Violence against returning families, and a VFW vote against Nisei veterans

Vol. 21, No. 6, August 11, 1945. 8 pages. View this issue

The return of Japanese Americans to the West Coast ran through this issue from August 1945. A federal grand jury in Sacramento indicted James and Claude Watson of Auburn on dynamite and conspiracy charges after the attack on Sumio Doi’s packing shed. A Fresno shooting and a mass meeting in Tulare County showed the hostility returnees faced, and Mary Oyama wrote about her own family’s return to Los Angeles. The Rohwer train that stopped beside a troop train at Sacramento was on the cover.

The Spokane VFW’s rejection of wounded 442nd veterans Pfc. Richard Naito and Pvt. Thomas Imai drew protests from Col. Virgil R. Miller and WRA director Dillon S. Myer, and an editorial. Other pages cover Nisei soldiers from the 442nd Regiment and the 100th Battalion, including Major Mitsuyoshi Fukuda’s new command. Captain George H. Grandstaff wrote about the 100th Battalion in Italy.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Federal Grand Jury Returns Indictment Against Brothers for Anti-Evacuee Dynamiting, by P.C. Staff, page 1. James and Claude Watson of Auburn, Calif., were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of illegal possession of dynamite and conspiracy in connection with the packing shed dynamiting of Sumio Doi’s property in Placer County. The indictment followed the state acquittal of James Watson and dismissal of charges against Claude Watson in the related terror raids.
• Latest Fresno Incident Blamed on Hoodlums, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Fresno police blamed hoodlums for a July 31 shooting in which a .22 caliber bullet struck a garage owned by Tom Inouye. No one was hurt, and Inouye reported that neither he nor his family had been molested since returning from Rohwer.
• Government’s Case Based on Testimony from Soldier, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Federal authorities built their case against the Watson brothers on a signed statement from an accomplice, Pvt. Elmer R. Johnson, who described the attempted dynamiting of the Doi ranch. Johnson’s account was a central element of the federal prosecution.
• Tulare Group Acts to Stop Evacuee Return, by P.C. Staff, page 2. About 100 people attended a mass meeting at Woodlake, Calif., where speaker E. B. Homer demanded deportation of all persons of Japanese ancestry. A petition calling on the government to keep them out of California was circulated after the meeting.
• Pacific War Veterans Cheer Returning Rohwer Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Army combat veterans returning from the Pacific cheered evacuees on the Rohwer train when the two trains met at a junction. WRA reported that the journey to Los Angeles passed without incident.
• Granada Evacuee Car Leaves for Eastern Points, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The first special chair-car left the Granada relocation center on Aug. 6 carrying families bound for Boys Town, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago and Bridgeton, N.J. Two more special cars were expected to leave for California points the following week.
• Suicide of Evacuee Blamed on Worries Over Business, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Authorities attributed the August 2 suicide of Seiichiro Nagamori of Los Angeles to worries over his insurance business. He had found it difficult to reestablish the business after returning from Heart Mountain, as former clients had scattered.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Soldier Guards Bob Hope in German House, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Bob Hope reported in his newspaper column from Bremen that his troupe was guarded by Pvt. Shige Morishige, a Nisei soldier wounded three times with the 442nd Regiment in Italy. Hope noted that Morishige spent his spare time praising his hometown of Denver, Colo.
• WRA Director Protests Action of VFW Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. WRA national director Dillon S. Myer urged members of Spokane VFW Post 51 to reconsider their rejection of wounded Nisei veteran Pfc. Richard Naito for membership. Myer said he fully concurred with Col. V. R. Miller’s indignation over the action.
• Commander of 442nd Infantry Asks War Department Aid in Combatting Anti-Nisei Activity, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Col. Virgil R. Miller, commander of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, wrote to the Interior and War Departments protesting the Spokane VFW’s rejection of wounded veteran Pfc. Richard H. Naito. Miller argued that such discrimination undermined the ideals for which American soldiers were fighting.
