Nisei soldiers train for combat as camps open across the West

Vol. 15, No. 7, July 16, 1942. 8 pages. View this issue

More than a thousand Nisei soldiers, mostly from Hawaii, were training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, as an all-Nisei combat unit bound for overseas duty. Nearby, WRA director Milton Eisenhower told a House subcommittee that 80 to 85 percent of Nisei were loyal. The paper followed the World War II incarceration (often called internment) closely: about 3,575 people were ordered from the Turlock Assembly Center to the new Gila River Relocation Project in Arizona, and Fred Tayama and Joe Ito described the work projects at Manzanar.

The editorial pages took on Representative John Rankin, the idea of using Japanese labor on farms, and the shortage of typists in Washington. Bill Hosokawa wrote about segregation seen on a train trip through the South, and Larry Tajiri explained who the paper serves. Also inside: Mike Masaoka’s return to Washington, and Manzanar’s Fourth of July.

What’s in this issue

National

• U.S. Army Trains Thousand Nisei Soldiers for Overseas Duty as ‘All-Japanese’ Unit, by P.C. Staff, page 1. More than one thousand Nisei soldiers, mostly transferred from Hawaii, are undergoing conditioning at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, before shipment overseas as an all-Nisei combat unit. The Army praised their conduct before and after December 7 and indicated they would see action soon.
• Nisei Loyalty to U.S. Stressed by WRA Official in Congress, by P.C. Staff, page 1. WRA director Milton Eisenhower testified before a House subcommittee that the government has a moral responsibility to aid evacuees, most of whom are loyal citizens. He estimated 80 to 85 percent of Nisei are loyal and praised the JACL’s cooperative educational efforts.

Incarceration & Redress

• Turlock Center Residents Will Be Relocated in Gila River Area, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Army ordered roughly 3,575 evacuees at the Turlock Assembly Center moved to the new Gila River Relocation Project near Sacaton, Arizona, beginning July 18. Other transfers from Pinedale to Tule Lake and Colorado River were also scheduled.
• First Evacuee Group Arrives to Occupy New Arizona Center, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The first group of 175 evacuees arrived at the new WRA relocation center on the Pima Indian Reservation at Sacaton, with the full first unit of 5,000 to follow. Work hours were shortened by an hour due to desert heat during July and August.
• Production Is Key to Future of ‘Industrial’ Manzanar, by Fred Tayama and Joe Ito, page 3. Manzanar, the WRA’s test relocation center, is developing food production, guayule rubber experiments, nursery propagation, and sewing projects. Many additional industries, from candy-making to cattle raising, have been proposed for the future.
• Send Japanese to Japan, Says Legion Leader, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Rudy Huettner, American Legion sixth district commander, urged a resolution calling for return of all alien Japanese to Japan after the war. The proposal was to be introduced at the Legion convention in Seattle.
• Use of Japanese May Alleviate Labor Shortage, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Employment Service are studying plans to recruit alien Japanese for farm labor in western states. Governors would need to guarantee protection and certify that citizen workers are not displaced.

Community

• Relocation Group Opens Regional Denver Office, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Joseph H. Smart was appointed regional director of the WRA to supervise relocation centers in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains region. Centers at Granada, Colorado and Heart Mountain, Wyoming were selected under his supervision.
• Manzanar Limits Are Extended Into Foothills, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Manzanar boundaries were extended four miles into the foothills to include surrounding fields and creeks, allowing residents to hold picnics and outings. Swimming and fishing remain prohibited.
• Hearing Boards for U.S. Citizen Japanese Advocated by Fertig, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Los Angeles youth worker Fred Fertig proposed hearing boards to permit release of citizens and aliens after establishing good faith. He warned that unselective detention of a racial group makes other minorities fearful for their rights.
• Manzanar’s Fourth of July Fete, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Manzanar residents celebrated Independence Day despite a food poisoning outbreak and a dust storm that canceled the planned ceremony. Residents later consumed large quantities of watermelon and other food during festivities including a queen coronation.

Commentary

• Hate Mongers May Have New Fuel, by Topics, page 2. The editorial predicts that rising birth rates among camp residents will fuel racist claims about Japanese overrunning the country. It argues that the increase is a natural result of marriageable-age Nisei and removal of economic barriers to marriage.
• States Have No Right to Bar Citizens, Says Governor Carr, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Colorado Governor Ralph Carr declared that states lack authority to decide admissibility of Japanese evacuees, which rests solely with the federal government. He objected to being pressured to approve entry of evacuees into Colorado.
• Letters to the Nisei, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial explains that the Pacific Citizen serves all loyal American Japanese, not just JACL members. It quotes Mike Masaoka’s letter pledging that JACL representatives work for all Japanese Americans.
• Representative Rankin of Mississippi, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes Representative John Rankin’s long record of anti-alien and anti-Semitic statements, including calls for concentration camps for Japanese Americans. It also mocks his current call to label blood plasma by race.
• Recognizing Citizens, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial welcomes a Western Defense Command order restricting elective offices in assembly centers to citizen Japanese. It hopes the War Relocation Authority will extend similar recognition of citizenship rights.
• Nisei Girl Typists, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes a wartime shortage of typists in Washington while more than 1,500 trained Nisei girl typists sit idle or work in unrelated jobs in the camps. It proposes transferring them to non-vital government work to free others for war agencies.
• Censorship Discontinued, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Censorship of outgoing mail at Tule Lake was discontinued, a practice the WRA had not authorized. The editorial quotes Milton Eisenhower stressing that relocation centers are not concentration or internment camps.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa reflects on a train journey through the South, observing segregation and racial discrimination in cities like New Orleans. He argues that the war against racism abroad must be matched by confronting prejudice at home.
• Not From a Chuckleheaded Crackpot, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The editorial criticizes Senator Stewart’s report claiming Japanese Americans could not be assimilated and posed disaster potential. It argues that such anti-Japanese rhetoric is part of a pattern of persecuting successive minority groups.
• Japanese and the Farm Labor Shortage, by Tad Uyeno, page 5. Uyeno comments on Governor Olson’s proposal to use interned Japanese to harvest crops amid labor shortages. He notes the hypocrisy of farmers who previously opposed Japanese labor, and argues that justice must guide treatment of citizens.
• The War for Interdependence, by Washington Letter, page 5. The column discusses the significance of American pilots flying for China and Mohandas Gandhi’s acceptance of Allied troops in India. It frames these developments as signs of the end of Western imperial domination.
• No Case Against My Husband, Says Mrs. Sashihara, by Mrs. Tozaburo Sashihara, page 7. Mrs. Sashihara writes that her husband was wrongly detained by the FBI after a meeting at Santa Anita, noting that no case exists against him. She disputes press accounts of the June 19 government house incident.
• Warren Rules Evacuees Can’t Vote in County, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Attorney General Earl Warren ruled that evacuated Japanese Americans do not acquire voting residence in counties where they are relocated. They may vote by absentee ballot in their home counties.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Soldier on Duty at Undisclosed Base in Pacific, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Pvt. Tom Ibata, an American-born Japanese soldier, is stationed at an undisclosed Pacific air base. He sent word to his sister that cooperation will ensure victory in the war.

JACL

• Masaoka Back in Washington for Conferences, by P.C. Staff, page 6. JACL national secretary Mike Masaoka returned to Washington after three weeks of meetings with religious and civic organizations in New York. He planned to present JACL recommendations to new WRA chief Dillon Myer.

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