Nisei soldiers in Italy and the fight over the right to return

Vol. 18, No. 20, June 10, 1944. 8 pages. View this issue

Japanese American soldiers were at the center of the news in this June 1944 issue. On the front page, Sergeant Clarence E. Jones of Sioux City, Iowa, told of Hawaiian infantrymen who wiped out German machine gun nests at Venafro, and the paper listed men of the 442nd Infantry and the 100th Infantry Battalion wounded in Italy. Alongside came the debate at home: the Oregon American Legion opposed any return to the Pacific coast, while California Methodists urged restoring the rights of loyal Japanese Americans. Bill Hosokawa wrote on the churches, Hito Okada on war bonds, and Saburo Kido on Nisei Navy language instructors.

Other pages followed the University of Pennsylvania’s refusal to admit Naomi Nakano to graduate study, and editorials on Japanese Canadians and on racial scapegoating. Letters from servicemen, a WAC private’s column by Pvt. Priscilla Yasuda, and news of school honors, weddings and chapter meetings fill the rest of the eight pages.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Troops Rated Among Best Fighters, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sergeant Clarence E. Jones of Sioux City, Iowa, praised Japanese American infantrymen from Hawaii for their courage and skill in Italy. He recalled a platoon of them wiping out German machine gun nests so his unit could advance.
• Coast Nisei Wounded on Italian Front, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pvt. Bob Kiyoshi Shintaku of the 442nd Infantry was slightly wounded in action in Italy on May 13. His relatives now live in the Poston relocation center.
• Fighting Chinese Told of Nisei Blood Plasma Donors, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Americans of Japanese ancestry, including fifteen donors, contributed blood plasma sent from a New York blood bank to China’s Salween front. One donor, Kathleen Iseri, had left the Central Utah relocation center and was training with the WACs.
• Jerome to Honor Mothers of Men in U.S. Army, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Jerome relocation center will present 155 service pins to mothers of men in uniform, with Mrs. Masakichi Takahashi receiving a five-star pin for her five sons. The Denson USO group is sponsoring the presentation.
• War Department Announces Six Japanese Americans Hurt in Recent Fighting in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Department named six soldiers of Japanese ancestry from Hawaii wounded in the Mediterranean area, presumably members of the 100th Infantry Battalion. Their names and next of kin were listed.
• Friend Nearly Loses Life In Effort to Rescue Victim, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pvt. Yoshitaka Kataoka of Camp Savage drowned in Lake Minnetonka during a storm on June 4. Companions Teruo Nihei and Mamoru Fujioka tried to rescue him, and Nihei nearly drowned himself.
• Japanese American, Injured at Cassino, Is Back in U.S., by P.C. Staff, page 1. Robert M. Katajima of Honolulu, a member of the 100th Infantry Battalion wounded at Cassino, arrived at England General Hospital in Atlantic City with other wounded veterans. He was among 92 sick and wounded front-line troops returned from Cassino and Anzio.
• Sgt. Ben Kuroki Anxious to See Pacific Service, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Tech. Sgt. Ben Kuroki, on furlough in Chicago, said he hoped for a Pacific theater assignment to prove his loyalty as an American. He has three brothers in the U.S. Army and recently visited several relocation centers.
• New York Times Photo Shows Japanese American Troops Participating in Drive on Rome, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A U.S. Army Signal Corps photo published by the New York Times showed Japanese American troops marching up an Italian road during the drive on Rome. The army caption said their division played a notable role in the offensive.
• Pvt. Hasegawa Likes Both Rocks and Bach, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Pvt. Harry Hasegawa of the 442nd Infantry’s Medical Section, from Whittier, California, is profiled for his geology degree, mineral collection, and violin studies. He entered the Army in July 1941 as a surgical technician.
• New Arrivals for Nisei Unit Greeted at Camp Shelby, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Lt. Col. Sherman L. Watts welcomed new soldiers from several states to the 1st Battalion, 442nd Infantry. The battalion now includes members from nearly every state and Hawaii.
• Shelby Soldiers Get Letters From Buddies on Italy Front, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Letters from men of Company C, 1st Battalion, 442nd Infantry, who shipped overseas to Italy were shared with soldiers still at Camp Shelby. The writers described their stations near the front and their adjustment to combat conditions.
• Wounded Soldiers Recuperate at Palm Springs Hospital, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Five Japanese Hawaiian soldiers wounded in the Italian campaign joined a contingent at Torney General Hospital in Palm Springs for treatment. They were later transferred to Hoff General Hospital in Santa Barbara for nerve treatment.
• Captain Mizuha Visits Friends at Camp Savage, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Capt. Jack Mizuha of the 100th Infantry Battalion, wounded in Italy and hospitalized in Chicago, visited Camp Savage and addressed personnel. The visit was a reunion with many friends from Hawaii.
• Full Face and Profile: Shigeo Yasutake, Second Lieutenant, Infantry, by By a Fellow Soldier, page 5. This profile traces Lt. Shigeo Yasutake’s life from Long Beach and Gardena through his Army service in the South Pacific. He was sent to Officer Candidate School and commissioned, and now commands a company at Camp Savage.
• By the Crusaders, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Excerpts from letters of 100th Infantry replacements describe conditions and morale in Italy. Soldiers Ken Nobori, Mac Hata, and Satoru Onodera write about the front and missing home.
• Nisei in Uniform: Letters From Servicemen, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Servicemen including Albert Yokoyama, Ernest Hirai, and Mack Hashimoto write about their units, the 100th Battalion’s record, and life overseas. Hashimoto asks about relocation camp life and invites correspondence.
• Disclose Nisei Aided Capture of Submarine, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Chicago Daily News interviewed Mac Yazawa, a wounded Hawaiian-born veteran of the 100th Battalion. He described his company’s capture of a Japanese two-man suicide submarine at Waimanalo after Pearl Harbor.