• VFW Unit Asked to Review Rejection of Nisei Soldier, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Spokane VFW Post 51 Commander Dean Helbig defended the vote rejecting Pfc. Richard Naito and Pvt. Thomas Imai, saying no discrimination was shown. Helbig proposed a separate Japanese American post and said Naito and Imai must wait another year to reapply.
• Veterans of 442nd Arrive at Beale, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sixty-eight veterans of the 442nd Combat Team arrived at Camp Beale, Calif., en route to Hawaii, their first return home in nearly three years. The group was returning from the European battlefields.
• Japanese American Soldiers Take Active Part in Capture of Philippine Summer Capital, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Nisei specialists attached to the 33rd Illinois Division took part in the capture of Baguio and the final operations of the Northern Luzon campaign. Japanese American troops were also reported to have participated in the invasion of Borneo.
• Clubhouse Opened for Enlisted Men of 522nd Battalion, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A clubhouse was organized in Germany for enlisted men of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, composed of Japanese American soldiers. It occupies two rooms and a bar on the second floor of the Cafe Engel near the Donauworth command post.
• Three Nisei GIs Win Commissions in Burma-India, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Three Japanese American soldiers and one Korean American serving in the Burma-India theater won direct commissions, it was announced Aug. 2. The new second lieutenants include Teiichiro Hirata, Ken Tagami and Ryo Arai.
• Major Fukuda Given Command of 100th Infantry Battalion, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Major Mitsuyoshi Fukuda of Hawaii became the first American of Japanese ancestry to command an infantry battalion in U.S. Army history when he took over the 100th Battalion. He had previously led a rifle platoon and commanded Company A, earning a Silver Star.
• Two Hawaii Nisei GIs Cited for Escape from Nazi Captors, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Privates Torao J. Yamamoto and Genzo Toguchi of Honolulu received Bronze Stars for escaping German captors and returning to friendly lines with valuable information. Their intelligence led to shelling and bombing of German installations.
• Wounded Veteran, Now Discharged, Will Enter School, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Veterans Administration approved the application of Tokio Shiomichi, the first disabled Nisei veteran, to resume civilian life and study under the GI Bill at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wis. Shiomichi, a former Brawley, Calif. resident, was one of the first Colorado River Project volunteers from Colorado.
• Wounded Sergeant Returns by Plane, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Staff Sgt. Taka Fukuda, formerly of Seattle, returned by plane for separation from service at Fort Sheridan after being wounded in Italy. He was among the Nisei veterans sent back for discharge.
• Santa Monica Nisei Wins Bronze Star, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Pfc. Matsuteshi Sano of Santa Monica, Calif., received the Bronze Star for combat service in France with Company K of the 442nd. Sano laid down covering fire that enabled bazookamen to knock out a German tank during the rescue of the Lost Battalion.
• Federal Worker Reports for Army, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Willis Shimasaki, son of a Madison, Wis. family, reported for active duty at Fort Sheridan, Ill. He had been a Geological Survey employee before his induction.
• Nisei Officer Leads Japanese Commander Recently Hunted in Okinawa Campaign, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Lieut. Wallace S. Amioka of Honolulu was credited with tracking down Lieut. Col. Tokiharu Aoyagi, a former Japanese commander who had become leader of enemy guerrillas on Okinawa. Aoyagi was killed by a patrol after Amioka led the team that located his camouflaged position.
• Captain Ushiro Cited for Aid to Wounded Troops, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Captain C. S. Ushiro, assistant regimental surgeon of the 442nd Combat Team, received the Bronze Star for administering aid under heavy shellfire in France. He reached casualties in a danger area despite repeated shelling.

