パ /
INTERVIEW WITH KARL BENDETSEN Ijy Professor Jacobus tenBroek
July 8 , 1952
Duration of the Interviews an hour and a quarter to an hour and a hall*
Place of Interview: Pentagon
Principal subject: The origin of the policy determina- ■cion to evacuate the Japanese-Ameri cans - made by whom on what reasoning and at what time*
Bend©tsen said:1« Ther persons who mad© the deci sion to evacuate did so on a basis of the fear of what the Japan©s©-Americans might do in time of threatened invasion as a result of their homeland orientation and the discriminations of the Caucasian against them* This is of course the main ground taken in DeWittfs final report and represents nothing new* Bend©tsen insisted, however, that these were factors in the final decision whether the loyalty of the Japanese-Americans was in fact questionable or not* Bendetsen himself seemed to imply that the factors which created doubt in the minds of tiie decision-makers were also sound.
2* B* insisted that G-2 intelligence reports as to the danger of invasion and the likelihood of disloyal acts were partly responsible for the final decision* I said we had seen some ONI reports, some FBI reports, Munson^ report, Immigration and Treasury reports and that we w^re anxious to know what the Gr-2 reports were. He said of course that he could not tell m© about reports that I had not already gained access to and that there was xadb no point in his telling me about reports that I had seen* Consequently this avenue of inquiry proved a dead end other than B8s general insistenc© that intelligence reports were a factor in the final decision*
3* B was very emphatic on the followings(a) DeWitt began to propose evacuation within a few days after Pearl Harbor; (b) that Stimson and McCloy deliberated upon these proposals actively from then until the final decision was announced; (c) that General George Marshall was brought into close consultation; (d) that the President himself considered the sub 1©ct upon several separate occasions and approved the final decision;(e)that B himslef played no part in the policy determination* He was a courier and collector of information from the middle of December until March when h© received appointment as administrator of the program* During that period it was his job to figure out how to execute the decision once made*
Commentj B was particularly vehement In his denials that h© had played a principal or an important role in making the decision* It was fairly apparent that; charges and statements to that effect had stung him* It is of course important to re-examine all the available records for corroboration or refutation of B*s statement* If th© decision cam© about in the way described <*• if De Witt began to make th© proposal within a few days of Pearl Hartoor and if th© decision was actually made by McCloy, Stimson and the Predident after protracted consideration lasting from the middle of December until February - then:1* the chronology of events is event more destructive of th© pressure group theory than w© had previously supposed; 2* th© President himself actively participated in the decision; 3« th© decision was basically a decision of civilians they did not merely act as th© rubber stamp of the military but themselves deliberately determined th© policy*
B insisted that neither he nor DeWitt gave access to pressure groups• B said that h© only admitted groups of Japanes©-Americans. He agreed however that the general context of anti-Orientalism developed over a period of fifty years had manifested nationally as well as on a state level undoubtedly influenced the decision.
5* B further corroborated what we already know namely that th© Western Defense Command did not originate the idea of detention and did not believe that It was either necessary^w^desirable•
6* B said that h© had not been given his just credit for having Initiated the idea of a Japan©se- Amerlcan combat team*
7* B said that he had not kept up on writings about the evacuation but during th© course of the conversation of what is in Grodzins, pointing out that Grodzins set out to prove th© pressure group theory; that Grodzins did not wdeignw to pay any attention to th© assertion in the beginning of th© final report that numerous factors went into th© making of th© decision*
8* B said flatly and categorically that he wrote the final report*
9* 5 Said that he had th© most complete records on th© evacuation; that h© didn^ know what shape t they were in; that they were in a wooden box; that he didn^ know what he would do with them eventually or when; that h© thought he would probably give them to Stanford*
Note to self ： Immediately upon return to Berkeley write to B strongly urging that this is the time to release th© material in his possission and that he ought to give it to IJ.C. It may also b© that B would be willing to give us some help in changing th© classi fication of stuff now in Army files. He was very- approachable , very generous with his time and I think quit© anxious to be put in a better light historically. He said he was breaking a rule of 10 years silence to talk to me*
10. We had a little chit chat about th© Indivi dual Exclusion Program. B siad that he had been responsible for setting it up including th© hearing procedure• H© thought that he remembered that there had been only on© case of the enforcement of an Exclusion order by troops, but readily agreed that this was wrong when I refreshed his memory* No new information of this subject*
Dictated July 1952 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OFFICE OF PHBLIC 113FOEmOTCB PRES3 BHAHCH .
