Nisei soldiers in Italy and France, and the debate over a return to the West Coast

Vol. 19, No. 18, November 4, 1944. 8 pages. View this issue

The Nisei at war filled this eight-page issue. A front-page report said a sergeant had died in action in France, and the War Department named nine Japanese Americans killed in Italy. Pages 2 and 3 told of men of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, among them Pfc. Kiyoshi Muranaga, Sgt. Togo Sugiyama and Sgt. Mac Motonaga. Bill Hosokawa wrote about the record of the Nisei soldiers, and a War Relocation Authority pamphlet on the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd was noted on page 1.

The other major question was whether Japanese Americans could return to California. A War Department spokesman denied any decision to relax restrictions after Nov. 15, and page 8 reported on the court case of Dr. George Ochikubo. Editorials took up Colorado’s Amendment No. 3 and the election, Larry Tajiri wrote on how Nisei viewed it, and the issue closed with Toshio Mori’s short story. A federal jury’s verdict on seven members of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee appeared on page 2.

What’s in this issue

National

• War Department Denies Story of Decision to Relax Coast Restrictions After Nov. 15, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A War Department spokesman denied that any decision had been made to let evacuees of Japanese ancestry return to California after Nov. 15. The denial followed a claim by California welfare director Charles Wollenberg that the WRA had asked him to sound out sentiment on the return.
• Nazis Rigged Booby Traps On Bodies of Nisei Dead, by Norma Abrams, page 1. Pvt. Tamotsu Shimizu, who lost an arm, and Pvt. Kenneth Otagaki, who lost a leg, described how German forces wired fallen Japanese American soldiers’ bodies as booby traps at Anzio and Cassino. The interview was conducted in New York.
• WRA Interested in California Sentiment, Says State Official, by P.C. Staff, page 1. WRA officials in San Francisco stressed that the decision on returning evacuees rests entirely with the Army. They said the WRA handles relocation and administers resettlement for the 83,000 evacuees who have left the centers.
• West Coast Anti-Evacuee Group Plans to Extend Movement, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Remember Pearl Harbor League, opposing the return of evacuees to the Puyallup and White River valleys, held a poorly attended meeting in Tacoma. Organizers said they would shift to small community groups to build support.

Military & Veterans

• War Department Announces Nine Japanese Americans Killed in Action in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Department announced the deaths of nine Americans of Japanese ancestry killed in action in the Mediterranean area, listing their names and next of kin. The casualties came from Hawaii and the mainland relocation centers.
• WRA Issues Pamphlet on Nisei Troops, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Relocation Authority issued a pamphlet, Nisei in Uniform, recounting the battle record of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Combat Team. WRA Director Dillon Myer said the Nisei’s achievements deserved fuller recognition.
• Nisei Gunner From California Neutralizes German Field Gun Which Threatened Company, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Pfc. Kiyoshi Muranaga, a Nisei gunner with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy, silenced a German 88-mm self-propelled gun that threatened his company. He remained exposed under heavy shrapnel and kept firing until the enemy withdrew.
• Nisei Hero Killed Eight Nazis, Knocked Out Machine-Guns, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Sgt. Togo Sugiyama of the 442nd killed several snipers and machine gunners in a single day near Pastina, Italy, and was credited with routing four machinegun nests. He was later reported killed in action on July 12 in Italy.
• Japanese American Soldiers Treated at Spokane Hospital, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Three wounded Japanese American soldiers, including S/Sgt. George Yamauchi, were treated at Baxter General Hospital in Spokane. Yamauchi described fellow patients from several Allied nations wounded fighting with the Fifth Army.
• Oldest Nisei Has Two Grandchildren in Service, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Nobuteru Harry Sumida, 72, described as the first Japanese American soldier, served as a gunner’s mate on the battleship Indiana in the Spanish-American War. His grandchildren Monroe and Margaret Fukuoka are now in the U.S. Army.
• Buddhist Service Held Recently in U.S. Army Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The first Buddhist service held in a U.S. Army camp took place at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on Oct. 22 with more than 50 soldiers attending. The sermon was given by Rev. Newton Ishiura of Yale University.
• Los Angeles Artilleryman Wins Silver Star for Gallantry, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Sgt. Mac Motonaga of the 442nd received the Silver Star for braving heavy fire to establish radio communications for an artillery observer. His action allowed devastating artillery fire to silence enemy positions and let the advance continue.
• Nisei Pfc. Nakamura Saves Five Comrades, Neutralizes Enemy Heavy Machine Guns, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Pfc. Nakamura of Seattle, a member of the 442nd, single-handedly knocked out enemy heavy machineguns near Castellina, Italy. He then covered his unit’s withdrawal under fire, saving the lives of many fellow soldiers.
• Nisei Yanks Write a Record of Glory, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa describes the sacrifice of Nisei soldiers, quoting an officer who heard dying men hope for a better world for their families. He cites citations for Sgt. Mike Sakamoto, Pfc. Haruo Kawamoto, and Pvt. Masao Awakuni, and rejects racist slurs against Nisei combat record.
• Canadian Japanese Canadians Barred From McGill University, by P.C. Staff, page 7. McGill University’s Senate barred Japanese Canadian students from studying there, a step taken in common with several other Canadian universities. The Montreal Diocesan Theological College Alumni Association protested the decision.

