[Henk]

Please click original for more readable format, including working links to documentation.

The key part that should pique your interest is the Magic intercept of Japanese diplomatic communication which I repeat here:

MESSAGE #067
Date: May 9, 1941
FROM: Los Angeles (Nakauchi)
TO: Tokyo (Gaimudaijin)

...We have already established contacts with absolutely reliable Japanese in the San Pedro and San Diego area, who will keep a close watch on all shipments of airplanes and other war materials, and report the amounts and destinations of such shipments. The same steps have been taken with regard to traffic across the U.S.--Mexican border.

We shall maintain connection with our second-generations who are at present in the (U.S.) Army, to keep us informed of various developments in the Army. We also have connections with our second generations working in airplane plants for intelligence purposes... You can look at the complete message here and two more here and here.

[Trickyguy]

One sentence: Muslims in the US.

[dix]

I’ve been waiting for years for someone to lay out the full story about what I think is a pretty smart move considering the circumstances during WWII. The important thing to glean from this article is it broke the back of Japanese efforts at subversion here at home. I am certainly no fan of FDR, but if our leaders would take the same step today we could weaken the terrorist threat we have today stateside. Round up, and keep close tabs on anyone Muslim, or from the Middle East. Political Correctness is one of their greatest allies

[reagandemocrat]

Executive Order 9066 was wrong; Reagan already apologized. JA's were (are) some of the most patriotic Americans you will ever find. Go For Broke. I might add that it was illegal for JA's to own firearms before WWII, making it much easier to "evacuate" them.

RD

[Blue Collar Christian]

Sacrifice indeed, I agree.

Their properties should have been returned intact after the fact.

To make the issue contemporary, I don't see Muslims calling jihad bad, the way many of Japanese descent expressed anti-Japanese, pro-American sentiment. There is a distinct possibility of security compromised everyday without the internment of Muslims. It's all very scarey, whether one is or is not Muslim.

[aged]

thank you for showing us that we have got to know the facts before we use events as examples. i am of the mind that so many negative things could be avoided if we educate ourselves. i am also very tired of the subject of racisism being bandied about. it seems to be a way to get something for nothing, or to blame. great post!

[cinFLA]

Lest our liberal friends to the north snub their noses, let it be known that the Canada had a similar but MUCH WORSE program in place. Unlike America, which made the effort to maintain the families, education, skills, etc., Canada made no such effort. Males were sent in one direction, females in another. Also, conditions were so bad that the US Red Cross felt compelled to assist.

[liberallarry]

Would you cite the source for the Magic intecepts, since these are at the heart of the article?

I am not familiar with any of the other sources named in the article but this goes against all that I've read and much personal experience.

I grew up in the '40s and had many Japanese classmates who had returned from the camps. None said they had been free to leave them at will. I live near Manzanar. There is nothing in the historical record of that place to indicate free movement was allowed - although that, of course, was in the military zone.

Also, I wonder about your numbers. You say only 40% of the evacuees were citizens of dual-nationality. That in itself is worth questioning. But the characterization is misleading. They were dual-nationals by order of the government of Japan - according to the article - not by choice (or so it seems). And then the claim that 1 in 5 was a spy. Cite a source for that please.

[Kay Soze]

Cool Site: Sgt. Stryker's

Thanks.

[alfa6]

later

[DugwayDuke]

I did a bit of research on this topic a year or so ago. The first two things that emerged were these. Most of those who were "evacuated" were not Japanese Americans, they were Japanese living in America. Second, the evacuation was limited in area and those living in that area were given about six months to move voluntarily. Only after that six months expired were they moved involuntarily. Even then, one could leave these camps if they found other places to live and jobs to support them except they couldn't move back into the prohibited area. IOW, most of the popularly accepted wisdom about these Japanese living in America is trash. Also, it is revealing to compare the treatment of the Japanese living in America to the treatment of Americans living in Japan.

[MeekMom]

bump for later read

[Popof8]

I just bought a book titled "Betrayal from the East - The Inside Story of Japanese Spies in America," by Alan Hynd, 1943. The author details Japan's coordinated spying activities in the U.S. and Hawaii from 1932 through Pearl Harbor.

We should not make the mistake of judging Japanese internment by todays standards of identification and communications. Many of the inturnees were naturally born Japanese citizens tho came to America before INS had a coherent immigration policy. (Some say the INS still doesn't have a coherent policy)

The WWII policy of FDR of relocation of all Japanese to Inturnment Camps was unfortunate but necessary.

[TheDon]

A rather pathetic attempt at some revisionist history. Sorry, it don't fly wit da facts!

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Also, the "Magic" transcriptions released in 1977 revealed that Jap consuls had ascertained-by polling-that a significant portion(I forget the %)of Japanese supported Japan and/or the Emperor. So Washington at that time(12/07/41) faced at least two facts: we had the fleet on the bottom at Pearl; and a significant % of domestic Japanese supported Japan.

[E Rocc]

FDR had solid intelligence from two of his main intelligence experts, William (OSS) Donovan and John Franklin Carter, that the Pacific Coast Japanese were essentially quite loyal to the USA. Ironically, Carter's agent (Curtis Munson) said there were questions about the Hawaiian Japanese. Yet they were not interned. It was one of the worst things ever to happen in the US. It's true impact is actually minimized by lefty historians, since the main forces behind it were two of their heroes, FDR and Earl Warren.

Interning Arab Americans or Muslims today would be not only be a grevious ethical wrong, it would be an act of matchless idiocy. Indeed its the dampest dream of the middle east Islamists, for the propaganda value alone.

-Eric

[tophat9000]

bump

[waterstraat]

Very informative, thanks for posting!

[Dajjal]

BTTT

[John Wong]

I afraid I have to disagree with some of the things you said about the Japanese Americans during WWII.

For example it should be known that in Strangers From A Different Shore by Ronald Takaki (pages 397-404), it states at least 33,000 Japanese-Americans served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

You can also get more details and information about Japanese American history and combat experience by reading the book Honor By Fire by Lyn Crost.

It tells about the various accounts of Japanese-American military veterans who served with U.S. forces (pages 311-315) in Italy, Western Europe, Southeast Asia and in the Pacific during WWII.

On pages 311-315 the book shows that they served in the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service, various U.S. Marine divisions, United States Navy, and etc.

This book also shows on pages 31-33 that in September, 1942, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur actually had started to recruit Japanese Americans from DETENTION CAMPS and Hawaii to serve in the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) to perform various intelligence duties.