About
half-way
between the extreme pro and con charges... is the true
story of the Japanese evacuation and the relocation centers in
California.
When the full story is told it will be filled with drama;
with comedy and tragedy, with suffering and self-sacrifice, with
villainy and heroism, with deep shadows and bright sunlight -- a story
bewildering in its complexity of delicate problems.
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The Preservation of a People:
A Look at
the Evacuation and Relocation
of the People of Japanese Ancestry
in the United States during World
War II,
with extensive
original source material,
transcribed in entirety,
from the papers of Dillon S. Myer,
Director of the War Relocation Authority,
and assorted documents from various
Intelligence and other Government Agencies.
This website is dedicated to a friend of mine,
representative of the
thousands of remarkable men who were like him. He was one of the
brave
soldiers of the renowned 442nd
Regimental Combat Team, a
Sergeant in the first division of the 100th Infantry Battalion, Company
"D." He took part in the battles in the Vosges Mountains in
northeastern France, at Bruyeres, in the Po Valley, and in the
Rhineland, for which he and his comrades were given numerous medals.
One will immediately be struck by his quiet and unassuming
personality, especially his spirit, undaunted after 90 years of life,
and very well complimented by his lovely wife. It is an
honor and privilege to be able to meet and talk with one of these
amazing men in
person, otherwise known only through books or films.
His father, an Issei, came to the US in 1899 and lived in a number
of locations, working at various jobs, including as a hotel manager in
Tacoma, Washington. He brought over his lovely bride from Japan and
settled in Oregon. There
they raised their family of eight children. He started a dairy farm and
then
a plant nursery -- a
business that would last three generations to this very day, making it
one of the oldest single-family agricultural businesses on the West
Coast.
Through those pre-war years they had relatively no problems with the
anti-Japanese sentiments that were prevalent in California. At the
start of WWII, they voluntarily evacuated to a town in eastern Oregon.
There they
worked on a farm during the
entire war.
My good friend, however, had joined the Army in
January 1942. Due to the fact he was of Japanese ancestry, he was kept
in office work with the Army until his status changed and he was sent
to training camps. He and other fellow soldiers shipped out of Ft.
McClellan, Tennessee, on
August 24, 1944, as replacements for those special Nisei soldiers of
the 442nd, arriving in the Mediterranean theater of operations on
September 7.
Joining the nearly 3,000 other Nisei of the 442nd in Italy, he
soon became a part of some of the fiercest fighting in Europe,
including the
renowned break-through to reach the trapped and isolated "Lost
Battalion" in the Vosges Mountains in northeastern France.
That
heroic battle earned the 442nd five Presidential Unit Citations.
Though neither he himself, nor anyone in his family, for that
matter,
was ever
in a relocation center, he still had to deal with the prejudice
against Japanese-Americans. Yet he never complained nor did he lash out
against
those who despised and looked down at him.
After being
honorably discharged from the US Army with several medals
and citations to his name, he went back home to help out in his
father's nursery business. In latter years, he would enjoy taking his
daily
walks through the greenhouses to check up on "his plants."
Ike passed away on Jan.
18, 2013. A quiet man with an amazing history... he will
certainly be missed by many.
As President Truman remarked in July of 1946, these men not only fought
the enemy, but they fought against prejudice... and they won.
For comments within the following documents regarding the
100th
Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, see TL32, TL34,
TL42 (very good), TL43, TL46,
TL48, and TL63.
For a better understanding of the number of medals and awards received
by the 100th and 442nd, see Allen's very well researched critique
of the Smithsonian Institution's exhibit, "A More Perfect
Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution." See also
Hopwood's critique
on Medal of Honor awards.
For the 442nd Regimental
Combat
Team, the war had been doubly
hard. Its
men had not only fought the Germans at their defensive best up the
spine of Italy and in the Vosges; they had also fought prejudice at
home.
Yet the Niseis' record was unexcelled. In 240 combat days, the
original
3,000 men and 6,000 replacements collected eight unit citations, one
Medal of Honor, 3.600 Purple Hearts and a thousand other decorations.
They lived up to their motto, "Go for Broke": no less than 650 of the
Purple Hearts had to be sent to next of kin (many of them in relocation
centers) because the soldiers were dead. The 442nd also set an
unbeatable mark for soldierly behavior; no man in the outfit had ever
deserted.
-- TIME,
July 22, 1946
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It has been said that the most-written-about subject of
World War II is
the evacuation and relocation of the ethnic Japanese (Nikkei)
in
the
United
States. There are thousands of books, articles, films, assorted papers,
and webpages on
the subject, with many more coming out yearly. It is often popularly,
though incorrectly, termed as "Japanese-American internment" or the
"forcible internment" of "resident Japanese aliens and their children"
who were shipped off to "concentration camps."
The
whole program was a first for our nation -- how to deal with a large
number of people
living in the land who had suddenly become "alien
enemies." This
included not only the Japanese Issei (1st generation), but Germans,
Italians, Hungarians, Romanians and
other Europeans. They had to
be dealt with according to war policy, by apprehension, by deportation,
or by placement
in internment camps. The problem for the Issei was they had children...
and those
children
were American citizens.
