Nisei soldiers come home, and the fight over their return

Vol. 20, No. 24, June 16, 1945. 8 pages. View this issue

Japanese American soldiers were at the center of this eight-page issue from June 16, 1945. Men of the 442nd Combat Team arrived in New York aboard the General W. P. Richardson, and the paper followed the regiment in Italy, where it guarded more than 100,000 German prisoners. War correspondent Lyn Crost reported that the men hoped to march down Fifth Avenue. Editorials and columns by Larry Tajiri and Bill Hosokawa looked at how veterans’ groups had treated Nisei veterans and at the hostility facing returning families.

Other stories covered Jack Tenney’s Alien Land Law amendment, six Marines who backed Secretary Ickes against West Coast violence, and a San Francisco meeting to form a JACL chapter. Smaller items reported on Heart Mountain’s falling population, a Manzanar school for brides, and soldiers decorated with the Silver Star and the Distinguished Service Cross.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Veterans Return Home From Combat, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Japanese American soldiers were among 1,802 who arrived in New York on June 7 aboard the troopship General W. P. Richardson. Veterans of Italian campaigns were cheered upon arrival and praised by fellow soldiers.
• Japanese American Soldiers Guard 100,000 Nazi PW’s in Italian Concentration Area, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Troops of the 442nd Infantry Regiment are guarding more than 100,000 German prisoners in a Fifth Army enemy concentration area in northern Italy. The Army reports few AWOLs and a strictly Geneva-compliant but austere camp.
• Nisei Private Becomes Officer in Five Weeks, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Masato W. Kutaka of the 100th Infantry Battalion rose from private first class to second lieutenant in five weeks. He refused a commission three times before accepting at the insistence of his company.
• Nisei Veteran Turned Down by VFW in Spokane, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pfc. Richard Naito, a Nisei soldier, was reportedly refused membership in a Spokane Veterans of Foreign Wars post. An official said opposition from only three members was enough to reject any applicant.
• Nisei Gls Want to March Down 5th Avenue with Men of 34th, by Lyn Crost, page 1. The 442nd Regiment, now attached to the Fourth Corps, hopes to parade down Fifth Avenue with the 34th Division. War correspondent Lyn Crost reported the men want to go home rather than fight in the Pacific.
• Report Japanese Americans Fly in B-29s Against Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Two Americans of Japanese ancestry, Sgt. Masaharu Oikawa and Staff Sgt. Kazuo Kamoto, reportedly fly combat missions in B-29s from a base in India. The Air Forces photo was published by the New York newspaper PM.
• Good Samaritan Act Draws Unexpected Dividends for GI, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Corporal Tadao Miyamoto, wounded himself, treated four comrades and then aided a wounded German officer. The grateful officer later revealed important military information, and Miyamoto received the Silver Star.
• Disabled Nisei Veteran Studies Animal Husbandry in Iowa, by George Mills, page 6. Kenneth Otagaki, critically wounded at Cassino with the 100th Battalion, is studying animal husbandry at Iowa State College despite losing a leg and suffering severe vision and hand injuries. He plans to return to Hawaii to manage a farm.
• Nisei Privates Rescue Two Officers Captured by Nazi, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Privates Masaru Tamura and Toshio Tsukayama of the 442nd rescued two officers who had been captured by a lone German on the Fifth Army front. The men disarmed the German and freed Captain Joseph Hill and Lieutenant Edward Nowiak.
• Nisei Soldier, Wounded Three Times, Gets Furlough Home, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Staff Sgt. Harold Sugiyama of Honolulu, a 100th Battalion veteran wounded three times in Italy and France, was selected for furlough home. He describes his wounds and the battles in which he was hit.
• Nisei Wins Army’s Silver Star, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Setsuo James Matsura of the 442nd received the Silver Star for braving intense fire to bring ammunition to his machinegun crew near Biffontaine, France. The San Francisco Chronicle war show included a trophy sign donated by his brother Eiichi Tsuchida.
• Second Battalion of 442nd Holds Memorial Services, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The 2nd Battalion of the 442nd held a memorial service in Italy honoring 24 men killed in the Apennine and Po Valley offensives. Commanding officer Robert Gopel urged the men to honor their sacrifices by living their lives as civilians.
• Garland Nisei Awarded High Military Honor, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Pfc. Jim Y. Tazoi of Garland, Utah, home on furlough, received the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism during the rescue of the Lost Battalion. He was severely wounded in France after destroying enemy machinegun nests and snipers.

