Various accounts in an article Sunday, Feb. 19 describe what happened to Japanese immigrants and their American-born children who were put into internment camps 75 years ago. This was our American government’s reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. This is abhorrent but missing in the story is something even more disturbing.
In 1969 in an advanced level American history class at UH-Manoa, I learned that American military intelligence knew and reported to our government that an armada of Japanese military ships was headed toward Hawaii.
Most Americans are not aware that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was warned three days before the Pearl Harbor attack but chose not to take any protective measures. This makes the Japanese internment even worse!
We, as human beings, often tend to choose to believe what is most advantageous to ourselves. Today I went online and read an account from a non-American and non-Japanese source about the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is a British newspaper article.
I am a Japanese American and my father served in the U.S. Army during World War II. As a child, I remember playing war with my neighborhood friends and I’d always want to be on the American side because the Japanese side was the enemy. I never thought of myself as being Japanese. This was my mindset and I was shocked at what I learned in that American history class!
Most of us who are Japanese Americans born and raised in Hawaii do not truly grasp the horror of the Japanese internment 75 years ago. This is because many of the people in Hawaii were Japanese immigrants and their descendants so putting all of them in internment camps was not a realistic option. However, in some ways, our ancestors were affected. Years ago when I asked my grandmother why one of her two anthurium patches had a wall around it and one didn’t, I learned that my grandparents had been forced to drain their fishpond after the war broke out because it contained koi or carp, which are Japanese in origin! I also remember my father telling me that while he was in his U.S. Army, he was “bumped off” an interisland flight so a Caucasian could get onboard. He also told me that no AJAs were allowed to have guns while in the U.S. Army except for the 100th Battalion and the 442, who were trained to fight in Europe in WWII. He used to carry a broomstick when on guard duty at Schofield Barracks.
Today when I ponder about President Trump’s immigration policy, I can accept it if, as he says, it is for only 90 days so careful examination can be done to prevent terrorists from entering our country. But it should only be temporary. And as for how Arab immigrants and Arab Americans should be treated, there should be no discrimination.
One of the National Park Service monuments to see in Washington, D.C, is the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II, which is not far from the U.S. Capitol. It honors the Japanese American veterans who served in the 100th Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service and other units. The wall on the monument has the names of the 10 internment camps where over 120,000 people were placed and there is also a statue of two Japanese cranes representing freedom and justice struggling to free themselves from the barbed wire holding them down. The monument was built to honor American citizens of Japanese ancestry and their parents who remained loyal to the United States in spite of their unjust treatment during WWII.
A horrible mistake was made 75 years ago and we should all learn from our mistakes. Let’s not ever let anything like this happen again!
Margaret “Marge” Muranaka is a resident of Hilo