Nisei soldiers in Italy and the fight over returning to the West Coast

Vol. 18, No. 18, May 27, 1944. 8 pages. View this issue

News of Nisei soldiers in Italy and of Japanese Americans still held in camps ran side by side in this eight-page issue. Former Ambassador Joseph Grew’s book Ten Years in Japan told of a Nisei embassy translator seized by Japanese police, and a Pfc. Richard Chinen letter described a raid by the 100th Infantry Battalion. Other stories covered a Silver Star for First Lieutenant Young O. Kim, a fatal shooting at the Tule Lake segregation center, and calls to let Japanese Americans return to the coast. Commentary came from Larry Tajiri, Bill Hosokawa, Joe Grant Masaoka and Saburo Kido.

Also inside: a report that 22,000 Japanese Americans had resettled outside the evacuated area, a New York meeting with Norman Thomas against Mayor LaGuardia’s remarks, letters from soldiers of the 442nd and 100th, Ann Nisei’s makeup column, and JACL chapter news.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Ex-Ambassador Grew Reveals Japanese Police Kidnapping of Nisei From U.S. Embassy, page 1. Former Ambassador Joseph Grew’s new book Ten Years in Japan recounts how Japanese police seized Fujimoto, a Nisei embassy translator, in March 1942 as he prepared to return to the United States. Grew’s diary entries suggest pressure was applied to Fujimoto to remain in Japan.
• Sentry Kills Segregee at Tule Lake Camp, page 1. James Shoichi Okamoto died at the Tule Lake segregation center after being shot by a military police sentry, despite receiving four blood transfusions. Lieut. Col. Verne Austin named a board of investigation into the shooting.
• Western Congressmen Urged to Permit Return of Nisei to Evacuated Coastal Zone, page 1. Donald Keim of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce urged western congressmen to allow citizens of Japanese descent to return to the West Coast once military restrictions are lifted. WRA director Dillon Myer told the group there would be no further relocation to northern Utah and Colorado.
• Social Workers Urge Return of Nisei to Coast at Earliest Possible Date, page 2. The Los Angeles County chapter of the American Association of Social Workers passed a resolution urging the Secretary of War to restore full civil rights to Americans of Japanese ancestry. Speakers including Dr. C. J. Taft urged the return of evacuees to their former homes.
• Rev. Fertig Will Edit New Coast Interracial Journal, page 2. The Pacific Pathfinder, a new interracial magazine, will launch in Los Angeles under editor Rev. Fred Fertig. Its editorial policy calls for ending colonialism in the Pacific and ensuring equal rights for all racial groups in America.
• Case to Test Forced Selling of B.C. Lands, page 2. Forced sales of property held by Japanese Canadian evacuees in British Columbia yielded $1,560,670 across 1101 parcels by March 31, 1944. A test case now pending in a Dominion court challenges the authority of the Custodian of Japanese Property to conduct the sales.
• WRA Holds Nine Men for Threats Against Tule Families, page 3. WRA authorities detained nine men at the Tule Lake segregation center for threatening families who refused to send their children to Japanese language schools. Project Director Ray R. Best said parents’ rights to choose schools would be protected.
• Hoffman Will Head Central Utah Project, page 3. Luther T. Hoffman, assistant chief of the WRA relocation division, was appointed project director of the Topaz relocation center. He succeeds Charles F. Ernst, who resigned to join the United Nations Rehabilitation Administration.
• WRA Reports 22,000 Nisei Evacuees Resettled Under Agency’s Relocation Program, page 3. The WRA reported that 22,000 Japanese Americans have resettled outside the West Coast evacuated area, with Illinois absorbing the most at 5,000. The agency said the program is breaking down the isolation of the Oriental minority.
• Urge Japanese American Girls to Join Women’s Army Corps, page 3. Pvt. Chizuko Shinagawa of the WAC came to Denver to recruit Japanese American women for service. She described the corps as a chance to participate in the fight for democracy.
• Relocation Over Forty, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises the WRA Chicago office’s new emphasis on resettling older evacuees and large family groups. It argues that family resettlement is essential to the program’s success and to postwar adjustment.

