Preserving Memory
A
History of the Japanese-American Memorial in Eugene
To preserve the memory of the Japanese Internment and the
dark times our country faced the city of Eugene approved the proposal to build
a memorial near the Hult Center in downtown Eugene. The Eugene Japanese-American
Art Memorial Committee (EJAAM) had been stimulated by the thought of publicly
and collectively remembering and learning from a sad episode of American history
that many believe should not have happened. As stated by the board of directors
of the EJAAM committee: “We feel it our duty to establish a public reminder of
the experience, so that knowledge of the story will be kept alive for future
generations of Americans.”[1] New
immigrants and other people who come to the country for the first time are
often subject to the same kinds of racism and discrimination that the Japanese-Americans[2]
faced during WWII. I personally agree with EJAAM’s mission statement and feel
that it is the responsibility of the citizens of America to teach of these sad
moments in history and to protect those new Americans from unjust denial of
their civil rights. To better understand the Japanese American Memorial, one
must first take a look at the history and people that it is memorializing.
First the history of those who were evacuated and sent to internment camps, the
public opinion that surrounded Executive Order 9066, the history of those who
served in 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team, the
Military Intelligence Service (MIS) and firsthand accounts of what it was like
to be in an internment camp or experience racism in the military. Once one
knows the history behind whom or what is being memorialized, one can better
understand the memorial itself. The memorial also has an interesting history,
from financial struggles, the controversies, the design itself and even public
opinion and survivor’s opinions of the memorial.
On February 19, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt
issued Executive Order 9066 which allowed local military commanders to
designate "military areas" as "exclusion zones," from which
"any or all persons may be excluded." This power was used to declare
that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the entire Pacific
coast, including all of California and parts of Oregon, Washington, and Arizona,
except those who were already incarcerated.[3] In
Hawaii martial law was imposed, complete with blackouts and curfews. Because a
large portion of the population was of Japanese descent (in 1937 census,
150,000 out of 400,000), internment was deemed impractical. The economic
situation in Hawaii would not have survived, had the local
Hawaiian government interned Japanese-Americans. Executive Order 9066
authorized the internment of an estimated 120,000 Japanese-Americans during
WWII (1942-1945). There were a number of internment camps in the eastern side
of California as well as Northern California. Most famous of the internment
camps is the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, in Northern California, where a
number of people from Eugene were interned during the war. The military had complete control over the
evacuation of Japanese-Americans, they took both citizens and non-citizens from
the area to be evacuated and relocated to internment camps inland. After the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor three months prior to Executive Order 9066, Japanese-Americans
no longer had the same rights as other American citizens, because of their
physical appearance and their Japanese heritage. The United States panicked and
wanted to do what was safest for the country by locking away the potential
threat the Japanese presented. To understand why President Roosevelt passed Executive
Order 9066, one must understand what the country was going through at this time
with the ensuing war, World War II. The United States were allies with Japan at
the start of the war and had many trade agreements between the two countries.
However Japan and Germany were also allies, both fighting on the same side
against England, France, and several other countries. As the war began in
Europe in 1939, the United States had not yet joined. But things changed on
December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in the United States
territory of Hawaii. After this attack, Japan automatically became an enemy,
and the United States entered the war, not just on Japan but also in Europe.
Because of the new United States involvement in the war there was a collective
fear that the Japanese and Japanese-American people were spies for Japan. Executive
Order 9066 was widely popular and many United States citizens were in favor of
the internment of Japanese-Americans. One of the first public calls to intern
the Japanese was made by Henry McLemore who was a syndicated columnist of the
Hearst newspapers, he told his readers:
“I
am for immediate removal of every Japanese on the West Coast to a point deep in
the interior. I don’t mean a nice part of the interior either. Herd ‘em up,
pack ‘em off and give ‘em the inside room in the badlands. Let ‘em be pinched,
hurt, hungry and dead up against it… Personally, I hate the Japanese. And that
goes for all of them.”[4]
This was just the first
of many comments made in favor of the evacuation of the Japanese-Americans. It
is estimated that in a March 1942 (just one month after Executive Order 9066
went into effect) national public opinion polls showed 93% of Americans were in
favor of the evacuation of the Japanese-Americans.[5] Most
believe Executive Order 9066 to be an incorrect decision today and a mistake in
America’s history. Unlike the Japanese-Americans, German-Americans were not
sent to internment camps or treated as lesser beings but rather as individuals.