臓 L ROBIN BENHETSEN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY" "Kapl Hobin Bendetsen was born in Aberdeen, Washington, October 1 1 , 19〇7> the son of Alber^ M# end Anna (Benson) Bendstsen. He was ■ graduated from Leland Sta^tord University^ California, in 1929 and roepived his lav 'degree fron that institution in 1932, He began ■ his West Coast lav practice at Aberdeen that same year.
He servc-d in the "Washington Stcite National Guardi from 1921 to 1924， and"In the Officers Reserve Corps, as a Lieutenant of P5.eld Artillery, from 1929 to 1940,
111丄940, he vas called to active duty as a captain in the Judge Advocate General1s Department^ ¥as transferred to the General Staff Corps shortly thereafter and promoted successively to the grades of n a jo i1 in 19斗1 and lic-uteiiarrt colonel in 19斗2* He vas pronotod V to colonel March 19斗2，
Ho vas responsible for the drafting and assisted in the processing or the Service. Extension Act of 1 9 4 1 ,and aided in the organi Nation and cstablishraont o f" the Office of the Provost Marshal General^ ^^^¥lthin vhieh he later organized and diroctod the aliens division fl^ an d the prisoner of var Infornation bureau.
He ¥New Jersey, and Gssisted in the opera tion of that plant, . い-'
He l e f t —the War D epartnent in 1942, and "became an Assistant Chief of Staff G-5 of the Fourth Aray^ vith headquarters at、 San Francisco*
He served in the Europoan thcatop of operations fpor.i .August^ 19斗；5, until Ju ly,, 1945 — initially" as a nc-nber of the Combined Staff vhich planned the Nornancly invasion^ latey cs^Deputy Chief of Staff of the Forward Oonnunications Zone in Nornandy^ and thereafter vith General B r a d le y ^ 12th Arny Group,
In J u l y , 19斗5, he returned u〇 the War Dc-partnent yhoro he re mained in the service until t'^e end of that year* During that " period *hc served on a number of Boards having to do vith unification, and postwar organization of the A v n j^ After leaving the service. he re sunc-d the practice of la¥ in San Francisco*
MORE In the spring of 1 9 4 8 ^ he served about three nonths as special consultant and acting deputy to thc: ：H 〇norablQ Janes Porrc-stal^ thfl fLrst Secretary o f : Defonfeo, Tills' was duping the critical period vnl the Berlin blockade. Ti)cga,ri and during the initial phases of unificct-
On A u g u s t 1 1 , 1949, ho vas appointed Special Consultant to Secretary of the Arny Gordon Gray, ；； He IjQeaiio a noiibcp of the Civilian Conponents Policy Board of the Ddpartnont of Defense, Sfc-ptofnbdr 2 1 , 19^9, cind in addition to his other , duties .servpd on • the Personnel Policy Board and .the Managenont Qoninittcc of the '-vDcpartnont of Defense # . し' 、 ^ . - . . , . . ■. He wns noniinatcd as Assistant Secretary ,pf the Arny^ by President Trunan January 2 h , ユ9 5 〇, confirned b y the Sc-nato January 26, and ；；Bw r n into office February 2, / ， :- 二.、' . .• ' He was Girarded the- Distinguished Service. M o d a l ェn lQt'e 1 9 斗
I n 194'T, he narried Maxine Bosworth, of Dallesr Texas.
