Volunteers for Victory

MARCH 6, 1943

RS IFMIR

ey

PUBLISHED BY THE

RESIDENT GOUNCIL FOR JAPANESE AMBRICAN CIVIL RIGHTS

TOPAZ, UTAH. ao

SPEECH AT THE DEDICATION OF THE NATIONAL CEMETARY

AT GETTYSBURG, NOVEMBER 15, 1863

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers

brought forth upon this continent a new nation,

conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the pro-

position that all men are created equal. Now we (c)

are engaged ina great civil war, testing whe-

ther that nation, or any nation so conceived and

so dedicated, can lOng endure, We are met on a

ereat battlefield of that war, We have come to

dedicate a portion of that field as a final rest

ing place for those who here gave their lives

that that nation might live, It is altogether

fitting and proper that we should do this. But

in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot

consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The

brave men, living and dead, who struggled here,

have consecrated it far above our power to add

or detract, The world will little note, nor long

remember, what we say here; but it can never

forget what they did here, It is for us, the liv-

ing, rather to be dedicated here to the unfin-

ished work which they who fought here have thus

far so nobly advanced, It is rather for us, to

be here dedicated to the great task remaining

before us, that from these honored dead we take

increased devotion to that cause for wnich they

gave the last full measure of devotion; that we

here highly resolve that these dead shall not

have died in vain; that this nation, under God,

shall have a new birth of freedom, and that

eovernnent of the people, by the veople, and for

the peonle, shall not perish from the earth,

By President Abraham Lincoln

receareipr tat Telalege

oy

.

A'. salesman comes to our door, He

Shows us his wares and tells us how good

they are, We examine them, We like them,

We buy them, Or we don't like them, We

turn the salesman away,

The social acceptance of a racial

minority works the same way. Up. till

just lately our acceptability to a com-

munity depended on our own. individual

efforts and salesmanship, The evacuation

changed all that. Some of us. thought

that our government was against us. We

had our gripes, plenty of them, We talk-

ed about what social and economie pasi-

tions our parents had been able to build

us and of the way in which all that was

destroyed by this war. We saw the sad

faces of our parents, we heard the tear-

ful voices of our brothers and sisters,

Those of us who had children asked, What

is to become of them, their future?

On January 28, 1943--a date we Japa-

nese-Americans will never forget--a pro-

Clamation from Washington told us that

MeSty tema yey tte

vat 05

Bis Rs

gee is

ee eet

ve %

our government is definitely interested

in our welfare and that it is prepared

to take a definite action to help us

solve our problems; it told us that it

was. going to sell `us `to the Ancricans

by telling them in a dramatic manner how

capable, how dependable, and how com-

pletely loyal we are to our country, One

of the ways in which . our salesman Uncle

Sam was to sell us was to form a VOLUN-

TEER COMBAT UNIT for us, so that our

fellow-countrymen could say to each

other, "Look at them, They are NOT ONLY

LOYAL but they are VOLUNTEERING in a com

bat unit, And look what good soldiers

they make! Fellows who bait these people

just dontt know what they are talking

about"

Thanks, Unele Sam! You're great! By

selling us _to_the Ameriean publie you

are creating for us a future which is

going to be far greater than anything

we in our little communities have ever

(Continued on Page 5)

CITIZEN WRITES

WHY HE HAS

VOLUNTEERED

February 25, 1943

DOOR seopegerens

I have #0 in beored to

be enlisted as a soldier

in the Army of the United

States, I did this because

it is my firm conviction

that the destiny of the

Japanese American peopleis

here ain sAmerica, I say

this fully aware of the

fact that we, as a minor-

ity among 130,000,000 veo-.

ple, have for years suf-

fered from racial discri-

mination and vrejudices,

and have found life in

this country a continuous

and bitter struggle for

the elevation of our so-

cial status,

T am as much embittered

as any other evacuee when

I consider how our race

was singled out to be upn-

rooted from our homes,

farms and business on the

Pacific Coast and herded

behind barbed-wire fences,

even though we were Ameri-

can citizens and our var-

ents were law-abiding pio-

neers who have been denied

citizenship by the U.S.

naturalization laws,

`But my faith in America

and in our destiny here is

something that, I. am cer-

tain, can be understood

and shared in by every

thinking evacuee--or by

any other person who,

though oppressed through

discrimination, knows

that: there is in the Ameri-

can way of life something

that stands as being in-

compatible with totalitar-

(Cont. on Page 5)

OUR GR REATEST WEAPON:

a eee Py .

