The Internment of Japanese Americans in United States History by David K. Fremon

Author:David K. Fremon [Fremon, David K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780766060708
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2014-09-11T23:00:00+00:00

Rejecting the Military

Reactions to the registration varied from camp to camp. Topaz evacuees sent a petition to the War Department asking for full restoration of civil rights before they would register. The government responded that registration was a “crucial test” for the evacuees and it was no time “to quibble or bargain.” The committee that drew up the petition urged Topaz residents to register. They did, but 32 percent of the men answered No to question 28.

In Minidoka, Nisei men who answered Yes to questions 27 and 28 were immediately whisked over to “voluntary induction.” Only 7 percent of male Nisei in Minidoka answered No to the controversial questions. About three hundred young men from Minidoka volunteered. The camp, which had only 7 percent of the total evacuee population of the camps, had 25 percent of the volunteers.

Hecklers at Poston bombarded government officials with direct, pointed questions: Why were loyal Japanese Americans not allowed back in California? Why couldn’t Nisei soldiers visit the camp? Why were Nisei draftees kicked out of the military after December 7, 1941? Why were veterans of the last war, who already had proved their loyalty, put into camps?

Jerome evacuees were threatened with imprisonment if they failed to register. Eventually, everyone registered. Many answered No to question 28.

At Manzanar, Issei flocked to sign forms for repatriation to Japan. The rush became so intense that authorities stopped handing out repatriation requests until the registration period ended. Issei, meanwhile, urged their Nisei children to respond No to 27 and 28. After question 28 was revised so that Issei would not have to renounce foreign ties, most changed their answers to Yes.

Tule Lake presented problems to the WRA from the beginning. Tuleans heard of the upcoming registration at the end of January 1943. They heard that registration would not be necessary for people who applied for repatriation to Japan.

Community council members tried to get information from the camp director about the registrations. Instead, the director stalled until the actual registration began.

The evacuees remained uncertain of why they had to register and how the registration would proceed. They were angry about the injustice of imprisoned citizens having to join the military and the possibility of forced resettlement. When the JACL met in early February and favored voluntary enlistment and reinstatement of the draft for Nisei, rumors circulated that the JACL and Tule Lake administrators were responsible for the registration. Army team members and WRA officials met with evacuee groups on February 9. The officials read a prepared War Department statement. Few officials accepted questions from the evacuees. Those that did gave only prepared responses that did not answer the questions.

Few Tuleans registered. Some who did tried to withdraw those registrations. Instead, they wrote petitions complaining about the registration. Officials still refused to answer direct questions about the registrations. Instead, they threatened anti-registration leaders with fines and prison sentences. Later, when those same officials learned from the FBI that there was no law against refusing to participate in the loyalty oaths, they never bothered to relay that information to the evacuees.

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