There was not a widespread internment of German Americans because there was far
too large a population for a general policy of internment to take affect that
would be comparable to the internment of Japanese Americans. German Americans
were also not heavily discriminated against unlike the Japanese because it was
difficult to discern who was German by looking at them, whereas it was easy to
discern if someone was of Asian descent.[6] To gain a better perspective of the racism
that ensued, in February 1943, the United States War Department and the War
Relocation Authority (WRA) made the decision to test the loyalty of all people
with Japanese ancestry who were held in the WRA camps. The loyalty
questionnaire was required of everyone 17 years of age and older. Their answers
would be used to decide whether they were loyal or disloyal to the United
States. There were two questions which
became a focus of confusion and concern for many people.[7]
Question #27 asked:
Are you willing to serve in the
armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?
Question #28 asked:
Will you swear unqualified
allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United
States from any and all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any
form of allegiance to the Japanese Emperor or any other foreign government,
power, or organization?
It was decided by
government officials that a “yes” response to question #28 indicated loyalty
and a “no” response indicated disloyalty to the United States.[8]
It
was not until 1988 when Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed a
piece of legislation which apologized for the internment of Japanese Americans
during WWII by the U.S. government. The government admitted that its actions at
the time were based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of
political leadership.”[9]
The Eugene Japanese American Art Memorial was not just
for those who were forced to leave their homes and possessions behind to go to
concentration camps but also to memorialize the achievements of those from the100th,
the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence
Service. The stone entitled ‘Honor’ (see exhibit
3, pg. 14) was created in memory of those who volunteered to serve in the
military during WWII. The 100th Infantry Battalion was a unit within
the United States Army’s 34th Infantry Division during WWII. The
battalion was an all-Nisei[10] force
and was largely composed of former members of the Hawaii Army National
Guard. Following its activation, the 100th
experienced heavy combat during WWII in Europe and Northern Africa. After establishing
its reputation as a fighting unit in Europe the 100th Infantry Battalion
combined with the 442nd Infantry Regiment to form a single combat
team. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army was
made up of enlisted Japanese-American men and mostly Caucasian officers. The
442nd was a self-sufficient force, which fought with an uncommon
distinction in Italy, Southern France, and Germany. The unit[11]
became the most highly-decorated regiment in the history of the United States
Armed Forces. This included 21 Medal of Honor recipients from the 442nd
Regimental Combat Team. Of those who served in the 100th and 442nd,
mostly volunteered, while a few were drafted, but all of them had to cope with
the thought that they are fighting for a country who had imprisoned their
families in internment camps. Many from those in the all-Nisei forces shared
their opinions that they wanted to prove themselves, and to prove that they are
American. There were also 6,000 Japanese-Americans who served in the Military
Intelligence Service (MIS) as linguists and in other non-combat roles. These
people interpreted intercepted enemy documents and also interrogated prisoners
of war. One of their most important successes was that of intercepting and
translating documents known as the “Z Plan”, which contained Japan’s
counterattack strategy in the Central Pacific. The intercepted information led
to the Allied victories at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of
Leyte Gulf. These victories caused Japan to lose a large amount of their
aircraft carrier planes and P-38 Lightning fighter planes.[12] Those
who served in the 100th, 442nd and the MIS were recently
collectively recognized and honored on November 2, 2011 because Public Law
111-254 was enacted on October 5, 2010, which awarded the prestigious
Congressional Gold Medal.[13]
“The Award of the Congressional Gold Medal to
Japanese American veterans and the MIS will reaffirm what the Memorial and the
Civil Liberties Act of 1988 stand for: American patriotism, perseverance, and
posterity. These veterans offer an unparalleled legacy bequeathed to the
American people. The rights Japanese Americans fought for during and after the
war are the rights of all Americans to freedom and to personal justice.”[14]
In
Eugene there were a number of people who were taken away from their homes and
sent to internment camps. Some of those people are still living in Eugene today
and need to be honored for the sacrifices and for the suffering they ensued. Three
of these individuals have had video interviews conducted so that their story
can live on long after they have left this life, while the other seven have had
audio recordings created of their interviews. These are the stories of committee
member and artist Kenge Kobayashi, committee members Bob Kono, Alice Endo
Aikens, Edward T. Miyakawa, and internment camp survivors who are also active
in the local Japanese community, Miya Kaneko Kobayashi, Mitzi Asai Loftus, Chiyo
Mori, Perry Mori, Ken Nagao, and David Toyama. Many of these individuals were
born in either California or Hawaii and moved to Oregon later. All of these
people have played an important role in the Japanese-American Association of
Lane County and the erection of the Eugene Japanese American Art Memorial.
