The end of the West Coast exclusion orders, December 1944

Vol. 19, No. 25, December 23, 1944. 24 pages. View this issue

The War Department’s revocation of the exclusion orders against Japanese Americans on the Pacific Coast, effective January 2, was the news of the day. The Supreme Court’s rulings in the Endo and Korematsu cases came with it. Bill Hosokawa wrote about what the army’s decision showed and about threats of violence against returning families. JACL President Saburo Kido said the move vindicated Nisei loyalty, and Dillon Myer announced that the War Relocation Authority centers would close within a year. Floyd Schmoe weighed what lay ahead for evacuees, and Galen M. Fisher asked whether to return.

Elsewhere, Pvt. Joseph E. Palmer described the 442nd Combat Team in Italy and France, and lists named Japanese American soldiers wounded or missing. Toshio Mori contributed a sketch set at Tanforan Assembly Center, and Jobo Nakamura wrote of Christmas in a rented room in Chicago. About 18 of its 24 pages carry holiday greetings.

What’s in this issue

National

• Proclamation Restores Right of Evacuee Group to Return to Homes After January 2, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Department revoked military exclusion orders against persons of Japanese ancestry on the Pacific Coast, effective January 2. Individual exclusion orders will still be issued to those deemed a potential danger to military security.
• Family Returns to Fowler Area, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Thomas Hiraoka and his family are preparing to reoccupy their 40-acre ranch near Fowler, California, becoming the first evacuees of Japanese ancestry to return to the community. They are living temporarily in Del Rey while their house is renovated.
• Expanded Relocation Effort By WRA in East Seen by Ickes, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Interior Secretary Harold Ickes announced that revocation of exclusion orders will expand WRA relocation nationwide, with financial aid for relocating evacuees. He urged Americans to help returning evacuees resume normal community life.
• Council of Churches in San Francisco Raps Anti-Nisei Bias, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The San Francisco Council of Churches formally opposed all legislation to deny loyal citizens of Japanese ancestry their constitutional rights. The resolution urged Christians to cooperate in protecting those rights in California.
• Final Phase of WRA Program in Sight as Centers to Close Within Year, Says Dillon Myer, by P.C. Staff, page 4. WRA Director Dillon Myer announced that the revocation of exclusion orders begins the final phase of relocation, with centers closing within a year. Field relocation offices will be established and assistance provided to needy evacuees.

Incarceration & Redress

• Supreme Court Rules Loyal Citizens Cannot Be Detained, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the Mitsuye Endo case that loyal citizens of Japanese ancestry cannot be detained by the WRA, while upholding the Korematsu evacuation order 6 to 3. Justices Murphy, Roberts and Jackson dissented, condemning the racist implications of the evacuation program.

JACL

• JACL President Declares Nisei Loyalty Vindicated, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL National President Saburo Kido called the army’s revocation of coast exclusion orders a vindication of Japanese American loyalty. He announced that the JACL will open a San Francisco office soon after January 2 and may open offices in Los Angeles and Seattle.
• The President’s Report: JACL Intensified Its Public Relations Activity in 1944, by Saburo Kido, page 10. JACL President Saburo Kido reviews 1944, describing new chapters, expanded educational pamphlets, lecture tours by Dr. Yatabe and Pfc. Thomas Higa, and the first public fund appeal. He also reports on test case assistance, tax-exempt status, and the 1945 budget.

Military & Veterans

• Western Nisei Casualties in France Told, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Next of kin were notified of Japanese American soldiers killed, missing and wounded on the western front in Europe, including T/Sgt. Akira Richard Otsubo of Rohwer. Lieut. James Kanaya, who won his commission on the battlefield, was reported missing.
• War Department Announcement Affirms Loyalty of Nisei Group, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The War Department announced that exclusion orders were revoked because military necessity no longer required mass exclusion. Japanese Americans whose records passed army scrutiny will have the same freedom of movement as other loyal citizens.
• Sixteen Japanese Americans Reported Wounded in Action, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The War Department identified sixteen Japanese American soldiers wounded in action in the Mediterranean and European areas, along with Hawaii addresses of their families. Names are listed by relatives’ contact information.
• California Army Captain Backs Nisei Soldiers, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Army Captain L. Leo Sautler of Long Beach praised Japanese American soldiers fighting in Europe as having given everything, including their lives. He pledged that surviving soldiers would receive every consideration upon return.
• Nisei Doctor Wins Captain’s Rating in UNRRA, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dr. Yoshiye Togasaki became the first Japanese American woman to win captain’s bars and will serve with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. She was previously a physician at Manzanar, where she helped organize the medical department.
• Salt Lake Soldiers Receive Combat Infantryman Badges, by P.C. Staff, page 11. Three Salt Lake City Japanese American soldiers were awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge. Two of them, Pfc. Endo and T/4 Okazaki, were later killed in action in France.
• Japanese Americans in Action: Salerno, Cassino, Anzio, Rome, France and On to Germany, by Pvt. Joseph E. Palmer, page 17. Staff writer Pvt. Joseph Palmer describes the 442nd Combat Team’s combat record in Italy and France, praised by Lieut. Col. Virgil Miller as the best outfit in the Army. Palmer details the rescue of the Lost Battalion and the bravery of individual soldiers.
• Nisei in Uniform: Letters from Servicemen, by P.C. Staff, page 18. Excerpts from letters by servicemen describe front-line conditions, jests, and hopes for Christmas, including accounts of mud, snow, casualties, and a poem from the 232nd Engineers. The letters also express pride in the combat teams.

