The 442nd’s return home and the fight against anti-Nisei laws

Vol. 22, No. 25, June 22, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue

The coming home of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team led the news. The War Department announced that the “Go for Broke” regiment would return to the United States around July 8 and be inactivated at Camp Kilmer, N.J., while about 1500 men with too few points for discharge stayed in Italy. Stories followed Major Sterlin Moore, who would command the returning men, and First Sgt. Toshiro Suematsu, who accepted a unit citation at Leghorn for his comrades. Col. V. R. Miller sent a farewell message, and New York Nisei began planning a welcome.

The issue also followed civil rights questions. California’s Alien Land Law was headed for the November ballot, and the Selective Service dropped the special 4-C classification for Japanese Americans. Columns by Bill Hosokawa and John Kitasako looked at what the Nisei needed to do to keep the gains of wartime. Sports and community notes fill the inside pages.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Japanese American 442nd Combat Team to Be Inactivated After Return to U.S. in July, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Department announced that the 442nd Regimental Combat Team will return to the United States around July 8 and be inactivated at Camp Kilmer, N.J. Approximately 500 returning men will be joined by others, while about 1500 men with insufficient points remain in Italy.
• Major Sterlin Moore Will Command Returning Members of Famed Combat Outfit, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, one of the most decorated units of World War II, is returning to the United States in late June. Major Sterlin Moore will command the returning contingent while Col. V. R. Miller remains in Italy.
• Nisei Sergeant Reported Killed in Auto Crash, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The family of Sgt. Ichiro J. Takeuchi of Oakland was notified that he died in Berlin on June 7, 1946, from head injuries in a jeep and truck collision. He is survived by a young son and three sisters, and a memorial service was held in San Francisco.
• Nisei Cited as Major Factor in Penetrating Enemy Secrecy, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Col. John Anderton credited Japanese American intelligence men with capturing and translating enemy documents that saved billions of dollars and protected thousands of lives. Their work revised estimates of Japanese army strength and established an accurate cholera line.
• Col. Miller Hails Record of 442nd Men, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Retiring commander Lieut. Col. V. R. Miller congratulated the 442nd troops in a June 10 farewell message for their combat performance. He called them marked men who carry the ball for all Japanese Americans.
• Nisei Sergeant Sees Service With Three Allied Forces, by P.C. Staff, page 2. T/4 Masahi Nomura served with American, British and Chinese intelligence during the Pacific war, including rescue work for Allied prisoners. He recently reenlisted in the Regular Army and awaits orders likely sending him to occupation duty in Japan.
• Colonel Thorpe Will Succeed Colonel Rasmussen as Commandant of Military Intelligence School, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Col. R. R. Thorpe will succeed Col. Kai E. Rasmussen as commandant of the Military Intelligence Service Language School when the school transfers to the Presidio of Monterey. Rasmussen organized the school and trained more than 5,000 Japanese American language specialists.
• Military Intelligence Pictorial Record Released to Public, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A pictorial record of the Military Intelligence Service Language School’s achievements at home and abroad is now on sale to the general public for $3.50 per copy. The 136-page book includes photographs of school life and the work of graduates in the Pacific.
• First Sergeant Toshiro Suematsu Represents 442nd at Awards Ceremony, by P.C. Staff, page 3. First Sgt. Toshiro Suematsu, the most decorated member of the 442nd Combat Team, represented his comrades when the unit received its seventh Distinguished Unit Citation in Leghorn on June 5. He is now employed by the U.S. Army Ordnance Depot in Italy.
• Wyoming Sergeant Receives Decoration in Name of 442nd, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Lieut. General John C. H. Lee pinned the third Distinguished Unit badge on First Sgt. Toshiro Suematsu at Leghorn. Suematsu, from Casper, Wyoming, earned multiple combat awards including the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
• 442nd Volley Ball Team Wins Title in Mediterranean Area, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A seven-man volleyball squad from the 442nd regimental headquarters won the Mediterranean theater championship by defeating the 752nd Tank Destroyers. The team will compete against European area champions later in June.
• Gen. Clark Places Wreath on Grave of Nisei GI in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 8. General Mark W. Clark paid a surprise visit to Memorial Day services of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team to place a wreath on the grave of a Japanese American soldier. Services were also held at several other Italian cemeteries where Japanese American soldiers are buried.

