Posted on 11/30/2004 4:41:18 PM PST by mojojockey
Ok i remember reading a piece by John Leo at http://www.townhall.com about the truth that we dont hear concerning the Japanese internment Can any of you provide any other interesting tidbits?
Try Googling.
When I was in USMC training at Parris Island, two of the officers had been in military intelligence. They told me that 10% of the Japanese in America were spies and saboteurs and that the other 90% were in Japanese cultural and political organizations supporting that 10%. They said that, if the Japanese had not been interred, the West Coast aircraft factories would have been destroyed.
Your USMC officers conveniently forgot about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. My friends father won the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart while a sargeant in that outfit.
http://www.scu.edu/SCU/Programs/Diversity/442nd.html
Man, you are so right. It happened to my friends the Watanabes.
Right on the money!
And, about 1/2 of those who were interred in the US WWII internment camps were of German or Italian ethnicity.
John Armor, aka, Congressman Billybob
Right on the money!
And, about 1/2 of those who were interred in the US WWII internment camps were of German or Italian ethnicity.
Absolute nonsense on innumerable levels.
As noted, the ENORMOUS Japanese population in Hawaii was NOT interned(becuase there wasn't enough shipping to move them, and also because it would have caused the economic collapse of Hawaii if they were moved) and there were no acts of sabotage on Hawaii.
And it's awfully hard for saboteurs to destroy an entire aircraft manufacturing facility anyway.
On the other hand, there were in fact Japanese in the US and Japanese-Americans involved in espionage networks, or who otherwise were sympathetic to Japan, and the idea that EVERY person of Japanese descent was COMPLETELY loyal...the current PC line..is wrong.
There's a great deal of mythology regarding the internment from both sides, and a lot of surprising facts.
You could leave the camps at any time if you went to college, joined the military, or found a job outside of California, Oregon, and Washington.
The internments of US citizens without specific charges against them was unjustified and wrong any way you look at it. Intensive investigation of the Japanese community would have been fine.
I was hired to do research on this after I retired. In the LA National Archives, I found thousands of letters,by J-A's to the Spanish Consulate in Seattle. (Spain was the neutral protecting power). Very sad to say the least. I think Michelle is very brilliant, but she's fooling herself, in this issue.
Long term payoff of course is all four of the states mentioned are solid "Blue".
Under that criterion, 110,000 Japanese-Americans were interned. If your statement were correct, I would have died in one of those camps, shortly after I was born prematurely in January, 1943. I had one German grandparent, and the medical facilities at those camps were tar paper shacks.
Get your facts straight. Ignorance is dangerous generally, but especially on FR.
Congressman Billybob
Click for latest, "Jennings on Jeopardy! -- Nice Guys Do Finish First"
The problem is there's a difference between internment of foreign nationals and relocation of US citizens. The number of German and Italian citizens interned was about the same as Japanese citizens.
However 110,000 US citizens of Japanese descent were relocated, above and beyond the internments.
Outside of Delta Utah, where hiways US6 and US50 come together for the run to Tonopah (another garden spot) was one of these camps - Topaz. Neasrby was a CCC camp, so other Americans lived out in the deseret at the same time and in the same area.
The internees visited town regularly and had a school, large gardens and hospital on site as well. A local musuem has a replica of the buildings used to house the internees.
Now on private property, you can visit the site and there is a marker, memorial and a flagpole at the site. An easy drive over maintained dirt roads, it is worth a visit, as is the local musum.
We made this a stop to operate a ham radio station, just before OIF started. Give one reason to pause.
See historytogo.utah.gov/japanese.html
snet.standard.net/features/pioneers/40topaz.asp
And of course Google is a good source as well.
The Aleuts who were 'rescued' from proximity to Japanese occupation (You didn't know the Japanese actually seized US territory did you? The westernmost, or rather easternmost since it's beyond the IDL, habitable island in the Aleutians, Attu, was occupied by the Japanese in 1942) didn't fare any better than those interned for potential disloyalty: they were disposessed of their villages (which were torched and had their churches used for artillery practice by the US military) and were forced to live in abandoned fish canneries 'for the duration'. Many died of pneumonia.
Trying all angles, I spoke with the Spanish Foreign Ministry to see if (internment) this was an effort to rescue US citizens in Japanese hands. They would only talk off the records, but were unaware of any efforts according to their records.
But they did suggest that I do a FOIA request as we had bugged their Embassy.
Bump
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