Commentary

• Army Revokes West Coast Exclusion Order: Editorial on Supreme Court Decisions, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The editorial praises the Supreme Court decisions in the Endo and Korematsu cases and the army’s revocation of exclusion orders as a blow against racism. It argues the Bill of Rights won and that the Japanese American community emerged stronger and more mature from its wartime experience.
• The Army’s Revocation Orders, by Bill Hosokawa, page 2. Hosokawa argues the army’s decision to lift the West Coast ban shows military necessity was the only real reason for the exclusion, and he condemns west coast hate-mongers who threaten violence against returning evacuees. He calls for federal protection of returning families.
• Frying Pan Column: Vagaries, by Bill Hosokawa, page 2. Hosokawa’s column notes California legislators seeking land title searches and a racially integrated barber shop in Oberlin, Ohio run by a Japanese American evacuee. It also reports on Ogden’s continued refusal to license businesses owned by persons of Japanese ancestry.
• What’s Ahead For Evacuees? Group Resettlement May Be Answer to Relocation Riddle, by Floyd Schmoe, page 9. Schmoe argues that lifting the West Coast ban, providing for elderly evacuees, and planning group resettlement with financial assistance are needed to close the camps. He proposes multi-ethnic farming communities such as the Tri-County Project in Nebraska rather than all-Japanese colonies.
• A Nisei in Chicago: Some Notes From a Rented Room, by Jobo Nakamura, page 10. Nakamura reflects on life in Chicago during the Christmas season, contrasting the city’s paradoxes with the memories of camp life and California. He describes the crowded Nisei community in the near north side and the uncertainty of what tomorrow brings.
• An Assembly Center Sketch: The Man With the Bulging Pockets, by Toshio Mori, page 11. Mori’s sketch portrays an elderly man at Tanforan Assembly Center who wins the children’s affection by handing out candy from his pockets. A rival old bachelor tries to undermine him, and the story reflects on division and the need for unity.
• Frying Pan Column: Asks Japanese Americans to Show Their Loyalty, by P.C. Staff, page 14. A Nisei soldier writes of longing for home and asks that the Japanese American community continue proving its patriotism. The letter closes with holiday wishes.
• A Decision for Evacuees: To Return or Not to Return, by Galen M. Fisher, page 17. Fisher weighs whether a loyal Nisei should return immediately to the West Coast, considering self-respect, social impact, and the advice of friends. He concludes that each case must be decided on its own merits and cites the many organizations supporting fair play.
• Race Relations and Progressive Democracy, by Elmer R. Smith, page 18. Anthropologist Elmer Smith argues that democracy is a living way of life requiring equality and social-mindedness, and that progressive democracy is being developed on frontiers including the war fronts and relocation centers. He calls for perspective amid wartime racial hysteria.
• Farmers Union and Japanese Americans: The Problems of Minorities, by James G. Patton, page 18. Farmers Union National President James Patton argues that world peace depends on the abundant life of all peoples, and that minority groups including Nisei should have equal opportunity in farming and postwar life. He supports the abolition of the poll tax and a permanent Fair Employment Practice Commission.
• Ann Nisei’s Column: There’s a Long, Long Trail, by Ann Nisei, page 19. Ann Nisei reflects on three Christmases of war and relocation, from the shock of December 1941 to the camp Christmases of 1942 and 1943. She notes the gifts sent to camp children and concludes that 1945 brings decisions about where Japanese Americans will make their future homes.

Community

• Overlooked Name of Japanese American in Erasing Sixteen, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Hood River American Legion removed sixteen Japanese American names from a county war memorial and overlooked a seventeenth, Isao Namba. The post also reportedly moved to block Japanese Americans from returning to the area by buying land and refusing to sell or lease property to them.
• Citizens Comply With Decision; Warren Urges Protection of Japanese American Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 3. California Governor Earl Warren called on citizens to protect the constitutional rights of evacuees returning to their homes and warned that public unrest would retard the war effort. Warren’s statement affirmed the rights of loyal Japanese Americans.

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