END
• 一... - •...： ^ , • • . .
•• ■: •.ン ** • ，.貧 .,.* へ 、 .，• •： Up to elate as of February 1950 v r r S COPY メ ^ の :2
STATE OF NEBRASKA
LINCOLN
August 2 8 , 1942
Mr. Frank Bane, Executive Director Council of State Governments 1313 East 6〇th Street Chicago, Illinois
Dear Franks
ェ am today writing Secretary of War Stimson as follows:.
HI am writing to protest the manner in which your de- partment is handling the relocation of Japanese. I have received a number of requests to approve the entry of certain Japanese or Japanese-Americans into Nebraska* It would appear to me that this is entirely si matter for federa丄 authorities to decide* エ do not believe ar〇r Governor has the personnel necessary to investigate these people as individuals or as groups. In fact, the states have been specifically requested to permit the F. B. I. to handle all investigations relative to the loyalty of residents of this country. エ feel that the decision relative to the entrance of these groups into states should be made entirely by federal author ities upon the basis of investigations they have made, and I think it is unfair to the Governors to ask them to pass on the matter*
Sineere丄y yours,
ss/Dwight Griswold Governor DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF INFORMATION WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
CINFO IB December 1951
Mr. Edward N. Barnhart Asst* Professor Department of Speech University of California 424 Wheeler Hall Berkelsy California.
Dear Mr. Barnhart: In response to your request of 8 December, we are en
closing a copy of the citation accompanying the award of
an Oak Leaf Cluster to the Distinguished Service Medal
earned by Lieutenant General John Lesesne DeWitt in 1943*
If this office can be of any further service to you,
pXcstSG do not iicsitat© to contsct us# Sincerely yours,
1 Incl ^HADDEUS P. FLORYAN if 1 Copy Citation Xieutenant Colonel, Artillery Chief, Pictorial Branch ' ? /) 5 ^ 2 Statcnmat • Viur U^Xoo^tim AuUiorltgr ；i mmmmMnmb (mx « »ot for bsbu catlcm
1 A p r U frn$ 1942；^
^ ti':'/;''. IxifieuMtl 8fS^Witlon of Wmfc C o st 11111tjgpy Aram l i r in ibm BfteiflG^ including mneroos Attacks bgr J r jw m m 0111>» 9Mari2M on AnsrioAn 墟ilp|ilQe# And tl»» eontii級ing daoeigtr o f Iteirio Co««t oitlM and ««r indu«tyl«»9 ham md& It nttemswy to 00n«id«r th« m tir« n«at«m ocmutUX mrm as a p o te itla l eoadt>at sex»# and hfts i#d to the a ilita r y dtclttlen tlm i a l l p^riKmo o f A pbomhi aneMtx1^ rvgax也 《S0 of aaticmalltgr• ぬcraild be musuktad f^roiA th is ar«a» miitAxy arm Ifo. X m dsUn»«it«i t〇r P!roel«Bflition 9o« 1 o f Karoh Z$ 雄箱* by 0•*!