National

• Oppose Return of Evacuated Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Oregon executive committee of the American Legion opposed the return of Japanese American evacuees to the Pacific coast before the war ends.
• California Methodists Urge Restoration of Rights of Loyal Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The California Annual Conference of the Methodist church, meeting in Sacramento, called for restoring the rights of loyal Japanese Americans, including the right to return to the Pacific coast. The conference adopted an eight-point resolution opposing discriminatory legislation and supporting cooperation with the WRA.
• First Evacuees Leave Topaz for Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mrs. George Shiraki and her five-year-old daughter became the first Topaz evacuees permitted to return to San Francisco under new army procedures for families of Japanese American servicemen. Her husband is serving overseas with the Japanese American combat team.
• Japanese Canadian, Posing as Chinese, Gets Prison Term, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Shigeo Mori was sentenced to one year in prison in Vancouver after he was found living under a Chinese alias in violation of the evacuation order. Police had searched for him since he went unaccounted for during the 1942 evacuation.
• Segregee Held For Attack on Tule Soldier, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Harry Hiroshi Kawai, a segregee at Tule Lake, was jailed on an assault charge after injuring a soldier with a meat cleaver. The WRA said there was no further trouble at the center following a May 24 shooting of a segregee by a military guard.
• WRA Will Continue Efforts for Recognition of Rights of Loyal Citizens, Says Ickes, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Interior Secretary Harold Ickes wrote to Rohwer Town Hall chairman Frank Nishikawa that the WRA would keep working for the rights of citizens regardless of ancestry. He acknowledged prejudice but said there was genuine reason for optimism.
• Ruling Upsets Convictions of Seattle Businessmen, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the conspiracy and export-license convictions of Seattle businessmen Charles Takahashi and Edward Osawa. The reversal rested on illegal search and seizure of personal papers, and no retrial was planned.
• No Post-War Camps Planned, Declares Myer, by P.C. Staff, page 3. WRA Director Dillon Myer wrote to Granada project director James Lindley that no relocation centers would be maintained after the war. All centers will close within a reasonable time after evacuees may return to the West Coast.

