Nisei soldiers in Italy and the fight over the West Coast, January 1944

Vol. 18, No. 1, January 8, 1944. 8 pages. View this issue

Japanese American soldiers were at the center of this eight-page issue. The War Department named five more Nisei killed and one wounded in the Mediterranean, Sgt. Dye Ogata of Helena, Montana, received the Purple Heart, and Associated Press correspondent Don Whitehead described the 100th Infantry Battalion’s fighting in Italy. Drew Pearson wrote that not one Nisei soldier had betrayed the Army’s trust. Larry Tajiri’s editorial “Vindication” took up the same theme.

The issue also followed the debate over the West Coast and the incarceration camps. H. V. Kaltenborn questioned the evacuation policy, and WRA Director Dillon S. Myer warned against hopes of an early return. Saburo Kido wrote on race-baiting in California, and John Kitasako told how Gordon Hirabayashi hitch-hiked to a federal prison camp. Camp news came from Gila River, Poston, Hunt and Denson, and the JACL column “Calling All Chapters!” closed the issue.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• War Department Announces Names of Five Nisei Killed, One Wounded on Italy Front, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Department identified five Japanese American soldiers killed and one wounded in recent Mediterranean action. The announcement listed each soldier’s family contact information by date of notification.
• Nisei Soldier Awarded Purple Heart Medal, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sgt. Dye Ogata of Helena, Montana, received the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in the southwest Pacific. He is the second Japanese American reported wounded there, following Sgt. Kazuo Komoto.
• Japanese American Battalion Fighting Some of Hardest Italy Battles, Says Newsman, by Don Whitehead, page 1. Associated Press correspondent Don Whitehead reported that Japanese American soldiers in Italy have fought with distinction from Salerno onward. He noted their added incentive to prove loyalty while some of their fathers were interned.
• Military Authorities Seek More Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The U.S. Army called for several hundred more Americans of Japanese ancestry for service as interpreters and translators. The United Press reported the call on January 1.
• Nisei Soldiers Winning Recognition, by Saburo Kido, page 2. Kido praises the 100th Infantry Battalion and Nisei intelligence soldiers in the Pacific for their contributions. He urges Japanese Americans at home to share the burden of the war effort.
• Nisei Prove Loyalty in War, Says Officer, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Maj. Frank O. Blake of the U.S. Army said Hawaii’s Japanese Americans have fully proved their loyalty through military service. He spoke while presenting a service flag to a Honolulu church.
• 100th Infantry Commander Gets New Army Post, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Lt. Col. Farrant L. Turner, commander of the Japanese American battalion in Italy, was reassigned under a policy favoring younger battalion commanders. The unit had trained at Camp McCoy and Camp Shelby before going overseas.
• War Department Executives Proud of War Record Made by Japanese American Troops, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Drew Pearson reported that War Department officials were proud of Japanese American troops’ combat performance. He recounted Undersecretary Patterson’s meeting with Nisei intelligence soldiers in the Southwest Pacific.
• Not One Nisei Has Betrayed Trust in Army, Says Pearson, by Drew Pearson, page 3. Drew Pearson wrote that no Japanese American soldier has betrayed Army trust after screening. He described their intelligence work translating captured enemy information.
• Coast Problem Political, Not Military, Says Hawaii Paper, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin argued that the West Coast Japanese question is becoming political rather than military. It compared the agitation to the Chinese exclusion movement.
• Honolulu Soldier Awarded Purple Heart, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Pvt. Hitoshi Nagaoka of Honolulu was wounded in Italy on October 21 and received the Purple Heart, which his sister received in Honolulu. He is recovering and expected to rejoin combat forces.
• Soldiers Rate Denson Tops For Furloughs, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Japanese American soldiers at Camp Shelby visited families at Denson during Christmas week. The Denson Tribune reported that visiting servicemen joined block residents in holiday observances.
• Tacoma Nisei Graduates from School in Boston, by P.C. Staff, page 7. A Japanese American evacuee from Tacoma graduated from a school in Boston. The Tacoma Tribune reported the news.
• Montana Private Home on Furlough, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Pvt. Boon Oshitani, of the Japanese American combat team, is home on furlough in Malta, Montana, where his family runs a restaurant. Two fellow soldiers from Hawaii accompanied him.