• Jolaa .!!»•: も aaid ©WMRUttioR .o f peyspnai ば 611•#• ‘し赛. 《ao<«tiy «u»‘ or^rad in mibMqo«nt proeluoaU斑!《 • . :':.S_|fti thlji iSfteltfloa to this «r«a rfM^o^ols^dt !!• 恐mt 伽！ •箱}t> tlio W 脚由a t參访• lnt«mln^Ud ixtmw加• o f _ r « than lOO.OOO poraons o f J ftpftB . . . 勘 WO也 d b4BQ6BM • d tU l'tilK ^ IbUISSTd W ld ft GfliUB# f& t unt«aKbl« isoni^aioii, vltfeout r.g«rd to 职《8tlocui o f Xo^al分• 戴.既的ぬ tllOU• 也A XttT00 pT〇p 〇fttX 〇R o t tlMI Jllpi 丨Hj.lWI gm ip is^ipl^.lMi. 2i〇wX to tfcM United SiAtM f «* Xog^iX 111xi «Hlt«X7 eon«U«rAtloni could not p»ralt th» risk pf putting th«n to Urn t««t o f b0lag ^armwmt during an I h vm I osi by an « n 〇r o f th0lr o«d race. ¢1 ' v,' >' i 二 ; m o 麝供awa aod 也！Xdr«a o f a l l 秦g a s ,政ill* Ami ooouiAtl棚り somi «1访 stxlotlsr ra n d b«ol(^roiiK¥l# 111it aX〇p a largo maibmr who Itfm bMR rMur«d in lar^ eltiM* ControX AdRlnl«txmtlon laocter tb« dirtet and lna»dl*t« m pnrfiM loa o f A«»i«Uxit Cbltf of SU ff for Civil Affairs of tlM WMtm CoaMknd and Fourth iUn^r* Although th t Iji a a U lta z y opwrati ⑽，龜加減ter of d M l Ag«nol«s of tl» y«d«r«0L Qcrrmaanxt banm bmm r«quMt«d to help In a cacrdinat«d vltii tbe naXtitud* of prelOMi ixiro3L， ttd in iraAteily eutUng off thft QDraaX bo81119cm^ eeoiuMle, •al ttocdal r«l«ti〇iiahi.98 9t tiui Xsrgt pepidAtlon \mijag DtpurtMat of Justic*, th9 Federal Bas^c 〇T a F«dteraX Itecazlty Agenc^t 1^i Dtpurtnant of Agrlealt«Hr«t th« Tkmsaxx D»imrta*nt# and tlui Ali«n ^reptr^r On»toAim § ttamng ethers, m eocipnrating with th« V ,0,C*A . 011 th is tMde* Tb« allltaiy rttponslbllitlM *nd opwr^tlaos «ro eXoMdj iz3t«r- nowi with Mtlooii tqr eiTUlm ag«ncd«« In a ll jibftwis of tbi emcs»tloa and rvloeatlon irognou 输 tl* 齡 . “ 副 一 erltleal «r— w €l»«r«d Hr«t, fh««# mtm» ar« then divided Into umrn»m BsuikiBmUm orters and tptoiao to t)» j^ p a U iK m to \m «rt fnikli此 《 d ^nd posted thrcu^ioiit tho miA 龜t Xtftat on« «Mk in mdvanee of th« motoal ev&eoatloQ. 0nd«r An〇r dlr«ctl 切 _ 脚 a t 抑 卿 oliited 娀也 bin 制 U y and ntdieaX «nmlisaUon. Vf The control atatlon aets a® a through «iileh th« Hew 〇£ te is n»goX«t«d* ttmm emt^rm ar« e ABwmSHy c«nt«r 1» «&d »«nag«d lir a tralnod staff9 and the rmtion s«nred is ^quivalint to that of the Azv^« AsMnbl^ cmtorm ar« undttr litlitayy gn^rd. frcm asMnblgr o«nt«rtt# tfvacutee ar« trmn«port«d to arvilooatloa e«nter«t loeatMl oat«d4e of th« allltas^ «on0f iiier« «v&oue«8 wf” Xlr« and mark for th« duration of the veut. 7h« transportAtlon of • vaoum s In luusiilMl |〇r th« Art^f9 and procMds train,細t o , or boBMa In an Arw^ oonvoy. 