Community

• Release Figures on Relocation in Michigan Area, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A total of 1,487 evacuees have established new homes in Michigan under the WRA resettlement program. Detroit and Ann Arbor received the largest numbers.
• Madison Student Elected to Senior Class Position, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Eichi Shibata, a newcomer to Madison, Wisconsin, was elected one of two senior class representatives on the Central High School Student Council. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ichiro Shibata of Topaz, Utah.
• Nisei Named Most Popular Student at Duluth J.C., by P.C. Staff, page 2. Two Japanese American freshman engineers, Kats Tokonaga and Giichi Ishiaka, were honored by classmates at Duluth Junior College. Tokonaga was named most popular man and Ishiaka best athlete.
• Shelby Troops Hold Open House for Nisei Girls, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The 1st Battalion of the 442nd Infantry hosted 70 girls from Rohwer at Camp Shelby on May 27 and 28. Activities included a dance, company day room visits, and a church service.
• Relocation Office To Be Opened in Savannah, by P.C. Staff, page 2. C. B. Price, relocation officer of the southern region, will open a relocation office in Savannah, Georgia. The Rohwer Outpost reported the news.
• Ft. Lupton JACL Donates $500 to National JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Fort Lupton, Colorado JACL chapter voted to send $500 to the National JACL Denver office. The donation recognized the organization’s nationwide work on Japanese American issues.
• First Idaho Falls Group Ordered to Report for Army, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Six Japanese Americans from Idaho Falls were ordered to report at Fort Douglas, Utah, as the first inductees under resumed draft procedures. The local JACL held a dance in their honor.
• Find Body of Lost Issei, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The body of Henry Shuzo Fukuzawa, about 60, was found in a pool near the Rohwer hospital after a two-day search. Death was attributed to shock and drowning.
• University of Pennsylvania Holds Nisei Honor Student from Graduate School, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Naomi Nakano, a Phi Beta Kappa student at the University of Pennsylvania, was denied a graduate scholarship because of her Japanese ancestry under a new admissions rule. She accepted a Bryn Mawr fellowship instead.
• Two Poston Youths Fail to Report for Army Induction, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Charles Ichiro Oki and George Washington Inouye of Poston were taken to Phoenix by FBI agents for failing to report for induction. Three others were also taken for refusing preinduction examinations.
• Poston Girl Has Highest Average at Hardin-Simmons, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Grace Watanabe of Poston, Arizona, earned the highest grades for the year at Hardin-Simmons University with a 96.5 average. She received the Minter medal for her achievement.
• Canadian Congress of Labor Opposes Race Discrimination, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Alex McFarlane, first vice president of the Canadian Congress of Labor, opposed racial discrimination against Japanese Canadians. Kayahara reported that Thunder Bay unions had not opposed their employment.
• Combat Team Gives Play Equipment to Rohwer Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Camp Shelby combat team donated furniture and playground equipment to the Rohwer center. The gifts included divans, lamps, slides, and swings for a central playground.
• Mari Taniguchi Wins Music Award at Eastman School, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Nisei soprano Mari Taniguchi received the artist’s diploma, the highest award at the Eastman School of Music’s commencement. She had earned her bachelor’s degree there in 1941.
• Mt. Olympus Chapter Holds Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Mt. Olympus JACL chapter in Murray, Utah held an informal meeting with a forum on what members wanted from the JACL. Several local members helped arrange the evening.
• Nisei Graduate With High Honors at Brigham Young, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Seichi Watanabe and Mas Yano graduated with high honors from Brigham Young University, the school’s highest recognition. The honor is based entirely on scholarship.
• Caldwell Camp Plans Bazaar for July Fourth, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Caldwell FSA camp JACL is planning a July Fourth bazaar and baseball tournament. The program will include food sales, concessions, amusements, and a dance.
• New York Post Welcomes Nisei Evacuee Group, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The New York Post welcomed Japanese American evacuees to a temporary hostel in Brooklyn, praising their treatment as a test of American fairness. It urged the city to handle the resettlement with tolerance.
• WRA Office Plans Increased Service to New York Resettlers, by P.C. Staff, page 8. E. Price Steiding was appointed relocation officer in charge of the New York district office, with expanded staff. The office will help resettlers find jobs and housing across the New York metropolitan area and nearby states.
• Alice Miyake Weds Yutaka Yamamoto, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Yutaka Pete Yamamoto and Alice Emiko Miyake were married in a simple ceremony at the home of the Rev. G. C. Crowell in Chicago on June 3. The couple came from the Gila River and Poston centers.
• Betrothal of Idaho Girl Told, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Mrs. Kikuye Wakasugi of Payette, Idaho announced the engagement of her daughter Harumi to Masa Yano of Weiser. The announcement was made in May.
• Possible New Reservations Seen by Cary, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Dr. Miles E. Carey, former Poston education director, warned a Honolulu group that relocation centers could become permanent reservations if the government does not act. He said only 91,000 people had been relocated.
• Caldwell Youth Injured in Fire, by P.C. Staff, page 8. George Kurihara, 20, of Caldwell, Idaho was seriously burned when a gasoline fire destroyed his parents’ home on May 29. His parents and wife escaped injury.