Incarceration & Redress

• H. V. Kaltenborn Questions Coast Policy on Evacuation, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Radio commentator H. V. Kaltenborn urged that loyal Japanese Americans be permitted to return to vocations and questioned the West Coast evacuation policy. He based his views on a three-week tour of Pacific war fronts.
• Issei Evacuee Has Four Sons in U.S. Armed Forces, by P.C. Staff, page 1. An Issei evacuee from the Gila River center, Norioshi Masamitsu, was granted leave to work outside after his four sons’ Army service was documented. The story illustrates how family military service supported loyalty claims.
• Agitation on Pacific Coast Against Japanese Americans Described in Time Article, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Time Magazine described West Coast agitation against Japanese Americans as the most violent racial hysteria since the Yellow Peril days. The article quoted a Marine veteran’s letter opposing the American Legion’s campaign.
• Judicial Commission Will Try Cases in Gila River Court, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Judicial commissions at Butte and Canal blocks at Gila River will begin hearing resident cases in the new year. The project director had handled all cases to date.
• Hunt Firemen Strike Against Long Hours, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Janitor-boilermen at the Hunt relocation center walked out over a new 24-hour operation rule, leaving the camp without hot water. Acting project director R. S. Davidson said talks were underway to resolve the strike.
• Twin Falls Official Denies Charges in Hearst Paper, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Twin Falls Chamber of Commerce president Claude Detweiler rebutted a Examiner letter claiming the city was controlled by Japanese from Hunt. He noted Japanese Americans’ contributions to local harvests and the absence of land purchases.
• WRA to Drop Resettlement in Iowa Town, by P.C. Staff, page 3. WRA’s Omaha office decided not to recommend resettling Japanese Americans on a tract near Hamburg, Iowa, due to local opposition. Walter Parmeter called the opposition unfortunate.
• Gov. Vivian Promises Study of Protests, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Colorado Governor R. Vivian pledged serious study of complaints from Adams County officials about Japanese American land purchases. Mayor J. W. Wells claimed evacuees were paying above market value for farms.
• Disloyal Group Declared Target of New Organization, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Richard Johnson, president of the American Foundation for Expulsion of Japanese, said its targets were persons of Japanese ancestry who admitted disloyalty. He announced headquarters in Los Angeles.
• Test Case Figure Hitch-Hiked Way to Arizona Prison Camp, by John Kitasako, page 7. Gordon Hirabayashi, central figure in the curfew test case, hitch-hiked to a federal prison camp near Tucson to serve a three-month sentence. The Heart Mountain Sentinel account traces the delays in his sentencing.
• Plight of Nisei in Japan Declared Desperate, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Capt. Paul Rusch told Gila River audiences that Japanese Americans caught in Japan live under constant surveillance and cannot leave. He described them as the most desperate people in the Far East.
• Sacramento Farm Bureau Opposes Return of Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Sacramento County Farm Bureau passed a resolution opposing the return of evacuees to county farms and asked Governor Warren to take a stand. An investigation found no evidence supporting rumors of imminent returns.
• Attorney General’s Office to Study Anti-Alien Laws, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Everett Mattoon of the California Attorney General’s office was appointed deputy in San Francisco to handle anti-alien land law interpretations. He will also study highway freeway problems.
• Families Reunited As Nisei Wed In Des Moines, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Two families were reunited for Christmas when Jackson Takayanagi married Mary Nakamura in Des Moines. The groom’s family celebrated at the home of a brother working in a local jewelry store.