Kenge
Kobayashi was the artist who depicted the concepts of justice, perseverance,
and honor into three paintings that have been installed as panels on the
standing stones in the Japanese American Memorial Project. Kenge was born in
Imperial Valley, California in 1926 where his parents, who had emigrated from
Japan in 1905. His family lived in internment camps in 1942, first for one year
in the Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona, and then in the Tule Lake
Relocation Center in California up until 1945. After the war the family
resettled in California where Kenge attended the Art Center School in Pasadena
where he studied art and graphic design. Kenge later served in the army for two
years during the Korean War. Kenge worked for an advertising company in Chicago
for eleven years before moving back to California. He had seven children with
his first wife. After she died he remarried and shortly following his
retirement decided to move to Eugene in 1989. During his retirement he taught
painting in Eugene and is active in the Japanese-American community
organizations.
Miya
Kaneko Kobayashi was born in Crystal City Texas. Miya’s parents emigrated from
Japan to Peru where they ran and operated an import/export business. It was
very common for people to immigrate to Peru for the same reasons one would
immigrate to the United States; for land, jobs, and the opportunity to make a
better life for themselves. Her family was forced to relocate to a camp in
Crystal City by the Peruvian and American governments[15]
where they stayed till the end of WWII. Once the war was over Miya, her parents
and her four siblings live in New Jersey for a short period of time and
eventually settled near San Diego, California. Miya has three children from her
first marriage and upon marrying Kenge Kobayashi, she moved to Eugene in 1989
and continues to work in a construction company.
Bob
Kono was born in Redondo Beach California in 1931, he was 9 years old when the
attack on Pearl Harbor happened, his father was taken away by the FBI and Kono
did not see his father for nearly 3 years. Kono and his family were repatriated
to Japan, Kono had never been to Japan. Kono stayed in Japan for 13 years,
until he was finally able to return in 1959 where he continued his education
and got married. He commented in his video interview that everyone who was sent
back to Japan made a ‘bee-line’ back to the United States. Today he is active
in the Japanese-American community and helped with writing the three plaques
for the memorial, Justice, Perseverance, and Honor.[16]
Alice
Endo Aikens was born in 1942 in Oakland, California. Alice’s grandparents emigrated
from Japan and her parents ran an Asian grocery store in Chinatown in Oakland,
California. To avoid the forced evacuation, her extended family moved to Utah
in 1942. She graduated from college in Utah, following which she moved to
Eugene with her husband, who taught at the University of Oregon in 1969. Alice
has been an active member of the Eugene local community, as a program
coordinator in the Eugene 4-J School District and also as a volunteer and
leader at the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
Alice later became a leader of the Eugene Japanese-American Memorial Committee
and continues to be an organizer of the annual Day of Remembrance in February.
Mitzi
Asai Loftus was born in Hood River, Oregon in 1932. Her parents emigrated from
Japan and owned and operated fruit orchards in Hood River before the start of
the war. After announcement of Executive Order 9066 her father was forced to
sell all his property and they were soon sent to the internment camps. Mitzi
was in the 4th grade when WWII started and her family was first sent
to Pinedale Assembly Center in Fresno, California, and then to internment camps
in Tule Lake, California and Heart Mountain, Wyoming. The family returned to
Hood River in April of 1945 where Mitzi finished school. She changed her name
in the 9th grade from Mitsuko to Mitzi.[17]
Mitzi attended the University of Oregon where she studied education; she went
on to teach at schools in Oregon for 47 years. Mitzi has even written a book, Made
in Japan and Settled in Oregon, which is about her family’s history and
experiences during WWII. To this day she
recurrently gives presentations about the internment camps and her life as a
Japanese-American in Oregon.