During my initial research into this immense subject, I was bothered by
something I had come across before -- the fact that there was a paucity
of discussion by the Japanese-Americans about declassified government
documents dealing with the
reality of what occurred during the war years. I found this same sort
of historical blank in Japan while I was searching for anything dealing
with the POW camps that were in Fukuoka. (NOTE: The Densho website has
an immense
collection of primary sources, testimonials and photographs, with more
being added weekly.)
A great number of books and websites on this topic portray the United
States
Government, especially the military leaders, as racist masterminds
behind the evacuation to relocation centers, or as
some have put it, incarceration in concentration
camps. The U.S. has been accused of being white-supremacist,
discriminatory, and
prejudiced against the Issei and Nisei (2nd generation) who lived
in the
United States during WWII.
Though my objective is neither to prove nor disprove the legitimacy of
the evacuation of the Japanese to relocation centers, I do hope
to show a glimpse into the immense preparation and
actual undertaking of the task of the program in its several stages,
the many
organizations involved, and the great care shown to over 100,000 people
of Japanese ancestry
-- a people who were housed, fed and cared for through the efforts and
funds provided by the United States Government, making not simply
relocation centers, but entire cities in the wilderness -- a preserved
people.
As with any event in the past, unless we were
there to experience it ourselves, we must rely on those who experienced
and wrote about that event. Even then, we are at the mercy of their
powers of recollection and interpretation of what took place.
Ultimately this is all we have to go on -- their view of what happened
based on their knowledge and interpretation of events at the time. The
enormity of this subject, however, is overwhelming. One could never
read all
there is on the subject nor interview all who were involved.
I would like, however, in order to get as close to the root of these
events, to offer a small number of primary source materials that may
not
readily be available in text format on the Internet, and hence, easily
accessible by
its search engines. Much of this material has been on the Internet in
image
format for some time, and therefore I present nothing essentially
never-before-seen. As was my method with my
website on POW camps in Japan in presenting
primary source material, I have transcribed documents from the
National Archives for this website in order that viewers may read
for themselves verbatim the originals, grasp the full context,
and thereby make
their own conclusions. This will, I hope, help clear some of the
misinformation resulting in shallow assumptions and conjecture on
this grand and multi-faceted subject.
Additionally, and related to my initial niche in historical research, I
would like the reader to better understand the differences between how
Japan
treated American prisoners of war and civilian internees in Japan, and
how the
United States treated civilians of Japanese ancestry during WWII. My
first
website deals with the former; this site here, with the
latter.
I have predominantly centered on the writings of Dillon S. Myer, who
served as National Director of the War Relocation Authority, and hence
most
knowledgeable, being WRA's Director for almost the entire period this
civilian organization was in existence. (Read Facts About the War
Relocation Authority
for some quick basic information on the WRA.) Due to his position, Myer
was
able to
view a
greater spectrum of the many issues facing his staff and the
evacuees, and deal as fairly as he could with the US as well as
Japanese governments, military as well as
civilian personnel. He could also effectively gauge how the public
was viewing and reacting to the whole program. His writings show a man
of discernment, of
concern for human feelings, giving both praise and rebuke where it was
due. He was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in, enduring
intense pressures and worries from within and without. Please take
special note of his speeches, particularly the last of which is
included on this website (TL63; TL48 is
also
very good).
It was one of Myer's unique strengths to be able to succinctly state
the marrow of issues, and how to step-by-step solve the problems the
Authority faced in a most practical manner. His experience at WRA gave
him
unparalleled insight into the lives of the Issei, Nisei, and Kibei
(Nisei educated in Japan), and
his writings reveal the deep understanding, respect and compassion he
had for those he was in charge of at the ten relocation centers.
(PHOTO: "Dillon S. Myer, Director of the War Relocation Authority, at
the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. Center buildings and Heart
Mountain in the background." From "An
Autobiography of Dillon S. Myer," 1970. Courtesy of the
University
of California, Bancroft Library at Berkeley, Regional Oral History
Office.)
Myer often remarked that the whole topic was extremely complex -- "It is one of
the
most complex situations that has ever been dealt with."
Indeed it
was, and indeed it still is, as
anyone
who has read the numerous varied accounts, first-person and otherwise.
One can read an account and come away feeling very anti-American; read
another and
you feel very anti-Japanese. There is no simple cut-and-dry conclusion
that would explain this period of American history.
It is sad, nevertheless, to see attacks on Myer by
those who really had no way of knowing Myer's heart and mind, having
never met and personally talked with the man nor even read
all his writings. It's difficult to determine exactly the agenda
of those who smear or attempt to detract from what Myer, or the WRA,
for that matter, has done. One
clue, however, may be found in remarks on Myer's faith -- that he came
from a "puritannical" background, being raised in a strict Methodist
family, and holding to the religious tenets he was taught as a youth.