VII if e L t t | LY

This message has been written by a citizen who vo-

lunteered to join the combat forces of the United

States Army, Perhaps `in reading this you may find an

expression of your own sentiment, or else you may find

that you have not reasoned things out his way; but now

read how one person willingly placed his life at the

disoosal of the land of his birth,

`The fundamental reason which prompted him to offer

himself to the armed forces is this: Because he so cher

ished the American way of life, he felt that future

generations of the Javanese American people must not,

through the possible blindness, selfishness or reluc-

tance of those of us living today; be denied their

right to live in a democratic America. as respected and

oroud American citizens,

We, the Japanese Americans, in our present plight

have innumerable reasons to fecl embittered. To most of

us, evacuation--the mass uvrooting of our families,

friends, and ourselves from homes and businesses on the

Coast--anpears totally unjust,

Put whether anyone objects or not, evacuation has -

become a -rim reality. There remains for us now but one

choice: `We must make up our minds today whether we in

our bitterness will discard our only chance to find our

rightful place in American society, r whether we will

hold back our "versonal grievances in the realization of

the truth that the future of our posterity as well as

ourselves rests on our courage and sacrifice,

The United States government is offering us, through

Secretary of iar Stimson's statement of January 28th

last, an opportunity to present the one solid evidence

which none can refute,--the evidence that we are loyal

enough to fight in the U.S. Army; that we are worthy to

live, work, fight and die as Americans, Only with evi-

dence as strong as this can we most effectively prove

to American public opinion how unjustly wrong are the

Coneressional, State legislatural and private factions

which seek to crush us through proposals calling for

the deprivation of our citizenship, mass deportation

after the war, Army control of relocation centers and

other discriminatory measures,

Even a possible future removal of the Pacific Coast

evacuation boundaries by the Fourth Army Defense Com-

mand and the Federal Government would not insure our

security or the return of our former status, unless we

have in our hands the one weapon with which we could

turn away any opposing tide of public opinion--an in-

vincible weapon, the indisputable proof of our loyalty

to the United States,

DANIEL C. OTA

ITS MAK

Commenting editorially on the "ar De-

partment announcement that nisei volun-

teers will be accepted for active mili-

tary service, we said in our Feb, 3rd is-

sue: `that we face is the acid test. If

we flunk it, we damn ourselves and our

posterity."

Project Director Stafford's statement

in today's Irrigator, based as it is up-

on the latest clarifying declarations

from the War Department, . unmistakably

underlines the thesis that the entire fu

ture of the Japanese in the United

State rests with the success or failure

of the. volunteer program, The alterna-

tives before us are to speed the allevia-

tion of the situation in which 100,000

of America's Japanese are now stagnatine,

or to aggravate it and face rougher go-

ing along the road ahead,

Hligible nisei who have been sitting

back in the misleading hove that they

will be drafted later, and that they

therefore need not step forth now, can

"no longer "leave it up to the other

guys.' It is now clear that the War De-

partment's program does not provide a

fence which can be straddled convenient-

ly by those who ave unwilling to discard

Fes Cy Ie coke 9%

LEAK

There can be no more

`ves, but' rationali-

their complacency.

holding back with

zations,

And ifat

are beinc forced to

remembered first that the

rises only from our own dilemma,

should be charged that. we

volunteer, let it be

compulsion a-

Our di-

lemma, it is true, may not be of our mak

ing, but that does not alter the fact

that we are in it and cannot afford to

refuse or make ill use of the ovportuni-

ty that is now ours to grasp. And let it

be remembered, " secondly, that it is

doubtful" that we will be given another

chance to show, with dramatic effective-

ness, the solid Americdhn stuff which we

claim we are, made of,

The hard, unrelenting fact is that

the fix we are in--and the extent and im

portance of all that is at stake--does

not vermit vetty ouibbling and souirting

of hyper-sensitive criticism at the one

great chance we have. For the burden we

bear is that we are to decide in no

small measure, whether the generations

to follow us will walk the main streets

of America as eoual citizens, or seek

the side streets as despised nandeahsi

--D.D.iM.