National

• American Veterans Committee Asks Corrective Legislation to End Anti-Nisei Prejudice, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The American Veterans Committee’s first national convention adopted a resolution calling for naturalization of resident aliens, indemnification of evacuation losses, and repeal of discriminatory laws against persons of Japanese ancestry. Six Japanese American veterans attended as delegates.
• Circuit Court Hears Poston Draft Cases, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the cases of three Nisei youths who refused induction while confined at Poston, and Judge Denman questioned the government on executive clemency. Attorney A. L. Wirin argued that relocated Japanese Americans could not be drafted.
• Gen. Eisenhower, Admiral Nimitz Praise Nisei GIs, by P.C. Staff, page 2. General Eisenhower and Admiral Nimitz praised the record of Japanese American veterans when they met two Nisei amputees during a White House medal ceremony. The veterans later attended a National Committee to Win the Peace rally.
• Kenny Believes Alien Land Law Should Be Repealed, by P.C. Staff, page 2. California Attorney General Robert W. Kenny wrote that the Alien Land law should be repealed, noting the reduced number of aliens and the closed immigration pathway. His letter was cited in an ACLU publication.
• Wife of Army Veteran Faces Deportation, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mrs. Matsuna Hayashi Harris, Japanese wife of a two-war American veteran and mother of two citizen children, was ordered deported by November 1946. Her husband plans to seek a private Congressional bill to clarify her status.
• Referendum Proposal to Amend California Alien Land Law Wins Place on November Ballot, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A referendum proposal, Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 17, will appear on California’s November ballot to ratify the Alien Land Law and its amendments. The JACL warned that its language does not name the law directly and that its purpose is to settle legal questions about alien land ownership.
• 32 Private Bills in Congress Ask for Stay of Deportation, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Thirty-two private bills seeking permanent stays of deportation for fifty-six alien Japanese have been introduced in Congress. Most involve former treaty merchants and fathers of American citizen families facing forced exile or separation.
• Escheat Proceedings Filed Against Family in Fresno Court, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The State of California filed escheat proceedings against Hikoichi and Tane Hiyama and their son Kazuo Hiyama and his wife Misao to confiscate 60 acres of farmland. The state alleges the aliens ineligible for land ownership actually benefited from the property.
• Four Men Fined for Threat Against Proprietor of Cafe, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Four men were fined $50 and placed on probation for disturbing the peace and intimidating the proprietor of a Fujii Chop Suey house in Fowler, California. The men had threatened the owner because of his Japanese ancestry.
• Selective Service System Rescinds Special 4-C Classification for Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey ordered the elimination of the special 4-C classification for Americans of Japanese ancestry and directed local boards to reclassify those affected. The change followed JACL representations to Selective Service officials.
• Drop Charges Against 90 Japanese American State Employees If Back Pay Claims Withdrawn, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Unsubstantiated disloyalty charges against 90 former Japanese American civil service employees of California will be dismissed if they drop their back pay claims, according to a state deputy attorney general. Their attorney, James C. Purcell, rejected the proposal and insisted the charges be dropped without conditions.
• Two Japanese Aliens Granted Initial Naturalization Papers, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Akimi Sugawara of South San Francisco and T. Hagyu of Monterey were granted first naturalization papers, each a father of two American servicemen. The JACL sponsored their applications after a prior refusal was overturned.

Community

• New York Nisei Plan Welcome Fete for 442nd, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Representatives of New York Nisei organizations are planning an entertainment program to welcome the 442nd upon its return. A committee was formed on June 17 with Clara Clayman of the JACL as chairman.
• UC Will Publish Findings of Evacuation Study Group, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The University of California Evacuation and Resettlement Study will publish its first volume, The Spoilage, this fall, covering the segregated group known as the disloyal. A second volume, The Salvage, will follow in 1947.
• Hattie Kawahara Awarded Fellowship, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Hattie Masuko Kawahara of Portland, a political science student, received a Grace Ellis Ford fellowship and tuition exemption at the University of Minnesota. The award was announced June 14.
• Babe Nomura Will Play on San Jose State College Team, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Babe Nomura, a standout passer from Los Angeles City College, will join the San Jose State Spartan football team for the 1946 season. He scored a touchdown in the spring intersquad game.
• Two Nisei Graduate From Cincinnati U., by P.C. Staff, page 2. Frank Inouye and Katsu Oikawa received bachelor of arts degrees from the University of Cincinnati, with Inouye graduating with honors in history. Six other Cincinnati Nisei also received graduation diplomas.
• Capital Nisei Consider Formation of JACL Chapter, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A committee of Washington Nisei was selected to explore forming a JACL chapter in the nation’s capital. An alternative of a permanent committee working with National JACL headquarters will also be considered.
• Poston Bussei Elects Frank Shoji President, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Frank Shoji was elected president of the Poston Bussei YBA at a June election. A new cabinet was also named to serve with him.
• JACL Council of Northern California Reactivated at San Francisco, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Delegates from Northern California JACL chapters voted to reactivate the Northern California District Council at San Francisco. Cosma Sakamoto was elected chairman, and the Salinas and Monterey chapters were officially reactivated.

Commentary

• We Have Won the War—We Must Make the Peace, by T/5 Yukio Ide, page 5. A Nisei soldier in Italy reflects on Memorial Day and the sacrifice of the war dead, arguing that Americans must now ensure an end to prejudice based on race or color. He calls for a lasting peace that honors the victories won on the battlefield.
• Nisei Must Work to Insure Gains Made by Fighting Men, by John Kitasako, page 5. JACL regional director Mas Satow argues that the Nisei must press to secure the gains won by veterans and civilians during the war. He notes the evacuation enriched Nisei communities and prompted Caucasian allies to act for democracy.
• The AVC Shows That It Means Business, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. A Negro delegate was refused service at a Des Moines cafe during the American Veterans Committee convention, prompting about 150 white delegates to picket and police to arrest the manager. Hosokawa calls the response heartening given the discriminatory attitudes of other veterans organizations.

Obituaries

• Memorial Service for Private Ben Frank Masaoka, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Family and friends gathered at the Salt Lake City Japanese Church of Christ to honor Private Ben Frank Masaoka, who died in action in France in October 1944. A scholarship fund established in his memory was increased by $50.

Sports

• 442nd Volley Ball Team Wins Title in Mediterranean Area, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A seven-man volleyball team from the 442nd regimental headquarters won the Mediterranean area championship. The squad will represent the area in a match against European champions later in June.

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