Commentary

• Front-Line Corporal Would Make Racists Replace Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Secretary Ickes publicized a letter from Cpl. J. H. Kety in Italy who suggested sending opponents of WRA relocation policy to replace the 100th Infantry Battalion at the front. Ickes replied that the soldier understood what the nation was fighting for.
• Noted Oregon Editor Decries Mass Prejudice Against Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Charles A. Sprague, editor of the Oregon Statesman, criticized the Mott bill to deport Japanese nationals as an injustice based on race rather than individual guilt. He compared it to Nazi reprisals at Lidice.
• University Ban on Nisei Hit by Des Moines Paper, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Des Moines Tribune editorialized against the University of Pennsylvania’s refusal to admit Naomi Nakano, arguing universities should admit students by character and qualifications, not race. It warned that institutions maintaining racial prejudice would lose standing with young people.
• Salt Lake Telegram Condemns Prejudices in Provo Area, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Salt Lake Telegram editorialized that Utah County had become a hotbed of racial intolerance after attacks on Japanese American farm workers. It urged county authorities to stop making pledges and start enforcing protection.
• Invasion From the West, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial welcomed news of the Allied invasion of France and noted Japanese American service in Italy. It urged the country to succeed in the Fifth War Loan Drive.
• The Japanese Canadians, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial condemned a campaign by British Columbia politicians to deport all persons of Japanese ancestry from Canada after the war. It argued that most were Canadian-born citizens with no evidence of disloyalty.
• On Some Native Fascists, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argued that racial scapegoating of Japanese Americans on the West Coast is a form of domestic fascism. It warned that wartime hysteria threatens constitutional rights of citizens.
• Vagaries, by P.C. Staff, page 5. This column criticized the University of Pennsylvania’s refusal of graduate admission to Naomi Nakano and noted a state legislative effort behind it. It also noted commentator John B. Hughes’s broadcasts defending minority rights.
• Letters in Life Condemn Racism in New Jersey, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Six letters published in Life magazine criticized the treatment of George Yamamoto, an evacuee farmer ousted from his New Jersey farm. Writers included a critic and servicemen who condemned the prejudice.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa praised churches for opposing racism and supporting Japanese Americans during evacuation. He argued that church social work eased life in relocation centers and boosted evacuee morale.
• Avery and Yamamoto, by P.C. Staff, page 5. America magazine compared public outcry over Sewell Avery’s ejection with the silence over George Yamamoto’s removal from a New Jersey farm. It asked what civil liberties mean if insignificant people can be barred from work.
• Against Race Prejudice, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The People’s World cited Paulette Goddard and a letter from Cpl. J. H. Kety in supporting Japanese American return rights. It argued that wartime race prejudice is dying as Japanese Americans move into the American mainstream.
• Churches Bolster the Morale of Evacuees, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa argued that churches have shown increasing social responsibility, including opposing evacuation injustice. He said church aid in the relocation centers boosted evacuee morale and material well-being.
• Sirens Herald the Second Front, by Hito Okada, page 6. Okada describes learning of the Normandy invasion through air raid sirens in Denver and urges all Japanese Americans to buy war bonds. He calls on JACL chapters to lead bond drives in their communities.
• Many Serve Navy As Instructors, by Saburo Kido, page 6. Kido argues that Nisei and Kibei Japanese language instructors are essential to the Navy’s war effort, and that Issei contributions deserve recognition. He criticizes congressional proposals to send aliens back to Japan.
• Ann Nisei’s Column: A WAC Private Writes Back About Life of the Girl GI, by Pvt. Priscilla Yasuda, page 7. WAC Pvt. Priscilla Yasuda describes her basic training at Fort Des Moines and her medical secretarial work at Camp Crowder. She encourages more Nisei women to join the Women’s Army Corps.
• Wisconsin Paper Hails Nisei Acceptance of War Conditions, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Capital Times of Madison praised Japanese Americans for accepting wartime evacuation with grace and loyalty. It urged the public to judge them on the basis of their record.

Incarceration & Redress

• County Leaders Pledge Protection for Evacuee Farm Workers After Recent Incident, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Utah county officials pledged full protection to Japanese American farm workers after a June 2 attack on three workers at an Orem cafe and train station. Labor officials warned that the workers might leave the county without it.

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