DOKA

Miyagawa

Dyke wrote

last week in an editorial

in the I[Irrigator: "For

the burden we bear is that

we are to decide in no

small measure whether the

- generations to follow us

will walk the main streets

of America as equal citi-

zens, or seek the gide-

streets as despised pari-

ahs,"

As a

thought

set nee

parallel to

expressed by Mr,

the

Miyagawa, I refer to Win-

ston Churchjll's tribute

to the handful of Hurri-

cane fighter pilots who

defended London against

the German blitz of 1940,

Churchill said that never

in history did "so many

owe so much to so few,'

I am positive that fu-

ture generations of Japa-

nese Americans will look

back upon the voluntary

Japanese military unit of

1943 with a' similar obser-

vation. The ocuestion is:

Vill a suficient number of

Japanese Americans of this

generation act now to se-

cure their posterity? As

I have learned to know the

people of lfinidoka, both

old and young, I am confi-

dent the boys -have the

"solid American stuff" ne-

cessary, and they will do

it, H.L, Stafford ~ 0x00B0

Project Director

The

issues of the

Hunt, Idaho,

"Minidoka Irrigator,*

the

o and cena minioneite

articles on this page have been reprinted from the February 13 and 17

weekly newspaver of the WRA center at

RE'

TARO KATAYAMA:

"My reason for volun-

teering is simple.' America is the only

country I have ever known, Whatever

benefits in life I have received uv to

now, I have received as an American cit-

izen, Whatever I may make of my life in

the future, I want:to doso in this

country. I could not do this with a

clear conscienee, nor would I be deserv-

ing of the chance, if I shirked now the

duty and the opportunity I have asa

citizen to serve on nation in. her

Tight for survival.

WALTER NAKATA: "I volunteered because

I felt it was the natural thing to do,`

ROBERT S, IKI: "One of the privileges

of having principles is to be able to

fight for them," .

HENRY H. ERBIMARA: "You can say that I

volunteered for a selfish reason, Yes,

perhaps that is true, because first of

all I want to assure ha"spiness and se-

curity in America for my parents, bro-

thers and sisters, This is their coun-

try. This is my countrv, There is no oth

er. country for us, it is our' struggle

for survival so that we can assure for.

ourselves a place in our country, the

United States of America, Our future in

America is at stake--our acts now will

decide how we are to live in America--

whether as free people or looked upon

with suspicion and hate, because we re-

fused to take part when the security of

our nation was endangered,'

GEORGE KAWAI: "I am a stateless per-

son and am not an American citizen, But

I am willing to fight for any government

whith gives me a gun to fight against

fascism, That is my reason for volunteer-

ing.*

JAMES OKI: "I consider myself an edu-

cator, I have been doing what little I

could to advance the cause of common

man's struggle against tyranny, My vol-

unteering in. the armed forces of the

United States is merely an extension of

my daily activities as a humble teacher,

I am against the military~fascist dic-

tatorship that rules Japan, Cermany, and

all the other Axis-dominated nations, I

am for true democracy everywhere, And I

am willing to die for my principle,

which is at the same time the "rinciple

4

United Nations are ENG

important reason

mS, `the

ing, This is the only

for my volunteering,"

NOBUO KITAGAKI: "My one desire has

been to join my closest friends, the

sons of our neighbors back home, and my

brother in this fight for freedom--now I

can be near them,"

ERNEST S. ITYAMA: "I have always be-

lieved in fighting for the freedom and

right of the "common man,` Believing

that these oprincinles for which we have

been struggling are at stake in this war,

and believing that a victory over our

enemies abroad will be a victory over

our enemies at home, I want to take up

arms to hely hurry this people's victory

and the peoole's peace to follow.'

S. KITAGAYA: `I volunteered to serve

in the armed forces of the United States,

because I am convinced that the govern-

ment is really sincere in its efforts to

give us and our families a chance to

prove ourselves loyal Americans beyond a

doubt. The formation of a successful all

volunteer combat team should prove our

loyalty to the land of ovr birth."

KANO EB. ARIMOTO: "For the sake and fu-

ture of all Japanese who are staying

here in the United States, I am volun-

teering my services to this, my country."

TED IMAI: "I'm no chump, `ho knows, I

may be rejected for one reason or ano-

ther. But no one can say I'm not trying.