Edward
T. Miyakawa was born in 1934
in Sacramento, California. His grandfathers had emigrated from Japan and had a
strawberry and grape farm as well as other businesses. His family (parents and
two sisters) were forced to relocate to the Tule Lake Relocation Camp in 1942.
After a year, they settled in Colorado and eventually moved back to California.
Ed served in the Navy during the Korean War, 1952-1956, and lived in Japan for
two years. He graduated from the University of California in 1962 with a major
in architecture. He and his wife moved to Oregon and settled in Waldport where
he practiced architecture for thirty years. In 1979 he wrote a book, Tule
Lake, about experiences in the relocation camp. He served on the Japanese
American Memorial committee in Eugene.
Two
very interesting individuals who found companionship during a time of hardship
are Chiyo Mori and Perry Mori. Chiyo was born in Stockton, California in 1921
and grew up in Sacramento, California. Chiyo’s parents immigrated from Aichi,
Japan and decided to run a hotel in Stockton, California. She went to
Sacramento Junior College and also studied at the Hazmore School of Fashion in
San Francisco. Chiyo was first interned at Tule Lake where she taught pattern
making and sewing, and later she was interned at Amache in Colorado. It was at
Amache Camp in Colorado where Perry and Chiyo meet; they were married in 1949.
Perry Mori was born in 1921 in Watsonville, California. Perry’s parents had emigrated
from Japan in 1902-1903, they upon arrival in the United Sate worked on a
number of farms in Watsonville. Perry attended Salinas Junior College in
1939-1941 and he received his AA degree in the Salinas Assembly Center where
his family was first interned. He was later sent to Amache Camp in Colorado,
and then sent Tule Lake Camp where he stayed until 1943. Perry was drafted into
the Army in 1944 and became an interpreter for the American Occupation in
Japan. After the war, Perry received a BA in Business Administration and an MBA
from Northwestern University. He later went on to become a professor of
accounting until he retired in 1982. Perry and Chiyo traveled extensively
before eventually moving to Eugene in 2007.
Ken
Nagao was born In Hawaii and came to Eugene to attend the University of Oregon
in the 1960s, where he studied architecture. His firm, Nagao Pacific
Architectural PC, has designed numerous homes and buildings in the area. He was
a founder of the Asian Celebration and has been active in the Asian Kite
Festival, Eugene Taiko, and the Japanese-American Association.
David
Toyama was born on Kauai in Hawaii, where his parents settled after their
immigration from Japan. David was a teenager when World War II broke out in
1942. He later joined the Army and served in the Military Intelligence Service
(MIS). He and his wife Jean lived in Japan for seventeen years while he worked
for MIS. After retiring from the military, he worked for the Tax Service in
Eugene. He has been active in Japanese-American community organizations and was
a founder of the Japanese-American Association, the Asian Council, and the
Asian Celebration. He earned a BS degree from Linfield College.[18]
All
of these people though they come from different places and experienced WWII
differently. Whether it be forcibly
relocated to an internment camp, being harassed into evacuating inland on their
own, being in the military and dealing with segregated units or being
mercilessly persecuted against for their race and ethnicity. They all have put
aside bitterness and resentment against those who were so cruel to them and
have helped to promote awareness of the trials that they experienced through
the erecting of the Eugene Japanese-American Art Memorial. It is best stated in
the Eugene Register-Guard by Kennie Namba a veteran of the 442nd, “I can’t even
give a full impression of my feelings. I’m flabbergasted, after 60-plus-years,
people are actually more aware of this than right after WWII: This is progress
as far as the mentality of human being is concerned. Fifty years from now, this
