Showing posts with label Internment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internment. Show all posts

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Prejudice and Patriotism

Cross posted by Findalis from Monkey in the Middle


67 years ago today elements of the Japanese military attacked US forces at Pearl Harbor. While Americans should never forget that day of infamy, we should also be ashamed of what followed after.

When the US entered World War 2 there were about 112,000 people of Japanese decent living in Hawaii and the West Coast. Many of them entered the United States before the Immigration Act of 1924 which limited the number of immigrants from various nations with a quota system and excluded many immigrants from Asian and African nations. Yet the Japanese community flourished even with the discrimination and prejudice that was prevalent in the nation at the time.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor the US had a problem. Although we are a free nation, we felt that each member of this community was a Japanese spy. That the loyalty of the whole community was in question. Since Dec. 7th, gangs of thugs were roaming through the Japanese communities looting, raping, and killing those they saw as an enemy. And we had a solution for this problem. We would place the whole Japanese-American community into interment camps for their own protection.

While the Supreme Court in Hirabayashi v. U.S. YASUI U.S. wrote:
“because persons of Japanese ancestry have been faced with many restrictions while residing in the United States, they may have become more isolated from the rest of the population and more attached to Japan and Japanese institutions.

“The Executive Order permitted establishment of military areas for the purpose of protecting national defense resources from sabotage and espionage. The Act of Congress ratified the Executive Order. Both were an exercise of constitutional power to wage war. Once the Executive and Congress have the power, they also have the freedom to use their own judgment in determining what the threat is and how it can be resisted. A court should not decide whether the Executive and/or Congress did the right thing nor should a court substitute its own judgment for that of the Executive or Congress.

“Measures adopted by the Government may point out that a group of one nationality is more dangerous to the country’s safety than any other group. This is not entirely beyond the limits of the Constitution and should not be condemned just because racial differences are usually irrelevant."

Thus paving the way for all those of Japanese decent to be interred. Many went willingly, following the orders of their government into these camps. Camps that were underfunded, under equipped, and under staffed. Many would die from these conditions. But the spirit of America did not die with these people. Instead it flourished.

Funny how a people forced into horrible conditions by their own government could still hold great love for that nation that imprisoned them. They formed their own government (governing themselves with approval from the military commanders), they organized schools, medical clinics, scouting troops, civic organizations. They held drives for blood, for metal, for rubber, bought War Bonds and grew Victory Gardens.

And some served.

Starting in Hawaii and then propelling to the mainland, young men of Japanese decent (known as Nisei) enlisted in the US Army. Those who had a very clear understanding of Japan and the Japanese language were sent to Washington D.C. to work in Military Intelligence. The rest form the 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team. And what a history they have!

The 442, known affectionately as Buddhaheads,was a self-sufficient fighting force, and fought with uncommon distinction in Italy, southern France, and Germany. The unit became the most highly decorated military unit in the history of the United States Armed Forces, including 21 Medal of Honor recipients, earning the nickname “The Purple Heart Battalion.” Their motto: Go For Broke! showed the courage and determination of these men.

While other interred groups rallied against the US, with none of them enlisting in such numbers. The Nisei volunteered in great numbers. And died in great numbers too.

This Regiment has the distinction of being the most highly decorated unit ever in American history. It would be hard for any unit to match their distinctive record of:

  • 8 Major Campaigns in Europe
  • 7 Presidential Unit Citations
  • 9,486 Purple Hearts
  • 21 Congressional Medals of Honor
  • 52 Distinguished Service Crosses
  • 1 Distinguished Service Medal
  • 560 Silver Stars, 28 with Oak Leaf Clusters in lieu of second
  • 22 Legion of Merit Medals
  • 4,000 Bronze Stars, 1,200 with Oak Leaf Clusters in lieu of second
  • 15 Soldier's Medals
  • 12 French Croix de Guerre with two Palms representing second awards
  • 2 Italian Crosses for Military Merit
  • 2 Italian Medals for Military Valor
The 442nd in training: building then attacking across a pontoon bridge at Camp Shelby

A 442nd RCT squad leader checks for German units in France in November 1944.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, hiking up a muddy French road in the Chambois Sector, France, in late 1944.

It was through the actions of these men that the Japanese-American community was released from interment in December of 1944.

What drove these men? It was an undying love for this nation. A love that interment, prejudice and hatred could not destroy. A love for the knowledge that in the United States, all are equal. Just sometimes it takes longer for the government to recognize that fact.