Ever think of your future--your family's

and your friend's? I have,"

KARL AKIYA: "I was educated in Japan

where I learned the meaning of fascism

and where I learned to fight against its

oopressive measures. I fought its police

dogs and its military lackeys, As I now

volunteer to serve in the United States

Army I am thinking not only of defehding

American democracy against all foes, but

also of whatever contribution I may be

able to make toward the emancipation of

all peoples, including the common people

of Japan, from their fascist masters, .

am havpy to know that many of the so-

eallcd "kibei", who have often been cha-

ractcrized as "pro-Axis", have joined

our ranks, and I hope that I shall be

able to see more of them as my comrades-

at-arns,"

WARK DEPARTMENT STATES

REASONS TOR -AS* UNIT

In a wire sent here recently, Colonel Scoby of the

Office of the Assistant Secretary of `Jar made the fol-

lowing statement on the reasons bchind the separate

Javanese American combat unit plan:

The guestion that has arisen most frecucntly is

"Why is a segregated unit bcing formed and will the

combat tcam fight in the same battle areas with Cauca-

sian troops?" The Sccretary of ar has directed that

the following reply be brought to the attention of

all Japanese Americans within your center:

It is only because the War Department desires to

aid the loyal Japanese Americans that a sevarate unit

is being formed, liillions of yeople are not familiar

with the Japanese Americans. By their forming an all

Japanese American combat team on a voluntary basis the

American people will be presented with the incontrover

tible fact that there are loyal Javanese Americans who

are willing to fight for the United States, If invo-

luntarees were spread throughout the Army their enlist

ments would attract little attention but the formation

of an all Japanese American combat team comvosed ene

tirely of volunteers will hel"y tremendously to con-

vince those who onvvose the Japanese American,

It is hoped that the Japanese American combat team

will become one of the outstanding units of the Aneri-

ean Army. This combat team will fight with and as a

part of a Caucasian force. The "ar Department has

faith in the loyal Japanese Americans, This is a

splendid opportunity to demonstrate to the American

people and to the "ar Department that Japanese Ameri-

cans have faith in America, A success of the program

and the voluntary feature of induction will be a great

step forward in the rehabilitation plans for. vepeng?s

Americans,

A VOLUNTEERS LETT 7

(Continued from Page 1)

man's will desire realized unless

crete me nat

gimentation of we

to fight and strive for are willing now--when the

the betterment of his posi- War Devartment offers us

tion. the chance to fight for

I believe that it is `America on the battlefront

the desire of every Japn- --to devote the utmost of

nese American today to ourselves `to this cause,

have his children live 2s and to let not the dark-

respected citizens in @ ness of our vresent situa-

democratic America, and tion or our grievances

not as a hated people, prevent us from proving

destitute of hone, courage our worth before the eyes |

and contentment.

Yet we cannot have this

of the American "sublic.

KOZO KITAMURA

INSURANCE FOR

ANDUCTEFS NOW

MADE POSSIBLE

Every inductee who

makes an application in

writing (made within 120

days after entrance into

the Army) will be granted

insurance on the five-year

level premium term "lan by

the United States against

the death of that person

occurring while his insur-

ance is, in forte,

The yayments

made to the following

neficiaries and in

order named; (a) to

widow or widower of

insured, if living and un-

remarried; (bd) to the

child or children, if liv-

ing, in eoual shares, if

the insured leaves no wi-

dow or widower; (c) to the

dependent mother or father,

if living, in eoual shares,

in. the event the insured

leaves no widow or widower,

of thiid,

The premium rates will

be based upon the American

Exverience Table of Morta-

will be

be-

the

the

the

lity and interest at 3%

per year.

The insurance becomes

effective from the first

day of the month following

the date of application,

It will be issued in any

multiple of $500 and the

amount of the insurance

for one verson will not be

less than $1,000 or more

than $10,000,

WHAT OF THE FUTURE?

(Cont. from Page 1)

known, We'll help you, Un-

cle Sam,' by showing oue

selves worthy of your sup-

port -so that the future of

"us and our dear ones will

not be the life of pariahs.

5

iH

picture dravm from Battalion of Camo lieCoy,

cometh meee amen

Hawaiian

This t was formerly a

en oficial U.S, Army pho- Wisconsin, National Guard Unit.

to shows a trio of anti- whe "Fighting 100th," Many times the unit has

tank troops attucned to composed mostly of Ameri- won generous commendations

the famous 100th Invantry cans of Japanese ancestry, from military officials,

oN vo ies

yen

| F) PPE ROLLE 20975

a ae 4 He J | ` .

le aohteftp fore | (LE SE a |

Brig. Gen. R. Mittelstaedt, Maui Dis-

trict (Hawaii) commander of the U.S. Are

my, recently paid tribute to American

soldiers of Japanese aneestry in.. a

speech at Baldwin high school in obser"

vance -of the opening of volunteering on

Maui for the proposed Javanese American

combat unit.