Community

• Wollenberg Charges Relocation Agency Requested Survey, by P.C. Staff, page 1. California Social Welfare Director Charles Wollenberg said he refused a WRA request to sound out California counties on returning evacuees. He added that he expected evacuees to begin filtering back after Nov. 15.
• Hunt Soldier Sends Purple Heart Medal Home to Mother, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pfc. Minoru Nagaoka, a Purple Heart recipient, sent his medal home to his mother in Hunt, Idaho. He is recovering from a July 17 injury to his right leg.
• Deputy Marshal Fined $100 For Striking Colorado Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Deputy U.S. Marshal George T. Smith Jr. was fined $100 after striking 17-year-old Mike Shigetomi in Fort Lupton, Colorado. The town board afterward called for justice and fair play toward all persons regardless of ancestry.
• Japanese Worker Found Dead Near Brigham City, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Shosa Mitsudo, 59, a Perry Canning company employee formerly of Hunt, Idaho, was found dead in his cabin near Brigham City, Utah. The sheriff said death appeared to be from natural causes.
• Nisei Captain Visits Parents In Wyoming, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Capt. Tokio Ishikawa, stationed at Camp Logan, visited his parents at Heart Mountain last week. He had received his commission shortly after Pearl Harbor and trained soldiers at several camps.
• Nisei in Politics: New York Japanese Americans Sponsor Rally For Roosevelt, by Dyke Miyagawa, page 6. Miyagawa reports on a rally of about 200 New York Nisei supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt, featuring speakers and a satirical show. He notes the event signaled Nisei political maturity.
• Veterans Ann Nisei’s Looking Forward To Christmas, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A holiday crafts column offers ideas for children’s handmade Christmas gifts such as painted boxes, knitting bags, wastebaskets, and Christmas cards. It includes step-by-step instructions for each project.
• Nisei WAC Talks on Japan Before Hospital Group, by P.C. Staff, page 7. A Nisei WAC who had been a student in Japan for 14 months lectured patients at Regional Hospital on Japanese life and customs. She was a passenger on one of the last ships to leave Japan before Pearl Harbor.
• Two Plaintiffs Win Right to Return Home, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Two Japanese American plaintiffs in a suit to restrain the military were told their return to the Pacific coast is not objectionable, while three others were denied. The hearing before Judge Pierson Hall was pending the military decisions.
• Utah Child Dies Of Injuries Received in Fall, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Five-year-old Tomeko Horiuchi of Syracuse, Utah, died on Oct. 31 from injuries sustained in a fall from a small house. The article lists her surviving family members.
• Chicago Nisei Girls Group Plans to Entertain Soldiers, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A newly formed Chicago girls’ club affiliated with the YWCA plans to entertain visiting servicemen. Its first event is a benefit dance on November 11 at the Loop CA.

Incarceration & Redress

• Federal Jury Convicts Seven On Draft Conspiracy Charge, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A federal jury in Cheyenne convicted seven members of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee of conspiring to aid draft violations, while acquitting James Omura. The defendants were accused of urging camp residents to refuse induction until their civil rights were clarified.

Commentary

• Racism in Politics, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial calls the 1944 presidential campaign one of the dirtiest in recent history, citing whispers about the President’s health and attacks on foreign-born and recent-immigrant Americans. It warns that the West Coast’s use of Japanese Americans as political scapegoats reflects the same pattern and hopes the election will restore sanity.
• Colorado Amendment, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that Colorado’s Amendment No. 3 disguises its real intent behind misleading wording, since aliens already can hold property. It says the bill’s true purpose is to strip aliens ineligible for citizenship of land rights, and it urges voters to reject it.
• Financing Test Cases, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes that Japanese Americans have contributed nothing to the ACLU funding of civil liberties test cases that will set precedents for all ancestries. It urges Nisei to donate to the ACLU, earmarked for Japanese American cases if desired.
• Note to Mr. Carr, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial rebukes U.S. Attorney Charles Carr for suggesting that persons of Japanese ancestry should be excluded from California because of sabotage risk. It points out that no Japanese American has committed sabotage and that the 800 individually permitted residents were cleared by the Western Defense Command.
• Nisei and the Elections, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri observes that few Japanese Americans could electioneer or vote due to evacuation and the Hatch Act’s restrictions in camps. He predicts most Nisei will support Roosevelt because of his administration’s record and treatment of Japanese Americans.
• Veteran Edward Yonemura Accorded Honorable Discharge Information, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A Pacific Citizen note recalls Edward Yonemura, a World War I veteran who was honorably discharged in 1928 and served as Carpenter’s Mate First Class. It also reports on Nisei families at Tooele Depot and an Army officer’s Nisei unit contact.
• A Soldier on the Subway, by Gertrude Samuels, page 5. A letter to PM relates how a white veteran guided a blind Japanese American veteran off a New York subway after a bigot denounced the Nisei soldier. The writer uses the episode to show the shared sacrifice of American servicemen.
• My Mother Stand on Her Head…, by Toshio Mori, page 5. A short story in which a family disputes a peddler’s inflated bills, with the mother’s loyalty to the old merchant eventually overcoming their resolve to stop buying from him. The story explores kindness, economic hardship, and suspicion within a Japanese American household.
• Changed Attitude Due to Soldiers, by Saburo Kido, page 6. Kido argues that public attitudes toward Japanese Americans have improved largely because of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Combat Team’s combat record. He notes that agitators are now on the defensive and that the fight for citizenship rights is gaining ground.
• U. S. Attorney Opposes Return of Nisei Dentist, by P.C. Staff, page 8. U.S. Attorney Charles Carr filed an answer opposing Dr. George Ochikubo’s injunction suit to return to California, arguing the Army board found he should not return now. The answer says the military would use force if needed to keep him out of the exclusion zone.

Thank you for exploring the Pacific Citizen archive. The title, introduction and contents on this page were written by an AI model from scans of the printed issue, so they may contain mistakes. If you spot one, we would be grateful if you let us know.