Go For Broke Memorial in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California

On this Pearl Harbor Day I remember the men who died in Hawaii, but I will also remember the patriots who served even when their own nation despised, hated and feared them enough to put them in camps. The men of the 100th Infantry Battalion/442 Regimental Combat Team. Americans regardless of what their nation thought of them at the time!

Sphere: Related Content

The Duke On Immigration....

The Duke On Immigration....
The Duke Says it Best!

They Sacrifice for US

They Sacrifice for US
DO NOT LET THEIR SACRIFICE BE IN VAIN!

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The Veterans Hospital in Tucson needs our help!!! They have contacted Soldiers' Angels with a list of needs for their patients. Soldiers Angels needs your help in making some of these come true.

Below you will find just a small portion of needs that are immediate. You can also find this list posted on the Soldiers Angels Forum at www.soldiersangelsforum.com you will be able to find lots of great information there for our deployed and vets.

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Dry Skin Cream
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If you can send just one item that would be great!!! If each person sends one thing we will make a difference! They are also needing those who can volunteer time at the hospital just contact the Voluntary Services Dept. For information.

Mail Items to:

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My Favorite Speeches and Other Items of Interest

  • George Bush's March 28, 2007 Discusses Economy, War on Terror During Remarks to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association;http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070328-2.html
  • Mitch McConnell's March 15, 2007 Funding For Troops, Not Timelines for Retreat; http://mcconnell.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=270747&start=1
  • Ronald Reagan's June 12, 1987 Tear Down This Wall Speech; http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/wall.asp
  • Vice President Cheney's March 12, 2007 Remarks at the AIPAC 2007 Policy Conference; http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070312.html

Winston Churchill Quotes

  • A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.
  • Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.
  • Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.
  • Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
  • Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.
  • Danger - if you meet it promptly and without flinching - you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!
  • I always seem to get inspiration and renewed vitality by contact with this great novel land of yours which sticks up out of the Atlantic.
  • I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
  • I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.
  • I like a man who grins when he fights.
  • I was only the servant of my country and had I, at any moment, failed to express her unflinching resolve to fight and conquer, I should at once have been rightly cast aside.
  • If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a tremendous whack.
  • In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.
  • It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.
  • Moral of the Work. In war: resolution. In defeat: defiance. In victory: magnanimity. In peace: goodwill.
  • Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
  • Never, never, never give up.
  • No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism.
  • One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!
  • Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
  • Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
  • The first quality that is needed is audacity.
  • The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go.
  • The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.
  • There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.
  • These are not dark days: these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived.
  • They are decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.
  • True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
  • Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
  • War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin, keep out of the way till you can.
  • War is mainly a catalogue of blunders.
  • We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
  • We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.
  • When the eagles are silent the parrots begin to jabber.
  • When you are winning a war almost everything that happens can be claimed to be right and wise.
  • You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Ronald Reagan Quotes

  • "The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant: It's just that they know so much that isn't so."
  • Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.
  • All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.
  • Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources
  • Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
  • Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.
  • Double, no triple, our troubles and we'd still be better off than any other people on earth. It is time that we recognized that ours was, in truth, a noble cause.
  • Facts are stupid things.
  • Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
  • Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
  • Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
  • Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.
  • History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.
  • How can a president not be an actor?
  • How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
  • I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.
  • I will stand on, and continue to use, the figures I have used, because I believe they are correct. Now, I'm not going to deny that you don't now and then slip up on something; no one bats a thousand.
  • In Israel, free men and women are every day demonstrating the power of courage and faith. Back in 1948 when Israel was founded, pundits claimed the new country could never survive. Today, no one questions that. Israel is a land of stability and democracy in a region of tryanny and unrest.
  • Let us ask ourselves; "What kind of people do we think we are?".
  • Man is not free unless government is limited.
  • My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out.
  • No mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology.
  • Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.
  • Our forbearance should never be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act.
  • Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.
  • Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.
  • The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas - a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.
  • The United Sates has much to offer the third world war.
  • There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.
  • To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world's strongest economy.
  • Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong.
  • We are never defeated unless we give up on God.
  • We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child.
  • We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
  • We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free.
  • Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.
  • You know, if I listened to Michael Dukakis long enough, I would be convinced we're in an economic downturn and people are homeless and going without food and medical attention and that we've got to do something about the unemployed.

Eleanor Roosevelt Quotes

  • No one can make you feel inferior without your consent

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