"Before coming here I served with the

army in California an@ commanded Califor

nia troops," the general said, "Among

the men under me were many Americans of

Japanese ancestry, and I want to say

they were among the best soldiers we had,

"We are proud of them and the record

they made, They are very fine, high

were very

(The

various

ation the

the

effort,

6

E nae

class sateiaes and the

who present no disciplinary problems, We

sorry to lose them when they

were sent east,"

American Japanese

whom Gen, Mittelstacdt refers were Cal-

ifornia nisei who

Uae

before evacuation, At the time of evacu-

nisei soldiers were

assigned `to new posts outside the

tern Defense Command.)

Gen, Mittelstaedt had high praise for

part the

traction have playcd in the

ea

UPS

type - soldiers

soldiers of

were in training at

Army posts in California

also re-

Wes-

Americans of Japanese ex-

gcneral war

SLOEUDIERS ARE (c)

UNDER

1942 DEPENDENTS ACT

The Servicemen'ts Depen-

dents Allowance Act of

1942 authorizes the pay-

ment of monthly family al-

lowances to certain rela-

tives and dependents of erm

listed men,

For the purposes of

family allowances, the re-

latives and dependents of

a soldier are divided into

two classes, Class "A" and

Class "B", Class "A" rela-

tives do not have to be

dependent upon the soldier

in order to be eligible

for a family allowance, In

Class "A are the wife and

children of the soldier,

In Class "B" are the par-

ents, brothers, sisters,

and grandchildren of tho

8 centeuro

Secretary of

Following

War Stimson's announcement

of the Army plan to form a

special combat unit of ni-

sei enlistees,, editorials

hailing the plan appeared

in numerous newspapers

throughout the nation. Be-

low are a few excerpts

from some of these papers:

WILMINGTON (Del.) NEWS:

`In opening the Army's

ranks to enlistment by

Anerican-born Japanese,

Secretary of War Stimson

has taken a wholly justi-

fied move, The great major

ity of this group is tho-

roughly Anerican in back-

ground, thinking and ex-

perience, Most of its mem-

bers are aS patriotic and

as loyal to this country

as young men of German, I-

rish and British descent

now in American uniform,"

soldier, Class "B" deven-

dents must be dependent

upon the soldier for a sub-

stantial portion of their

support.

Each allowance is made

up of money deducted from

the soldier's pay and mon-

ey contributed by the gov-

ernment, For example a

wife (no children) re-

ceives a check for 450

every month, Of this, the

sovernnent has contributed

528, Tho remaindcr, or $22,

has been deducted from the

soldier's pay. The govern

ment contributes for each

child an. additional (10.

The monthly allowance of

the Class `'B" devendents

runs on a similar basis,

-- eee et ements A ene a nes Rene me mee see wn aN SS

Nets TILES: "sig TRO O(c)

pisode "touches one's sym-

pathies, These Japanese

are American citizens,

just as are the young men.

of German and Italian des-

cent who are loyal members

of our fighting services..

Their eagerness now to be

in the nation's battle may

ameliorate their rather

lonesome lot in this coun-

try =

ATLANTA (Ga,})_ CONSTTTU--

TION: "There is little

doubt, once trained, they

(nigel enlistees) will

form combats units of high

est value in the fighting

zones,"

S.F, CHRONICLE: "The

decision of the `Jar Depart-

ment to treat them like o-

ther citizens in the ius-

tering of men for the(R)

armed forces will gratify

fo

a

BAY J 2 f St iN

4 eh Lie Be

Men dctecte the. ages

of 17 and 36 may still

volunteer to be enlisted

in the United States Ar-

my combat unit until 9

Phi, Wednesday, March lO.

Volunteering office

has been set up at the

peast end of Rec 4,

From Monday, March 8,

office hours will be

- 9 AM to 9 PM.

LDEST TOPAZ

. `OLUNTEER

The oldest person in

Topaz to offer his servi-

ces to the armed forces of

the United States during

the last few weeks of ree-

istration here was an is-

sei, now sixty years of

Age.

He has lived in this

country for forty consecu-

tive years, Although he

was many years over the

combat ace, he showed his

eagerness to soend the re-

maining days of his life

serving the cause of demo-

eracy in this present war,

His application for vo-

luntery enlistment was ac-

eepted by the registration

yersonnel for considera-

tion by the War Department,

mo

all who have felt that the

only proper test in the

case is loyalty, not ra-

cial origin."

SPRINGFIELD. (lass. ) RE-

PUBLICAN: "The organiza-

tion of sucha unit for

military service would

surely create a good .im-

pression among the mass of

Americans "