辦 M 腿 liitoLteasm Ttm nlooatlQa o f evacuees In sultate2L« ftr«aa and the parovialOT Q t u»ef9 1 ikiHc for Hhm eontribiiting to the nsr «fXori «r« tl» rttsponBlfamt^ of th« H«r BfiCLooatlQR M^cnrlty, Bowmr^ am^ of Its operations are undartaktti Jointly 111th tlm Axa〇r# • 〇& in p trt 二 = ： — 一 ™ 一 4 Qrd«r e f March X8t aoI m b aszUiorlsad to fco»D3At« «ni «£f«etuAt« * prograa the r«loeftti0nf aaintmane# and mxfmrti»Um of populatiosit frwt nllitax^ ar««ui« lh« Prt^d«xxt<« Iwmtivtt Qnler tnd^led a provisicm for eotamshins a W«r Ealooatlim loik G&rxm mdmt TihLt^i persons evacmated £r〇tt gd litary som B would bav« «n opporUinXi^ to «hli8t for 如《 |^1 «A|£L«7a0nt undcir a « » g _e n t tho Bur he3100atios Authority and tuidcr th« jrotection of the tMtod Stiitoa iin^* C $fcy»leal &eteo*s iftiloli 難s i Imi cmKid_r0d in 脚ar ooMBmitlw Ttsm «aoh potentlAl « it« 811181 eieet ttMwe &ew^ « 1HA staixhuNUis X« All r^Iooatlois ocntirs mist b« looatod <»i ptMio laide «〇 tb&t SjBsxpoTeawits at public expense \mc〇BB pibGllc^ not p riv a te amhi1»s » Aagr land aoqoired te* thte purpose w ill renaln In piOjlle oimcnhlp. tm A ll emAmn wmt bm at a mJtm ir m •tawitglo mlai* 籌參 « f mnpmm: mmdB in ib» mamd mod in vi«r til* th*t tii« mXniam ft»rd imlt oan guard 5t000 p&rmxm m •MiSgr «• mmXXmr groiqw9 first mitmtloii id ll \m sLvtn to « lt« i Dsr 5#000 pwraecis or «〇>«• 4* frmmpurUktiim «aft pcwwr f«dLXltijMif «*t«r «»pi4y9 «oiXf 錐 《 aad •laUftr DMtor* »u»t b* 雛 補 S* 3M i 卿 汝 opperimitiM tlMi yMT tar tlMi nwriMr to bi r*Ooe«M th m « Vertc ulthixi ttn» « nni « t ll b« o f tgp|MNi ix M le nmrlc«# ISm ^ pp〇A m ^ lm $ moA tlitt prodneticm fpodm maA marwixm mirUmtlisg W tkm wnt /, th» MilittttdUii of iit« « «r« fttnotmotd W VurtiM ,013113L Oon^roOl iwdtebiieSiiwti.i» meUI .鳙ui 葡软* 細lyoos急！顧 Mrtl期1llav': IQ_rii I t i * m m M m ty to «eqptir« !Und# aequlaltlaa is 〇«rxl«d 01it bgr ^ mi Anagr. tlMi bMio lim la 感 細 th» _w e I mu必 MdocwtlDR 9Btm> %m deeilsred to ⑽ • e331t«pgr ri»en»tiflB# isal 11111, b« pn»t«cit«d for dysmtlen lyr iffryf'㈣ eUJLtsey ^ Iwr tark Corpg 一 SxOlstaMmt o f m o u r n in th« lur ftAoeatlM Vovk Q«rpi Is «ee«|it«d m» m oltar IndUctlQCk of ikm 雇班l Xia gw —• in tint mad tor Urn ^axmtloa o f Um wkp$ to glvtt m m flpwk* of moiwmmA h• 輯Jiogr* in p » o _ t U _ . As〇r M〇r« th»n 30 7 W 9 破 《 «• is •aiglKU t o t 场on dHstnaot 边a IMtesml Qonwmwt aoe&pt9 ibi ^ L lg a tlim to pxy»Hdm itm «fOUtM i with *a