Military & Veterans

• Successful Raid in Italy Told by Nisei Soldier, page 1. Pfc. Richard Chinen, a former Hawaii flyweight champion serving with the 100th Infantry Battalion medical detachment, describes a successful raiding party in Italy in a letter from May 2. He recounts his nervousness before the raid and the surprise of drinking American-brewed beer made in Naples on the front lines.
• Korean American Lieutenant With Nisei Unit Awarded Silver Star for Gallantry, page 1. First Lieutenant Young O. Kim of Los Angeles received the Silver Star for drawing enemy fire in Italy to destroy machine gun nests and capture German soldiers. His actions during a later engagement enabled his patrol to rout an entire German platoon.
• Nisei Made First Bayonet Charge Against Germans, page 1. Columnist Ed Sullivan reported that the Japanese American battalion in Italy was the first Allied unit to make a bayonet charge against German positions on the Italian front. Pvt. Mac T. Yazawa also expressed the soldiers’ hope that their service would lead to better treatment of Japanese Americans at home.
• News from Camp Shelby, page 2. Members of the 442nd Infantry at Camp Shelby enjoyed a Ray Kinney Hawaiian orchestra program in New Orleans and visited nearby relocation centers with local hosts. The column also covers sports challenges and camp social activities.
• Ten Nisei Inductees Leave Pocatello for Fort Douglas, page 3. Ten Japanese American men from Bannock County, Idaho, were among eighteen selected for army induction at Fort Douglas, Utah. The list includes inductees transferred from Los Angeles and Seattle.
• Nisei Credited With Part in Discovery of Bacteria-Killer, page 3. Dr. Henry Tsuchiya participated in University of Minnesota experiments that led to discovery of nordihydroguaiaretic acid, a bacteria-killer allied to penicillin. The Minneapolis Tribune reported the substance has important war-related properties that remain secret.
• Nisei Soldiers Fight for Share in U.S. Democracy, Sergeant Tells Rotarians, page 3. Staff Sergeant Lloyd T. Kawahara, a former Hawaii science teacher, addressed the Hattiesburg Rotary Club on the Hawaiian educational system and the spirit of Japanese American soldiers. He said they are fighting to preserve the independence Americans fought for.
• Wounded Veterans Returning to U.S., by Saburo Kido, page 6. Saburo Kido describes visiting wounded 100th Infantry Battalion veterans recuperating at Bushnell Hospital in Salt Lake City. He reflects on how the sacrifices of the 442nd and 100th were undermined by draft resistance agitation in the relocation centers.
• Army’s Hawaiian Policy Aided Morale, by Saburo Kido, page 6. Kido argues that Hawaiian-born Nisei benefited from community leadership and General Emmons’ realistic policy, which allowed the 100th Infantry Battalion to form in a favorable environment. He contrasts this with the mainland Nisei, who faced prewar discrimination.
• Nisei in Uniform: Letters From Servicemen, page 7. Letters from Nisei soldiers in the 442nd Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion describe life at the front in Anzio and their determination to fight for victory. The soldiers send greetings to family and friends back home.

Commentary

• Japan’s Anti-Nisei Policy, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial draws on Ambassador Grew’s book Ten Years in Japan and repatriate accounts to examine Japan’s treatment of Nisei. It highlights the kidnapping of a Nisei translator and the persecution faced by Nisei remaining in Japan.
• Two Evacuations, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial contrasts congressional outrage over the forced removal of Sewell Avery from Montgomery Ward with silence over the 1942 evacuation of Japanese Americans. It notes the evacuees’ remarkable cooperation with authorities.
• Inter-racial Publications, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial welcomes the appearance of inter-racial magazines such as The New Pacific and the Pacific Pathfinder. It argues that discrimination against Negroes, Jews, and Japanese Americans is part of one problem requiring united defense.
• Little Public Support, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes that the Japanese Exclusion Association’s California initiative petition had collected only 143 names toward the 178,000 needed. It suggests race-baiters lack meaningful public support.
• Twilight of the Demagogues, by Larry Tajiri, page 5. Larry Tajiri argues that the defeats of Starnes and Costello and the withdrawal of Martin Dies may signal a decline in demagoguery. He reviews the Dies Committee’s flawed reports on Japanese Americans and notes the continuing threat from race-baiting politicians.
• It’s No Time for Hate, by Richard Tynes, page 5. Richard Tynes recounts an incident at an army hospital where a blind Black soldier and a white amputee joked cheerfully with passing WACs, illustrating how war brings people together. He calls on Americans to extend equal rights and justice to all minorities, including Japanese Americans.
• General Public Knows Little of Evacuation, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa cites a Gallup poll showing widespread public ignorance of basic wartime facts, including the evacuation. He argues that the evacuation was a violation of human rights that must be opposed, while Japanese Americans should avoid self-pity.
• Wild Rumors Are Circulated by Hate Mongers in Campaign Against Japanese Americans, by Joe Grant Masaoka, page 6. Joe Grant Masaoka debunks wartime rumors about Nisei hiding weapons, concrete runways beneath farms, and sabotage plots. He documents discrimination against Japanese American growers in Arizona, including refusals of service and unequal inspections.
• Letter-Box: From Our Readers, page 6. A reader urges evacuees to take heart from supportive letters opposing the New Jersey treatment of Japanese American farmers and other pro-AJA developments. The letter urges AJAs to express their desire to live as Americans after the war.
• Ann Nisei’s Column: Look Natural Is Makeup Rule, by Ann Nisei, page 7. Ann Nisei gives step-by-step advice on applying makeup for a natural look, from foundation and rouge to lipstick and eye makeup. She also covers choosing colors and dressing for figure faults.
• New York Meeting Protests Racist Attitude, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A May 17 New York mass meeting of the Socialist Party’s Minorities Workshop protested Mayor LaGuardia’s statement opposing Japanese American resettlement in the city. Speakers Norman Thomas, Roy Wilkins, Fred Hoshiyama, and George Schuyler condemned the racism and passed a resolution demanding no barriers to Americans of Japanese ancestry.

Community

• Calling All Chapters: Buck-a-Month Club and IDC Pledge, by Hito Okada, page 8. The JACL National Headquarters reports on growing Buck-a-Month Club membership and contributions from several chapters. The Davis County Chapter became the second to fulfill its IDC pledge quota.

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