will tell the story to all who visit, and that’s what I really want.”[19]
The
memorial’s design is unique (see appendix 1). The goal of the design was to
create a flowing memorial. The stone path is set in such a way that creates a
wave pattern and this wave is a symbol of the continual flow and passing of
time. The flagstones were also an important part of financing the project. When
the EJAAM committee members worried about funding they created a fund raiser by
selling stones which could be engraved with the donor’s names. The figurehead
of the memorial is a large bronze statue created by sculptor David Clemons of
Couer D’Alene, Idaho. The girl in bronze “is a picture of innocence, completely
unaware of what she’s about to go through,” as stated by the memorial
committee’s co-chairwoman Lane County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Carlson. The
girl wears a tag with an assigned number, with similar tags attached to each
piece of luggage, as was required of the Japanese-American families who were ordered
to leave their homes up and down the west coast.[20] Most
notably she is reaching out towards a butterfly which is a well-known symbol in
Japanese culture. The symbol of the butterfly has been known to mean freedom,
so as the girl is reaching out; the butterfly is just out of reach as was
freedom for Japanese-Americans during WWII. The butterfly could also symbolize
change or metamorphosis, the little girl and the butterfly could symbolize the
unknown changes about to happen by being evacuated to a camp. The
interpretations of the symbols used are meant to be left to the spectator. The
creator David Clemons speaks out on what the statue of the girl and butterfly
mean to him, “It’s not this angry battle cry of ‘Don’t do this again!’… But I
think this sends that message. It’s a tragic thing when innocent people suffer.
I mean, why are we sending this 5- or 6- year-old girl to a prison camp?”[21]
|
Exhibit 1:
“Justice)
|
|
Exhibit 3:
“Honor”
|
|
Exhibit 2:
“Perseverance”
|
Also a major part of the memorial is the three stone tablets with paintings done by Kenge Kobayashi and text written by both Kobayashi and Bob Kono. The three stone tablets express the ideas of Justice, Perseverance, and Honor. Justice was slow to come, as legal and political battle brought reparation and compensation to the surviving victims of internment. The Justice Stone (see exhibit 1) was in memory of three individuals who in 1942 fought the constitutionality of imprisoning 120,000 people with Japanese Ancestry. Those individuals are Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi and Min Yasui, “Executive Order 9066, issued by Franklin D. Roosevelt, set the process in motion even though Japanese Americans had already been cleared of suspicion as subversives by the government. Yasui, born in Oregon, Korematsu, born in California, and Hirabayashi, born in Washington, were in fact arrested by authorities simply for insisting on their rights as Americans.”[22] Because of the long battle against racism and prejudice it tested the perseverance of those who fought them, and of those who were waiting for eventual justice. As stated on the Perseverance stone (see exhibit 2), “Most lost possessions, homes and property. The thousands who languished in the hostile climes where these camps were located supported America's war effort even in their imprisonment, working in the fields during times of harvest, sending their sons into military service, and buying war bonds.”[23] Honor (see exhibit 3) triumphed in the end, “not just the honor of Japanese-Americans, many of whom served their country with valor in wartime, but more importantly the honor of the nation, which found the fortitude to admit that its actions had fallen short of its principles.”[24] What is most interesting about each of these paintings is that each has barbed wire throughout as if it were a symbol of entrapment; entrapment not only in internment camps but also in the fight for their rights as American citizens and in the disrespect shown to them in military service.
