Schafer,Former Field Rep- "Newspapers Vied with Each Other I N Their Praise
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PACIFIC CITIZEN 23; NO. 10 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, ■OL. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1946 Price: Seven Cents ArmyConti nuesFigh tOn Anti -Nisei Bias Cali fornia Fails AVC Opposes Segregati on Program Seeks to Awaken i nAttempt to Gls to Problems Faced by Take GI's FArm Returning Nisei Veterans Fre»no Suit Dismissed Prejudice Against Japanese By Judge for American Rare i n Army; Declares Race Hatred Must Be If Lack of Evidence Calmed Peace Won By Group i n Battle Is to Be Maintained PBESNO, Calif.—Th e State of lifornia's attempt to confiscate TOKYO—Th e United States Army, proud of the record wh i ch ,320-acre farm of an American i ts soldiers of Japanese ancestry ancestry, i n the 442nd Combat Team and dier of Japanese Wi l- i n i ntelligence continuing for alleged violation units i n the Pacific h ave made, i s a n Sh i ba, vigorous campaign against prejudice against Japanese the Alien Land Law failed i n directed j erfor court wh en the suit was Americans at h ome and i n the armed services. by Judge Kleete on missed Information and Education officers i n U. S. Army units i n i t. 3 the i udre Kleete ordered the case Pacific area h ave recently conducted lectures and discussions missed on the ground that the as part of the Army's program of figh ting discrimination against fe lacked sufficient evidence to Japanese Americans. charge of violation of i re the Noting that "prejudice against the Nisei i s so rare among troops i anti-alien statute. that represented by Joh n h ave lived and worked among them that i t constitutes no real i h i ba was problem," the Army's program adds: eno, Los Angeles attorney. "It i s the unthi nki ng few at h ome, blinded by i gnorance and prejudice, that h ave brough t about such glaring examples of Former i njustice as pillaging and burning of Japanese h omes (in the Official, United States)." Minidoka It i s pointed out that the Army's program seeks "to awaken Sch aGetsferCoast, Post the men to the realization that the good citizen's responsibility does not end with passive good will towards an oppressed minority WASHINGTON—A former War group." Authority official, Ph i l- location Th e Aug. 19 i ssue of "TIPS," Troop Information Program Ser- Soh afer,wh o left the Minfdoka vice, published ocation center to go to Europe by the Information and Education Section, GHQ, the repatriation of 1,000,- United States Armed Forces, Pacific, devotes four of i ts eigh t pages direct to i ts feature article, "Th e II displaced persons, i s the new Nisei: Victors or Victims." eiflc Coast regional representa- Th e article i n "TIPS" described the rousing ovation given e of the Office of Vocational the 442nd Combat Team on i ts return to the United States i n h abitation. July, 1946: Hr. Schafer,former field rep- "Newspapers vied with each other i n their praise. Such superla- mtative of the Social Security tives as 'unbeatable,' 'most h eroic,' 'unexcelled,' clattered out of edi- ml i n the East, was loaned to torial typewriters to form a context reminiscent of old-fashi oned i WRA and served as assistant MARYSVILLE, Calif.—Before the Yuba-Sutter chapter of Fourth of July oratory. Even the average citizen k new that thi s was ector of the camp for Japanese the American Veterans Committee protested, the names of Amer- somethi ng special—in New York and Washi ngton h e j oined with wricans. i can servicemen of Japanese ancestry from Yuba County were thousands of h i s fellows to stage .gala; welcoming celebrations fea- His appointment to direct the segregated i n a separate list on the county's h onor roll wh i ch turing h owling sirens, martial bands, h ula dancers. To many a New i lian reh abilitation office of the i s cared for by the local post of the American Legion. On the York observer i t seemed'much lik e the 'wonderful nonsense' wh i ch deral Security Agency on the Fourth of July.members of the AVC chapter, led by Bob Worth, h ad greeted the return of the h eroes of the Jimmie Walker era est Coast and i n Hawaii was an- spent their h oliday rearranging the names i n alph abetical order Lindbergh , last by Michael J. Gertrude Ederle, Admiral Byrd. —' aneed week i n one group, ending the segregation ofNisei names on the h onor "But there was no nonsense connected with thi s reception. Th e ortly, national reh abilitation di- roll.