Japanese Internment

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized removing persons of Japanese descent (at least 1/16th) from the exclusion area on the Pacific West Coast into inland concentration camps. No such measures were taken against persons of German or Italian ancestry, Over 120,000 Japanese people, the majority of whom were American-born citizens, were forcibly relocated. They were given 6 days to sell all of their belongings except what they could carry. They were incarcerated in one of 10 “relocation centers” typically located in the middle of deserts. Each relocation center was its own town, complete with schools and post offices. Nuclear families were kept together as a matter of policy, but that did not mean that family lives were not disrupted in profound ways. In addition to losing their homes, businesses, and careers, fathers lost their sense of being breadwinners. Mothers lost control of their homes, and children were put in the position of suddenly becoming the ones in charge.  

The first legal challenge to the constitutionality of the camp was brought up in a suit by Fred Korematsu. He lost the case but went on to become a civil rights activist. In 1988, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Reagan. The internment camps were eventually closed in 1945 following a Supreme Court ruling of ex parte Mitsuye Endo.

Particularly ironic was the case of young Japanese men, who were drafted to fight to prove their patriotism. The 442nd regiment combat team and 100th infantry were made entirely of second-generation Japanese men, fought valiantly in the European theater, and would become the most decorated unit in US military history. Daniel Inouye, who would later become the Senator of Hawaii, lost his arm and was awarded the Medal of Honor.

The US government required that all internees answer a loyalty questionnaire, in order to register the Nisei for the draft. Question 27 of the questionnaire asked "Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?" and question 28 asked, "Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, or any other foreign government, power or organization?" To protest the situation that their families were put in and resent the implication that they previously had allegiance to the Japanese emperor, about a quarter of men answered “No” to both questions, thereby earning the title “No No Boys”.