One
of the biggest struggles, which could have potentially stopped the whole
project, was the financial difficulties the memorial committee faced at the
early stages of the project. In the early days of the project, the EJAAM
committee proposed that $100,000 would be needed to create the memorial. City
officials turned the committee down for any type of financial help because
there was no money in the Eugene city budget for such a project. The EJAAM
committee turned to the community and by November of 2005 had risen around $11,000;
however this was still not enough. The donations had slowed tremendously, to
about $1,225 since July; this made the project eligible for matching dollars
from the Spirit Mountain Community Fund. The grant which comes from the
Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde’s foundation, will match all the other
donations which were received from July of 2005 to July of 2006 up to $50,000.[25] The
EJAAM committee found an unlikely ally in the Grand Ronde Indian tribe. The
Native-Americans and Japanese-Americans have a lot in common and have both
suffered and survived many trials in the United States over the decades. As
stated by EJAAM committee fundraising chairwoman Alice Endo Aikens, “We found
we have a lot in common – Native Americans and Japanese-Americans, They taught
us their circle dancing and we taught them our traditional Japanese dances.”[26]
Once the fundraising for the initial project was complete, at an estimate of
$107,000, the committee then decided to create a fund to pay for the site
preparation and maintenance. In their effort to create this new fund, EJAAM and
the Lane County Arts Commission started selling inscribed rock pavers for the
garden. The cost was $300 for an 8-inch-by-12-inch paver, $500 for a
12-inch-by-16-inch paver and $1,000 for an 18-inch-by-24-inch paver.[27]
The
memorial was not met with all positive praise, nor was it a straightforward
task. There were a few controversial points and issues that were argued for
nearly a year before the memorial was allowed to be built. Numerous Eugene city
council meetings discussed the issue of whether this memorial was truly a
positive point of interest that would benefit the city and the community, “It’s
not something most people want to be reminded of; it’s a dark spot in our
history.”[28]
While the biggest point of discussion was the proposed placement of the
memorial. The EJAAM committee ran into a potential problem with the newly
formed Public Arts Committee, who reviews and approves proposals for public art
in Eugene. In early 2006 the Public Arts Committee panel raised a number of
concerns about the aesthetics and location of the monument. The Public Arts
Committee panel suggested the memorial be erected in front of the post office
on Willamette Street which is about a block away from the originally proposed
site. The Public Arts Committee said: “It’s a higher traffic area and it’s a
much more diverse area than the Hult Center,” Public Arts Committee member Rick
Williams said. “I know there was some feelings on the [public arts] committee
that there should be a really fabulous piece of fine art, rather than a
memorial, for the Hult [center] because it is a center for fine arts”[29]
However those planning the memorial felt that the original location near the
site of the old civic control station was vital to the memorial. The project
first started in 2003 when a South Eugene high school student stumbled upon
some old city documents that showed where the civic control station was at 34
W. Sixth Ave in downtown Eugene. What was once a great controversy became its
greatest strength, the location of the memorial was the reason that the city
council approved the project. “… He approved the project because of the site’s
historical significance, the City Council’s priority to improve race relations,
and the city’s commitment to diversity and promotion of the arts and outdoors.”[30]
The
memorial is of significant importance to the community and to those who it
memorializes. Alice Endo Aikens has shared her opinion with the Register-Guard
about what the memorial means to her and what she hopes it will mean for the
community. “We think it’s going to be a civil rights teaching tool for
everybody. It did happen to Japanese-Americans, but the important thing is it
could happen to any minority group. This will be like a beacon to downtown Eugene
to remind people that this should never happen again to any group of people.”[31]
The memory and memorialization process as seen with the erection of the
Japanese American Art memorial shows how the countries opinions and attitudes
about such events has changed. Following the recognition and apology that the
United States formally gave in the 1980s to the Japanese-American citizens,
attitudes have changed dramatically towards them. It is seen through the amount
of support that is given by the local community and other minority groups such
as the Grand Ronde Indian tribe. The process of memorialization is long and
difficult, and deciding which memory should be remembered is even harder. When
compared with the Japanese memorial in Seattle, the Eugene memorial was met
with relatively minimal resistance from the community. Seattle struggles with
controversies over its design, it is a large wall with the names of the
Japanese-Americans who were taken from the area during WWII. The controversy
lies in that the design doesn’t evoke much emotion from the general public and
also the veterans of WWII are upset because there is not another WWII memorial
in the city. The Japanese American Art Memorial is still relatively new having
been dedicated in 2007; other public controversies may exist and haven’t yet
been voiced. It is the general consensus through what research I have done that
the memorial in Eugene has been well thought out has achieved an unprecedented
amount of public support. The memorial is proficient at portraying the ideals
and memory that the survivors and community wanted and need to see.
[1]
Eugene Japanese American Art Memorial Committee mission statement, http://www.lesd.k12.or.us/tah/ejaam/
[2]
The term “Japanese Americans,” as used in this theme study, refers both to
immigrants from Japan, who were prohibited by law from becoming U.S. citizens,
and the children and grandchildren of those immigrants, who were automatically
U.S. citizens by virtue of being born in the United States.
