Vol. 22, No. 20, May 18, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue
The closing of the War Relocation Authority drove the news in this eight-page issue. County officials in Los Angeles charged that nearly 800 returned families had been “dumped” at the Winona trailer camp in Burbank before sanitary and feeding facilities were ready, and the county set up emergency kitchens. The county supervisors asked the Interior Department to keep WRA offices open, and the Hollywood Citizen News argued the government owed Japanese Americans a return to their homes as efficient as their removal. Dillon S. Myer wrote to thank the paper for its coverage. The front page also reported that the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was expected home by the end of June.
Elsewhere, Larry Tajiri wrote on restrictive covenants and the Alien Land Law, Hodding Carter’s editorial praised the 442nd and the 100th Battalion, and Bill Hosokawa looked over the books on his dresser. Veterans’ stories included a Bronze Star for Staff Sergeant Paul H. Nomura and a letter from Walter Y. Nakashima opposing segregated veterans’ posts.
What’s in this issue
Incarceration & Redress
- 800 Moved to Winona Camp: Facilities Incomplete as Los Angeles County Sets Up Emergency Kitchens for Distressed Evacuee Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Los Angeles County officials charged that the WRA dumped nearly 800 returned evacuees into the Winona trailer camp in Burbank before sanitary and feeding facilities were complete. County emergency kitchens and volunteers scrambled to feed and house the residents as conditions were rectified.
- Los Angeles Supervisors Ask Interior Department to Keep WRA Offices Open, page 2. The Los Angeles County board of supervisors unanimously asked the Interior Department to keep WRA staff functioning until relocation is complete. The resolution responded to the dumping of families into the Winona camp.
- Editorial Digest: Regarding Burbank, by Hollywood Citizen News, page 4. The Hollywood Citizen News argues the government owes Japanese Americans restoration to their homes as efficiently as they were removed. It criticizes the dumping of hundreds of families on Burbank.
- Three Problems Left to People of Orange County by WRA, page 4. The WRA Santa Ana office closed May 1, leaving Orange County with three unresolved problems. These involve a scarred child, veterans’ acceptance of Nisei, and housing for an elderly evacuee.
National
- Small Unit Will Carry on WRA Work After June 30, page 1. A small unit will remain in the Interior Department after the WRA is liquidated to finish records and pay obligations. It will also study readjustment problems of Japanese Americans for one year.
- Returnees Hit State License Requirement, page 1. Former dry cleaners of Japanese ancestry protested California license rules they say discriminate against returning evacuees. A group may form to fight the measures.
Military & Veterans
- Nisei Veteran Participates in Cincinnati Panel, page 1. Frank Hashimoto, a Purple Heart veteran of the 100th Infantry Battalion, joined a Cincinnati radio panel on veterans and unity. Panelists agreed equal economic opportunity was the key goal for minority veterans.
- Army Assigns Nisei to War Crimes Trial Defense, page 1. Six Japanese American former sergeants are helping prepare defenses for Japanese war crimes suspects tried in Yokohama. Their language skills made them well suited to the assignment.
- Nisei Regiment Scheduled to Leave Italy, page 1. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team is expected to return to the United States by the end of June, after more than 9,000 casualties. The unit will be inactivated after returning home.
- Set. Nomura Awarded Bronze Star for Heroism in Italy, page 2. Staff Sergeant Paul H. Nomura received the Bronze Star for twice exposing himself to enemy fire near Seravezza, Italy, in April 1945. His actions neutralized enemy machine gun positions that were halting his battalion.
- New Suit in Los Angeles: Veteran Threatened with Ouster from Home, page 7. A Chinese American veteran petitioned the California Supreme Court to halt an injunction removing him from his home under a restrictive covenant. He served as a combat photographer and was honorably discharged.
- Nisei Veterans Group Will Oppose Proposal for Separate American Legion and VFW Posts, by Walter Y. Nakashima, page 7. Walter Nakashima condemns the segregation of Nisei and minority veterans into separate VFW posts in an open letter. He says the Nisei Veterans Association will oppose such segregation at every turn.
Community
- Nisei-Issei Group Formed in Dayton, page 2. Nisei and Issei in Dayton, Ohio, formed the Miami Valley Nisei, a social organization for Japanese Americans in the area. Masaru Yamasaki was elected president.
- Ickes Cites Nisei War Record in Support of Hawaii Statehood, page 4. Former Interior Secretary Harold Ickes cited the wartime valor of Hawaii’s Japanese American servicemen in urging statehood. He noted the absence of sabotage in Hawaii and its strong economic record.
- Hawaiian Nisei Veterans Ask for Certificates Relief, page 8. Nisei veterans from Hawaii were prevented from traveling to the mainland until they obtained citizenship certificates. Officials are considering accepting birth certificates as adequate proof.
- Colorado’s Japanese Americans Honor War II Veterans at Banquet, page 8. Colorado’s Japanese American community plans a banquet honoring veterans, with a book of Nisei soldiers’ names to be printed. Notable speakers have been invited to the event at the Cosmopolitan Hotel.
Commentary
- Pulitzer Prize Editorial: Go For Broke, by Hodding Carter, page 2. Hodding Carter praises Company D of the 168th Regiment for pledging to help win fair treatment for the 442nd and 100th Battalion. He argues that the Nisei have earned American equality through their combat record.
- Issei Naturalization, page 2. A Christian Science Monitor report notes that changed wartime circumstances have revived the question of citizenship for Issei. Three Issei fathers of Nisei soldiers are pursuing naturalization in court with ACLU support.
- Ghettos in Our Cities, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Larry Tajiri criticizes restrictive covenants and the Alien Land Law as forms of legalized racial discrimination inimical to democracy. He argues these practices create second-class citizenship for non-whites.
- From Dillon Myer, by Dillon S. Myer, page 4. WRA Director Dillon Myer thanks the Pacific Citizen for its wartime and postwar coverage and editorial fight. He notes the WRA program is nearly completed.
- Washington News-Letter: Lorne Bell Sees Need for Nisei Y Leaders in Hawaii, by John Kitasako, page 5. John Kitasako profiles YMCA official Lorne Bell, who worked closely with Nisei and volunteered at Topaz. Bell now advocates hiring Nisei for professional YMCA positions in Hawaii.
- From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa examines the books on his dresser in Des Moines, from a Singapore cookbook to wartime cartoons and childcare manuals. He reflects lightly on what the collection reveals about his life.
- Transportation Companies Balk at U.S. Order to End Anti-Oriental Practices, page 8. Transportation companies resisted an Immigration Service order requiring citizens of Japanese ancestry to obtain certificates before traveling. The ACLU of Northern California stated it would press for an end to the discrimination.
Arts & Entertainment
- Vagaries, page 5. A column reports on dancer Yuriko Amemiya’s role in Martha Graham’s Serpent Heart and other notable items about Nisei in the arts and public life. It also notes the Tokyo Rose and Hawaii-related news.
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