—Ph oto by courtesy ofthe AVC Bulletin. objects rtor. of these outbursts of adulation were 500 smart, tough , figh t- i ng men wh o fough t a two-front war; one against prejudice at h ome, the other against fascist armies i n Italy. Th ey were the .vanguard FourthCanadian Pay Dispute Holds Up ofthe 442nd Regimental Combat Team—all Nisei except for a Back sprinkling of officers. Repatriation Group "As they i narched down Constitution Avenue with' h osannah s Dismissalof Disloyal Ch arges echoing i n their ears, and as they formed on the rain-drenched Wi ll Leave Soon Wh i te House lawn to watch President Truman pin the presidential WINNIPEG, Man. —Th e Cana: citationbanner to their colors, the men of the 442nd could recall n government i s carrying on i ts Against Japanese Americans with pride their reasons for being there. lortation program and thefourth "Th eirsh ad been a record wh i ch fully j ustified superlatives... Attorney Reports Wi ll Agree to Dismiss wp of repatriates of Japanese State "Glorious as h ad been their record the Niseisoldiers of the 442nd. testry will leave for Japan i n All Ch arges Against Nisei Employees; Personnel would h ave been the first to point out that they were but representa- o-September, New the Canadian Hearings Former Workers tive of all Japanese Americans i n world war 11. Th ey migh t tell you, »rted last week. Board Conducts for for example, of the i ndividual i ntelligence work performed by Nisei Th e repatriates will be taken by SACRAMENTO—Ch arges of disloyalty against 88 former soldiers i n the Far Eastern theater. Wi th Merrill's Marauders i n i n to San Francisco to board Burma, Nisei units h ad been chi efly responsible for uncovering i n- shi p. Members of depart- Japanese American civil service employees of the state of Cal- group, the formation wh i ch assured success for h i t-and-run raids. On Pacific ' according to officials, i fornia will be dismissed i f the Nisei and the state personnel battlefields a top-secret Nisei outfit operated so ski llfully that i t uj» limited to those volunteer- agreement on matter of back pay, i t learned even teleph one numbers of Japanesebillets t for deportation. board can come to an the the ... ' was i ndicated h ere last week by James C. Purcell, attorney for "Homebound Nisei troops migh t h ave been tempted to dispatch by of the suspended these sentiments to residents of certain western states with the no- Henry Tsurutani the Nisei, at a meeting attended twelve tation to 'please note.' For thi s was the big question mark i n the workers. minds of thousands of returning Japanese American figh ting men: Registrar Th e personnel board, wh i ch summarily dismissed all Japa- Would their record on the battlefield wipe out the prejudice wh i ch Named h ad victimized them and their families at h ome? InLos Angeles nese Americans on the rolls of be made "Wh at k i nd of treatment h ave the Nisei received at h ome? WS ANGELES-Henry the state civil service after Pearl certain deductions would "Certainly the treatment accorded Americans of Japanese J. Tsu- from back salaries, wh i ch i n most every of Los Angeles thi s week Harbor, h as now agreed to dismiss to a few months descent i nvited such a question. Etched deep i n Nisei mind ounced h e h as cases amount were the words wh i ch h ad warned them away from certain west " been named an all charges made against the pay. Purcell i ndicated that thi s oal deputy registrar Nisei, reinstate them and pay coast shops before they h ad gone to figh t for liberty: 'We Don't We and will would be protested. with the southern Cali- their salaries for the period be- h earings Serve Japs;' Maps Not Wanted.' All of them remembered the regional the State personnel board strong-arm terror wh i ch h ad brough t grief to many of office of the JA- tween their suspension and to be h eld Sept. 4 their -1"> register as many evacuation, were scheduled families. Nisei vot- Purcell said. i n Sacramento and on Sept. 11 i n for the elections on Th e attorney i ndicated, h ow- "Th e case of Mr. and Mrs. Kay Sakamoto was typical. Th ey h ad i M^possible arc Los Angeles. returned from a relocation center to Californiah ome only to find ever, that though the Nisei the their will board of Nisei attending Sacramento that their h ouse h ad been burned to the ground two days before.