Fall 1944: casualty lists, the coast return debate and a Nisei student in Pasadena

Vol. 19, No. 13, September 30, 1944. 8 pages. View this issue

Whether Japanese Americans would be allowed back to the West Coast ran through this eight-page issue. WRA Director Dillon Myer predicted that about a fourth of evacuees would not return to their former homes, and Carey McWilliams offered a similar view. Governor Thomas Dewey avoided a clear answer, which drew editorials and a question from Provost Monroe Deutsch. The War Department announced 134 Japanese American soldiers killed and 462 wounded in recent combat. Larry Tajiri’s editorials argued that citizens have a right to move freely between states.

Elsewhere, editorials followed Esther Takei’s enrollment at Pasadena Junior College. Toshio Mori’s short story “The Garden” is set in the winter of 1941. Also inside: JACL President Saburo Kido’s six-week tour of Midwestern and Eastern communities, and a report of a mob dispersed by police in Ingersoll, Ontario.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• War Department Announces 134 Japanese Americans Killed, 462 Wounded in Action, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Department announced that 134 Japanese American soldiers have been killed and 462 wounded in recent combat. The notice included casualty lists by next of kin and region, including Hawaii and the Mediterranean theatre.
• Army Hearing Board Denies Permit to Dr. Ochikubo to Return to Evacuated Area, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A military hearing board denied Dr. George Ochikubo the right to return to the Pacific coast, citing a potential danger to military security. Federal Judge Pierson Hall continued the injunction hearing one week.
• Japanese American Seaman Returns from Invasion Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Joe Yoshino, a former 442nd trainee released to merchant marine service, wrote of his ship’s entry into Cherbourg and wartime dangers at sea. He expressed grief over the deaths of his 442nd comrades.
• Japanese American Artillery Maintains Yank Reputation, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Japanese American artillerymen of the 522nd Field Artillery in Italy have shown the spirit and efficiency expected of Yank artillery, according to their commander. Many of the unit’s men have college training and excel in fire direction work.
• Three Tule Lake Nisei Killed in Action in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Three Japanese American soldiers with next of kin at Tule Lake were killed in Italy during July and August, and two others were wounded. The Newell Star listed the casualties by name and family.
• Red Bull Division, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial recalls the 34th Red Bull Division, to which the Japanese American Combat Team was attached in Italy. It describes the division’s decisive Tunisia battle against Rommel’s Afrika Korps as a turning point.
• Hawaiian Serenaders of 100th Battalion Guest on Hattiesburg Radio, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Hawaiian Serenaders of the 100th Infantry Battalion appeared as guest entertainers on WFOR’s Reveille News broadcast in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The group members were listed by name.

Incarceration & Redress

• One-Fourth of Evacuees May Not Return to Former Coast Homes, Says WRA Director, by P.C. Staff, page 1. WRA Director Dillon Myer predicted that about a quarter of evacuees will stay in their new communities rather than return to the West Coast. He said such settlement poses no real threat to local business and that the army will decide when the exclusion ends.
• Three Arrested on Draft Charges at Central Utah Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Three Topaz evacuees who had applied for expatriation were arrested on selective service charges. Two were accused of failing to report for induction at Douglas, Utah.

National

• California Wins First Case on Anti-Alien Law, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Stockton judge ruled that farmland held in the name of a Nisei son-in-law reverts to the state because Kiyoshi Watanabe was the true beneficial owner. The decision is considered a precedent-setting test case for similar escheat suits.
• McWilliams Believes Many Evacuees Will Not Return to Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Carey McWilliams told the Lawyers Club in Los Angeles that thousands of evacuees have established new homes and businesses elsewhere. He predicted that only a few would return even if the exclusion were lifted.
• California Citizens Reported Uninterested in Persecution of Japanese American Group, by Rodney L. Brink, page 2. Christian Science Monitor correspondent Rodney Brink reported that an initiative to further restrict alien Japanese failed to gather enough signatures for the November ballot. He concluded that rank-and-file Californians are not eager for economic warfare against Japanese residents.
• Report Race Riot Balked by Police in Canadian City, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Police used batons and fired a shot to disperse a mob of over 200 people attempting to attack nineteen Japanese Canadians in Ingersoll, Ontario. The evacuees had recently arrived from a western center.
• Thomas Hits Coast Racism Against Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas declared that Californians opposing Nisei return do not believe in democracy. He called the wartime exclusion and Hirabayashi decision totalitarian and urged damages for those affected.
• Downey Proposes Post-War Nisei Program, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Senator Sheridan Downey proposed a national voluntary dispersal program for Japanese Americans, with disloyal persons to be expelled. He suggested resettling citizens in states such as New York, New England, Illinois and Ohio.
• Dewey Dodges News Query on Coast Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Governor Thomas Dewey, the Republican presidential candidate, avoided a clear position on the return of evacuees to the West Coast in San Francisco. He said he would confer with California officials on the matter.