opportieuQlt^ to wndc tliat lit tmy m an m lin in g fo r hia and 0011MLbiit* to prodaetlGm* 3110 心 = ：ニ ー — 一 — iMBt 祕 m〇ar gummtMi tfe* tli9 M f蹲 你 《 b m tlM k m i - d ltio a i r ^ a S jf9 )nxt «1m > tm A § m lrf aollxlxis, «#ieaU«xi maA rn^dioi^ m m fer M sitiL f «od hlji f M 〇x • ; «NE» pplifti#* not 7»t bMn fia 0 3 y dtetm la^ lint in no vH X vwpeet t^Mi ol^LigRtliiiui oit tlw Holtadi SlatM i Boder iatira»tdl611631 tr 練钍藝嫌 eonvwi私ocur «bi^ _gr b« Ibml 明p〇loil93# In th is p ir tl級X»r •itw H cai* Fa^lie ¢¢0脚陳级級 Tgltii 貫•(?•(?•▲ • ftibOUle i*9lfttlQn« o f ishm proglNtti aar* b«isig handQ«d th» れ说1〇 M A t l 〇m» Qfflt# of tl， VME^tlat I^Lil.3. OpntvoOIL 醮%jUaa, ■ Utlto雄 ！ > B〇tw(3t BedLldtug, am Arauaelm, Gftlif. FnitaXlo riltttiGci* q£ thm oparatlng pbasts of ttm relocfttitin pregraii in tiui 8«n FrauseUeo r tg i成 編 ， ImdMnjgr th« In 如 nMitiai itanrl錄 011 th• 勤 giimid Iter B*loeatloii Aa^orltgr, Uhltcoab HotflU Building, Sin EdMLn B»t«8 1« ohi«r o f thtt rttglozial XafonMitloa 9inlc«« A1X cod otte* teOing with tilt r^tocfttion program «ndt M inting £rcm the HBA r^gloxua olficMi | l«taio dlstrllsiztlcm^ m <0«nrttd with th« Wv〇«C«A*f «ad mem la r a d ttareagb th t i^aaHlU«a o f th« W#C*C»4w jP^eioct Pulaill^ l»liit>ie»ii Mm th» liur B«Xoeation Authority wiixitaixi 111iblle rtUMtlom roprmmtatiws «t Much s*^loomtion e«nt«r to «n««wr pirns iaqolrl«i# to tls» rm^Lm^L^ «nd p«rfi〇ar» relAtwl asai^anrafU* Sw projects •anoctneod， aad tbit |Kd31111 rvlAtloiua to 你 《 ai Thft U m tam r C«atir, Omm» YtOXo^ CiMf* 峰 Bob«rt ®wm# Biahopf Ca3.lt9 Status of projeoti Mom in op&rA^sl&n with p»pK〇Atlaci o f 峰 jxreidxMit409r 、 000• Flml popotUticB w ill b« 10,000. fbn OiAor*de B lv ir MLiNMitiim fmtkmr9 Arlsona —* Harpnr Simm9 oar« of Xndlaxi B«rvlo«# Arlmm9 Dor SO d^^rs.班 IX sueoeedsd bgr Ik rrls mm balng tsmSusd * t 3«n Fr«nols Stfttus ©X Cons物1⑽ tlm o f hcmsiiig aeftriiig oos^Qbtticm, «* Cmitmetioo odT hewilfig on tbls preset mw wn&me at tkds Xdoctl^i^ 二 ：:1rrr:二:= : lifirturtsig jw t on p ro jto t. F ltld fv^Lte C m m n f 9g r lm 9 B m FrmaeiMii e tttc m § W k 9 A o t« • • |g adisaoe afta on pepj^etB la aoitthMNrt, ^ O m g e Bm b i# Qm frmmiaoo QttXmp Wik. Aot« tm •dvaacNi m si on pr6»j«et« i» CdLlfom l* end iiortliiNMt* ««- More xmlocmtlm em^mta wVp. b« acmcmxiotd in the xieftr tat&rm0 Am mmek I t amoano«df th« Huhlngtoa 011160 w ill isiUmi tho IdaJjKm Bram^i of tlMi Bq t m i o f Pttlsile IM Atloiis o f th« Iter DflfMrtnMit rQgwrdiXkg th« loe«tlcMft, and thff _ A SuteMtlod ««itat£ni to tlui |r〇4«oi«