Sept. 8. The state-chartered bank has assets of $4.2 billion and approximately 10.3 million shares of common stock outstanding.
• Very Truly Yours: Friends of Tad Hirota, by Harry Honda, page 5. A testimonial dinner for longtime community figure Tad Hirota was held on Treasure Island, drawing 200 attendees including friends from his decades of work with JACL’s 1000 Club, the Military Intelligence Service, and various civic organizations in the Eastbay. Speakers praised Hirota’s leadership roles including starting the Eastbay JACL chapter and serving multiple terms as National 1000 Club chairman.
• What’s PCYA? Will Be Answered at Barbecue, page 5. Contra Costa JACL will host its annual barbecue featuring scholarship recipients Dawn Takeda and Christine Uesugi, who will share their experiences at the Presidential Classroom for Young Americans program in Washington, D.C. The scholarship covers tuition for high school students attending the week-long government studies program.

Obituaries

• Miyoshi Yorita, Opera Singer, Dies at 77, page 2. Miyoshi Yorita of Seattle, who performed opera on stages across the West Coast including the Hollywood Bowl in 1933, died July 4. She and her first husband started the first Japanese-language radio program on KRKD in the 1930s, and she was invited to perform for Franklin D. Roosevelt both as governor and president before World War II ended her career.

Commentary

• Keeping Track of Editorials: Revisionist Commission Study, page 4. This compilation of editorials addresses a report claiming decoded Japanese diplomatic cables about espionage recruitment complicate the wartime internment commission’s conclusions, alongside multiple newspaper editorials from the Milwaukee Journal and Seattle Times supporting redress payments to internment survivors. The editorials argue that despite wartime suspicions, a grave injustice was done to 120,000 Japanese Americans and that compensation, while imperfect, represents an important symbolic acknowledgment.
• East Wind: A Debt of Honor, by Bill Marutani, page 4. Marutani recounts discovering that ITT received $27 million in U.S. government compensation in 1967 for war damage to its factories in Nazi Germany, despite the company’s documented collaboration with Hitler’s regime. He contrasts this with the U.S. government’s failure to compensate or apologize to 120,000 incarcerated Japanese Americans, arguing a long-overdue debt of honor remains unpaid.
• A New Chapter, a New Life, page 5. The author reflects on receiving a fly fishing rod that once belonged to Palmer Hoyt, the late editor and publisher of The Denver Post who hired and mentored him, as a retirement gift from his daughter’s family. The column recounts the rod’s journey from Hoyt’s possession to a secondhand tackle shop and finally into the author’s hands as encouragement to take up fishing in retirement.
• Cliff’s Corner: Big Mountain People, by Dr. Clifford Uyeda, page 6. Uyeda examines the century-old land conflict between the Navajo and Hopi tribes rooted in federal legislation, noting recent cooperative efforts by tribal leaders despite ongoing internal disputes among Navajos. He also highlights the historic contributions of Navajo Code Talkers during World War II, drawing parallels to the Nisei in the Military Intelligence Service.

JACL

• Musubi: ’84 Convention, by Ron Wakabayashi, page 5. Wakabayashi describes his visit to Honolulu to help prepare for the 1984 National JACL Convention, reflecting on the comfort of not feeling like an outsider in Hawaii compared to mainland experiences. The Honolulu Chapter, led by president Larry Kumabe and convention chair Edgar Hamasu, is organizing what they hope will be a memorable family-oriented convention at the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki from Aug. 13-17, 1984.
• ALL/JACL Awards Scholarships, page 6. The Fresno American Loyalty League (JACL) awarded multiple scholarships to local students including Janel Urushima, who received a $10,000 scholarship to Pepperdine, and several others recognized at the ALL dinner on July 30. Recipients included students pursuing medicine, with Shirley Akiko Suda inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Society.

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