[3]
Korematsu v. United States dissent by Justice Owen Josephus Roberts reproduced
at findlaw.com. Retrieved May 15, 2012
[4]
Ten Broek, Jacobus, E.H. Barnhart, F.W. Matson, Prejudice, War and the Constitution, Berkeley, 1968. p.75
[5]
Mark Weber, The Japanese Camps in
California, WWII West Coast Camps for Japanese-Americans, The Journal of
Historical Review, Spring 1980 (Vol. 16, No. 1)
[6] Tetsuden
Kashima, ed., Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians.
Part 769: Personal justice denied (University of Washington Press, 1997), 287-289
[7] The
Evacuated People: A Qualitative Description, (U.S. Department of the Interior)
p. 162.
[8]Dorothy
S. Thomas and Richard Nishimoto, The Spoilage: Japanese American Evacuation and
Resettlement During World War II, (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1946) p. 85.
[9]
100th Congress, S. 1009, reproduced at internmentarchives.com.
Retrieved May 16, 2012
[10]
Nisei meaning second generation is a Japanese language term used in North and
South America. It was used to specify the children born to Japanese people.
Based on the Japanese numbers: “one, two, three” is “ichi, ni, san”
[11]
“the unit” includes the 100th infantry battalion
[12] Sterner,
C. Douglas. Go for Broke: The Nisei
Warriors of World War II Who Conquered Germany, Japan, and American Bigotry,
Clearfield, Utah: American Legacy Media. (2007).
[13]
111th Congress, January 5, 2010, reproduced at njamf.com. retrieved
June 10, 2012
[14] Dr. Craig Uchida,
NJAMF Board Chairman, November 2011. At the official Congressional Gold Medal
award ceremony in Washington DC.
[15]
Although Peru was non-belligerent during WWII it entered into an agreement to
promote hemispheric unity and in 1942 acceded to the United States pressure to
break diplomatic ties with the Axis powers. Peru agreed with the U.S. proposal
that all Axis officials be repatriated through the U.S., they then asked the
U.S. to take non-officials as well such has civilian men, women, and children
of which were both Japanese and Peruvian citizens.
[16]
Video Interview from http://www.lesd.k12.or.us/tah/ejaam/interviews/index.html
retrieved 25 May 2012
[17]
It was not uncommon for Japanese-American’s to change their names to become
more ‘Americanized’ and to help them to fit in in American culture.
[18] Japanese-American
Association of Lane County, Oregon, Oral History Collection (OH 15), Oregon
State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon. http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/ark:/80444/xv73229
[19]
Andrea Damewood. “Memorial to a dark time.” Register-Guard [Eugene, OR] 20 Feb.
2007: A1. Ingotrac Newsstand. Web. 18 Apr. 2012
[20]
Jeff Wright, “Japanese-American Projects gets Boost.” Register-Guard [Eugene,
OR] 15 Nov. 2005: A1 Ingotrac Newsstand. Web. 18 Apr. 2012
[21]
Andrea Damewood, “A journey not forgotten.” Register-Guard [Eugene, OR] 12 Feb.
2007: D1 Ingotrac Newsstand. Web. 18 Apr. 2012
[22]EJAAM
website under ‘memorial’ paragraph on Justice. http://www.lesd.k12.or.us/tah/ejaam/thememorial.html
[23]
EJAAM website, ‘memorial’ paragraph on Perseverance
[24]
Editorial. “A stirring memorial.” Register-Guard [Eugene, OR] 21 Feb. 2007: A8.
Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 18 Apr. 2012
[25] (Wright 2005)
[26] (Damewood 2007)
[27]
Bob Keefer “Spirited Away.” Register-Guard [Eugene, OR] 31 Aug. 2006: B1.
Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 18 Apr. 2012
[28] (Wright 2005)
[29] (Damewood
2007)
[30]
“City OKs memorial in honor of World War II internees.” Register-Guard [Eugene,
OR] 18 May 2006: D2. Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 18 Apr. 2012
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