National

• Nisei Canadians Protest Press Ban on Troops, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Japanese Canadian Committee for Democracy asked Prime Minister MacKenzie King to rescind a censorship directive barring news of Canadians of Japanese ancestry serving in the Canadian Army. The group argued the directive hindered recruitment and let racist propaganda discourage enlistment.
• Army Statement Allays Fears, Says Official, by P.C. Staff, page 3. WRA assistant director R. B. Cozzens said Maj. Gen. H. C. Pratt’s statement that the Army would determine which evacuees may return to the West Coast should allay fears among those with misgivings. Cozzens added that more than 20,000 Japanese Americans were serving in U.S. uniforms.
• 537 Evacuees Have Returned to Oregon Area, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The WRA reported that 537 Japanese Americans and Japanese aliens have returned to the Oregon exclusion area since the Army relaxed its order. Most returned to Multnomah County.
• Punished for Protest Against Jim Crow, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Fourteen conscientious objectors, including a Japanese American, were placed in solitary confinement at the Ashland, Ky., federal prison after refusing to eat in a segregated mess hall. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. asked Attorney General Tom Clark about the government’s segregation policy.

Community

• Nisei Nurse Returns to Fresno Hospital, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Masae Yasunee, a Japanese American nurse from the Granada relocation center, was employed in the surgical ward of St. Agnes Hospital in Fresno, the first Japanese American nurse to join a hospital in the area since evacuation. Yasunee’s return marked a notable step in the Fresno area’s reintegration.
• Hawaii’s Loyalty Proven in Wartime, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that wartime service and war bond purchases by Hawaii’s residents, including Americans of Japanese ancestry, have proven the territory’s loyalty and strengthened its case for statehood. The majority of Hawaii’s residents bought bonds in support of statehood.
• Family Returns Home to California, by Mary Oyama, page 6. Mary Oyama describes her family’s return to their Los Angeles home after three years of exile in Denver and Chicago. She credits careful saving and planning with making the transition smooth and urges evacuees to return while conditions remain favorable.
• Nisei Will Teach in School in Turkey, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Yoshio Fukuyama, formerly of Los Angeles, is leaving for Talas, Turkey, to teach English and social sciences at a boys’ school for three years. The school is sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
• Nisei Girl Leads Parade as Drum Major in New York Town, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Betty Ikeda led the Bedford Hills School band as drum majorette in the Memorial Day parade in New York. A local editorial praised her participation as a powerful illustration of the meaning of American citizenship.
• Spokane Fellowship Announces Hostel for Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Spokane Fellowship Center announced a hostel for twelve evacuees, directed by Helen Cleveland, to help families find jobs and homes. Rates were set at 75 cents per day for adults and 50 cents for children.

Commentary

• Hiram Johnson, Isolationist, Passes, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial marks the death of Senator Hiram Johnson, the last of the irreconcilable opponents who blocked U.S. entry into the League of Nations. It recounts his use of racism, including the Alien Land Law and the 1924 exclusion act, while acknowledging his progressive reforms.
• Veterans Organizations, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes the Spokane VFW’s suggestion of a separate post for Japanese American veterans as a segregationist answer that has failed nationally. It argues that Nisei combat service refutes claims of friction and notes protests against such discrimination from the Pacific front.
• Resettlement Problems, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes that roughly five percent of the pre-evacuation population has resettled in California, leaving major resettlement work ahead. It praises federal prosecution of the Watson brothers as a sign of government resolve to protect returnees.
• War Work, by P.C. Staff, page 4. A Nisei repeatedly rejected for war plant jobs advertised in a western city was finally hired after intelligence screening. He later learned he had worked on production of the atomic bomb.
• Contradictions, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial contrasts Hollywood films portraying Japanese American characters as saboteurs with films depicting sympathetic Japanese enemies. It suggests Hollywood’s caution stems from fear of West Coast race-baiters and Hearst’s influence.
• Senate Bigot, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial condemns Senator Eastland of Mississippi for attacking Negro soldiers in a speech against the FEPC while praising Nisei soldiers. It argues that his bigotry is indivisible and that his praise of Nisei proves nothing about his prejudice.
• Masao: Pro, by A Nisei Girl, page 5. A Chicago reader defends Jobo Nakamura’s story Masao as a sympathetic study of a relocated Nisei struggling with newfound freedom after a lifetime of restriction. The writer argues the character’s frustration is natural and not a flattering but understandable mood.
• Masao: Con, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A New York reader criticizes Jobo Nakamura’s Masao sketches for negative emphasis that may encourage self-pity and distort the public’s view of the Nisei. The writer urges Nakamura to present the brighter side of Nisei life.

In-Depth

• Give You Americans! If Soldiers Ever Worked to Prove Themselves to a Doubting World, They Were the Nisei GIs in Italy in 1943, by Captain George H. Grandstaff, page 5. Captain George Grandstaff recounts the 100th Battalion’s formation, training, and combat in Italy, including crossings of the Volturno and the battle for Cassino. He describes the Nisei soldiers’ determination to prove their loyalty despite the hardships of winter and heavy casualties.

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