It is also very conceivable that the
"race-baiters"
Myer spoke of so often were not
at all pleased with his strong stand against them, Myer having exposed
them by
name in numerous public speeches. He was not afraid of mentioning just
who the "enemies" of the Nikkei were (TL48).
One of the most important of addresses given by Myer was
entitled "Problems of
Evacuee Resettlement
in
California." Herein you will
see the real heart of Myer towards the people over which he was given
directorship, the insight he had regarding these people,
and a vision of what would occur if racial prejudice, discrimination
and hatred were to break out against other sects or ethnic groups. Of
special note are his many comments regarding the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
(see
above), the formation of
which could have very well been due to Myer's
efforts; the selective service being reinstated; the whole leave
program for work, schooling, etc.; all of which could very well be
attributed to his urging. (Be sure to read this Oral
History Interview with Dillon S. Myer at the Truman Library
website.)
It is important to keep in mind the whole purpose of the relocation
program -- to provide temporary housing to evacuees, or as Myer stated
succinctly, "the relocation
centers were
simply temporary homes for
people to live in until an orderly process of relocation could be
developed." And that orderly process was indeed developed and
carried
out to completion. It is my hope the following selections from the
writings of Dillon Myer will
help to settle once and for all the myths, mysteries and
misinformed conclusions about most every facet of the evacuation and
relocation program.
Another objective I would like to obtain through these pages is to show
how
life for the evacuees did not consist entirely of suffering,
deprivation and disillusionment
that
is so often the underlying theme in material on this topic. I trust the
reader may see in another light
the many things that are
taken for granted, that the themes of "incarceration"
and "racism" will unfold more fully, and that the entire period of
the Nikkei in the United States be seen with less ambiguity and
assumption.
The record of the past is an
ongoing process in the present -- history is being re-interpreted and
rewritten as more
information is revealed. I have, therefore, attempted to steer clear of
speculation and center on the very data that was issued
during those war years. To reiterate, what I present here is simply a
textualization
of
already-available archival images in order to make this history more
accessible over the
Internet as textual media, or more specifically, search-engine
friendly. It is my desire that these efforts will be of help to many
students of
American and Japanese history by providing them a much clearer view of
the intricacies of those times, those few seconds on the clock of
history.
I
hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War... to
prescribe military areas... from which any or all
persons may be excluded... [and] to provide for residents of any such
area who are excluded therefrom,
such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be
necessary... including the furnishing of medical aid,
hospitalization, food, clothing, transportation, use of land, shelter,
and other supplies, equipment, utilities, facilities, and services.
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SOURCES
The majority of the documents I have transcribed on the War
Relocation
Authority and Dillon Myer are found at the Truman
Presidential Museum and Library. These filenames are prefixed
with
"TL."
The majority of documents produced
by intelligence agencies are from
the Internment
Archives (filenames prefixed with "IA"). The
photographs are predominantly from University
of
Nebraska Press. The WRA
publications (PDF files) are from the Ohio
GODORT Digital Collections
and have been collected here for the purpose of future transcription. I
welcome any and all volunteer help in transcribing these and other
documents.
The Bancroft
Library at UC Berkeley has a huge image and text database,
with excellent
search capability, via the Japanese
American
Relocation Digital Archives, a great site for a quick look at
thousands of very
interesting photos from the Univ.
of California's calisphere. I am most
grateful to all of these websites for
making these archival images available for perusal via the World Wide
Web.
The following are Record Groups at the National Archives which contain
much material on this entire subject:
- RG
210 - Records of the War Relocation Authority
(includes searchable records on 109,384 individuals)
- RG
60 - WWII Alien Enemy
Detention and Internment Case Files; Compensation and Redress Case
Files (26,550 claims for compensation and 82,219 restitution payment
claims)
- RG
220 - Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of
Civilians (CWRIC) Records (20 days of hearings and testimonies from
more than 750 witnesses
between July and December, 1981)
- RG
389 - Office of the Provost Marshal General
(OPMG) Records
(individuals' release from relocation centers, information about
Japanese-American men eligible for military service, personal data
cards, etc.)
- RG
499 - Western Defense Command (WDC) Records (assembly center
records, with folders on individual families).
TRANSCRIPTION
NOTES
In
order to enable the reader to grasp the main points of the following
documents which may otherwise be overlooked,
I have taken the liberty to put in bold type
sentences and
phrases which help the reader catch the main points in the pages.
Any additions I have made to the text are enclosed in
[brackets].
Spelling errors may have been either inadvertently overlooked or left
on purpose.
The Chronology of
Events used
in
the Table of Contents is from
Dillon Myer's Uprooted
Americans.
All
photos within the various documents have been added to complement the
text and are not a part of the originals. Readers may save the images
and later view the embedded source notes for each image with an image
utility (e.g. VuePrint,
"N" function).
In some of the intelligence documents, portions have been blacked out
through redaction in the originals by
the various intelligence agencies. These portions are marked by XXXXX.
While some of the
evacuees will never recover from the bitter experiences of the
evacuation, the Authority is convinced that because of the industry and
integrity of the Japanese Americans, they will quickly build for
themselves a better social and economic pattern than they had before
the war.
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