Community

• Funds Collected by JACL Used for Soldiers’ Christmas, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL and Hawaii Emergency Service Committee donations provided Christmas gifts for Japanese American combat team members at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Stockings and a holiday program were distributed to soldiers including those in the hospital.
• Six Warehouses Destroyed by Fire, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Six warehouse barracks at the Colorado River relocation center in Poston, Arizona, were destroyed by fire Christmas night. WRA officials estimated about $100,000 in government and evacuee property was lost.
• Eight Evacuees Teach Japanese in Chicago University Program, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Eight of ten Japanese-language instructors for Army cadets at the University of Chicago are American-born evacuees from relocation centers. Two of the instructors are women.
• Ogden Officials Ban Permits For Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Ogden’s city commission signaled support for denying business licenses to Japanese Americans not in business before Pearl Harbor. The policy was raised when an evacuee sought a cafe license.
• 23-Year Old Nisei Is Principal, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Patrick Noda, a 23-year-old Japanese American, serves as principal of the Galt, Iowa high school. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Central College.
• Minneapolis Nisei Gets Job as Street-Car Conductor, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Thomas Sasaki, 17, is believed to be the first Japanese American street car conductor on the mainland. He works part-time while attending Marshall High School in Minneapolis.
• Nisei Should Direct Japan Education, Says Chinese American, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Dr. Shao Chang Lee of Michigan State College said Japanese Americans should direct a re-education campaign in Japan after the war. He cited their knowledge of both cultures.
• Japanese Americans Serving in Pacific War, Salt Lake Meeting Discusses American Racial Problems, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Topaz center director Charles F. Ernst told a Salt Lake City meeting that Japanese American troops serve in the Pacific and Mediterranean. Panelists also discussed anti-Semitism and anti-Negro feelings.
• Evacuee Families Tend Chicks At Former Chicago Golf Club, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Japanese American families from Tule Lake work at a poultry operation in the former Edgewater Country Club clubhouse in Chicago. Foreman Harry Makino and his family describe their adjustment in Arlington Heights.
• Group Attacks Race Hatred, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Dr. Pieter Samson told the Yuba City Lions Club that the idea that a Jap is a Jap is race hatred. He urged members to combat race hatred in the United States.
• Calling All Chapters!, by Hito Okada, page 8. JACL staff report on contributions to the Nisei USO in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, totaling $325 toward a $500 goal. They also remind members to renew 1944 memberships and announce the National JACL Credit Union annual meeting.

National

• WRA Director Warns Against Wishful Thinking Regarding Early Return to West Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 1. WRA Director Dillon S. Myer cautioned evacuees against expecting an early return to California. He said relocation should remain a serious consideration for center residents.
• S.F. Paper Questions Tactics Used by Gannon Committee, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The San Francisco News questioned the impartiality of the Gannon interim committee after it appointed Native Sons of the Golden West as special counsel. The editorial followed a letter from ACLU Northern California director Ernest Besig.

Commentary

• Iowa Newspaper Notes Many Californians Back Fair Play, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Des Moines Sunday Register noted many Californians oppose race-based hostility toward Japanese Americans. It praised the Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play.
• Reaction Sets In Against Race-Baiters, by Saburo Kido, page 2. Kido argues that national reaction is growing against California race-baiting, citing the Los Angeles Times criticism of the Gannon committee. He notes that the agitation has not peaked and may spread to other minorities.
• Vindication, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial celebrates Japanese American soldiers’ battlefield performance, including General Clark’s commendation of the Italy battalion. It argues their service strengthens Japanese Americans’ resistance to hate propaganda.
• Camouflage in Ogden, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial condemns Ogden commissioners for opposing business licenses for Japanese Americans based on unfounded loyalty doubts. It contrasts this with WRA loyalty clearances and praises Twin Falls Chamber president Detweiler’s letter.
• People Without Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial contrasts the situation of Japanese Americans in the U.S. with nisei caught in Japan, who lack any rights or alternative. It urges Japanese Americans to recognize the opportunities available in America.
• Nisei and the Films, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues motion pictures have been underused to counter anti-Japanese American propaganda. It criticizes films like Air Force for depicting Japanese Americans as saboteurs and calls for a film documenting their war contributions.
• Some Notes for the Nisei: The Role of Japanese Americans in a New World Culture, by Fred Fertig, page 5. Fertig reflects on the early Nisei ideal of serving as a bridge between East and West, arguing it should apply to all Americans. He calls for a world culture based on shared values rather than racial or national empire.
• Joe Grant Maixner’s Column: Japanese Americans Maintain Hope for Justice in Conscience of Enlightened Democracy, by Joe Grant Maixner, page 6. Maixner describes Nisei soldiers and seamen seeking service and recalls Gordon Hirabayashi and Min Yasui’s test cases on curfew. He concludes that Japanese Americans maintain hope in the conscience of American democracy.

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