Community

• Nisei Evacuees Volunteer for Tooele Jobs, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Eleven Heart Mountain families signed up to work at the Tooele army ordnance depot, according to Project Director Guy Robinson. Recruitment for the depot was expected to proceed rapidly as seasonal workers returned.
• Rohwer Buddhists Plan Packages for Servicemen, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Rohwer Young Buddhist Association is preparing gift packages for 200 overseas servicemen as part of its Bodhi-day program. The project is run by YBA Seniors and Juniors under adult advisers.
• Topaz Evacuee Lost Property in Recent Fire at Florin, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Personal property belonging to Mary Kawamura of Topaz was destroyed in a July fire at a storage building in Florin, California. Investigators were conducting an inquiry into the cause of the fire.
• Ninety Percent Welcomes Nisei to Pasadena, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Pasadena Junior College President Sexson reported that 90 percent of students welcome Esther Takei’s enrollment. The article describes the school’s position on her admission.
• Colorado Group Honors Veteran of Italy Campaign, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Milwaukee Nisei Council honored Capt. Mitsuyoshi Fukuda of the 100th Infantry Battalion, who was recently awarded the Silver Star. Former WRA Chicago supervisor Elmer Shirrell spoke at the dinner.

Commentary

• Explanation Needed, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The San Francisco Chronicle questioned Arizona Governor Osborn’s claim of an agreement blocking release of Japanese Americans from Arizona camps without state approval. It argued that citizens cannot be held by a state’s interference without Army authority.
• A Citizen’s Right, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Citing Supreme Court precedent in Edwards v. California and Truax v. Raich, this editorial argues that citizens and aliens of Japanese ancestry have the right to move freely between states. It contends that opposition to resettlement violates the fundamental law of the land.
• GIs and the Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 4. This editorial observes that returning GI veterans have voiced support for democratic treatment of Japanese Americans, in contrast to the American Legion and VFW. It notes Nisei soldiers fighting alongside west coast Gls who grew up with them.
• “One-Man Crusade”, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes George Kelley’s campaign against Esther Takei’s enrollment at Pasadena Junior College. It notes the school board received 97 letters supporting her admission and only Kelley’s opposing it.
• Street Incident, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The writer describes encountering a racist street-corner orator and nearby three Japanese American veterans of the Italian campaign, one of whom had lost a leg. The contrast illustrates the gulf between ignorance and reason.
• Propaganda, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial criticizes the Warner Brothers film Air Force for falsely portraying Japanese Americans as saboteurs at Pearl Harbor, and notes it is being shown to liberated France. It calls these Hollywood falsehoods baser than any told about another American minority.
• GOP Nominee, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial discusses Thomas Dewey’s evasive stance on the evacuee return and compares Governor Bricker’s local-option position. It notes Republicans avoid the issue to protect Negro votes in key eastern population centers.
• Race vs. Race, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial examines wartime claims that evacuation was needed to protect Japanese Americans from Filipino violence and the history of labor competition among immigrant groups in California agriculture. It argues that one minority’s security should not be bought at another’s expense.
• From the Frying Pan, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The editorial reprints a Palo Alto Times editorial urging against mistreatment of returning Nisei and condemning the “a Jap’s a Jap” attitude. It argues that denying loyal Nisei Americanization pushes them toward the enemy side.
• Dewey Questioned on Statement on Coast Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Provost Monroe Deutsch questioned Dewey’s statement that the question of evacuee return is for Californians to decide. He argued that the military controls the matter and that loyal Japanese American soldiers deserve full citizenship rights.

In-Depth

• The Garden, by Toshio Mori, page 5. In this short story set in the winter of 1941, Tom Yamashita and his friends gather by the fire during a rainy day and worry about impending war. Their conversation turns to the future of the gardens and the young people’s hopes.

JACL

• JACL President Will Visit Nisei Groups in Midwest, East, by P.C. Staff, page 6. JACL National President Saburo Kido left Salt Lake City on a six-week tour of Midwestern and Eastern communities. He planned to attend Supreme Court hearings in the Endo and Korematsu cases in Washington.

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