Incarceration & Redress

• 32 Percent of Evacuees Go to West Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Thirty-two percent of the first 10,000 evacuees leaving relocation centers on terminal departures resettled on the Pacific Coast. California led Pacific states in relocation with 2,266 returnees.

National

• Supreme Court Asked to Rule on Seizures, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Two Japanese nationals in Florida asked the Supreme Court to rule on warrantless customs searches of their restaurant and seizure of records. Their convictions for tax falsification were upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Stars and Stripes Condemns Racist Activity at Home, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Stars and Stripes European Army newspaper condemned anti-Nisei pressure groups in the United States in an editorial. It defended the fighting record of Americans of Japanese descent.
• Six U.S. Marines Back Ickes’ Denunciation of Coast Terror, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Six Marines serving in the Pacific wrote to the Sacramento Bee supporting Interior Secretary Ickes’ condemnation of violence against Japanese Americans on the West Coast. They called such intolerance a mockery of the principles for which Americans fight.

Community

• Heart Mountain’s Population Reaches New Record Low, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Heart Mountain relocation center population dropped to 6,741 after 300 people departed. The peak population had been 12,200, with over 13,000 processed at the center.
• Vandalism Fails to Deter Coast Grocer from Serving Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 2. South Pasadena grocer Pete Kermode’s market was painted with Japanese flags and hostile signs after he served returning evacuees. Kermode maintained his policy of serving all citizens and reported business remained above normal.
• San Jose Nisei Given Discharge, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Cpl. Robert Yamamoto, a recently discharged Army veteran wounded fighting with the 100th Battalion, was assisting his parents’ relocation from Heart Mountain. He wears the Purple Heart and other combat decorations.
• 100 Evacuees Return by Train to San Jose, by P.C. Staff, page 2. About 100 evacuees arrived in Santa Clara County by train from Heart Mountain, bringing the local returnee count to around 600. Civic and Quaker groups and former employers greeted them at the stations.
• San Franciscans Meet to Form JACL Chapter, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Sixty people attended the organizing meeting of the San Francisco JACL chapter and nominated its first slate of officers. National JACL representative Joe Masaoka spoke about his recent eastern trip.
• Manzanar Opens School for Brides, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Manzanar’s Education department started a school for newly married women to help them adjust to relocation life. Instruction covers cooking, serving, entertaining, and home furnishing.
• 150 Persons Attend Party in Seattle, by P.C. Staff, page 8. About 150 people, mostly returned evacuees, attended a party at Friends Center in Seattle honoring veterans returning from Europe and Nisei medical corps personnel from Fort Lewis.

Commentary

• Editorial: Future of the Churches, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The Pacific Citizen endorses recommendations from a church conference urging integration of Japanese American congregations into Caucasian churches. It stresses interdenominational cooperation and the responsibility of Nisei to seek non-segregated churches.
• Maneuver by Tenney, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes State Senator Jack Tenney’s constitutional amendment to put Alien Land Law amendments before voters. It calls the move a continued race-baiting effort based on false charges against returning evacuees.
• Warners’ Blind Spot, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes Warner Brothers for receiving an anti-racism award while its films, notably Air Force, spread falsehoods about Japanese Americans and Pearl Harbor. It notes the studio ignored complaints about the offending portrayals.
• Nisei USA: Veterans’ Groups, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri examines how national veterans organizations such as the American Legion and VFW have treated Nisei veterans. He notes local posts in California and Oregon have been hostile, while the Purple Heart organization supported Nisei return.
• From the Frying Pan: Success Stories Don’t Make the Headlines, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Hosokawa argues that the successful resettlement of Japanese Americans in the Midwest and East rarely makes headlines. He says the hostility of economic groups on the West Coast has backfired and helped build public support for Nisei.

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