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Question and Answer Fact Sheet -- Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

On July 31, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed Public Law 96-317 establishing the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians.

What is a Commission?

Commissions are from time-to-time established through Congressional legislation to investigate grave problems facing our country. For example, the Kerner Commission conducted a study on Civil Disorder in America and the Scranton Commission on Campus Unrest among other areas investigated possible repression in America. It is through commission studies of this nature that steps may be taken to ameliorate problems.

Who Will Serve on the Commission? Where Will it be Located?

There are nine members on the Commission. In January 1981, President Carter appointed William Marutani, Judge of Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia, Arthur Flemming, Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and Joan Bernstein, former Chief General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The House of Representatives appointed Arthur Goldberg, former Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Representative Daniel Lundgren (R-Long Beach), and Father Robert Drinan, former member of the House of Representatives. The commission appointments from the U.S. Senate are former U.S. Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts; former U.S. Senator from Washington, Hugh B. Mitchell, and Father Ishmail Gromoff.

Ms. Joan Bernstein is the Chairperson of the Commission and Daniel Lundgren is the Vice-Chair. The Commission office address is 2020 New Executive Office Building, 726 Jackson Place, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506;

What Exactly Will This Commission Do?

The Commission will review the facts and circumstances surrounding Executive Order 9066 and the impact of this Executive Order on Japanese American and permanent resident Japanese. Additionally, the Commission will review directives of United States military forces requiring internment of Aleut civilians, and recommend appropriate remedies.

How Will This be Done?

The Commission will hold public hearings nationwide. The purpose of these hearings will be to gather testimony from witnesses.

In addition, it is expected that the Commission will contract research consultants, such as attorneys and social scientists, to assist the fact-finding investigation. The Commission may also request other sources of information such as documents, correspondence, books, memorandums, etc. Further, the Commission may request subpoena powers through the U.S. Attorney General and acquire information from governmental departments and agencies as well as private sources.

In Which Cities Will the Public Hearings be Held?

The Commission has not finalized the number of hearings nor hearing sites. We do anticipate, however, that hearings will be scheduled in Washington, D.C., the Midwest, West Coast and in Alaska.

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When Will the Hearings Begin?

In the discussion JACL has had with Chairperson Bernstein, we expect the Commission hearings to begin in mid-Summer.

How Can I Appear Before the Commission? Who Makes the Selection of Witnesses?

The JACL Chapters have established search committees in their communities to identify potential witnesses to the Commission. The list and biographical information of potential witnesses will be sent to JACL National Headquarters. If you are interested in appearing as a witness before the Commission you may contact your local JACL Chapter or the National Committee for Redress at National Headquarters.

The JACL National Committee for Redress will forward the names of all interested individuals to the Commission. The Commission and the Commission staff will determine who will appear as witnesses.

Can I Submit Testimony Without Appearing Before the Commission?

The Commission will accept written, personal accounts regarding the experiences and impact of the wartime incarceration. To assist individuals in developing written testimony to the Commission, we have provided suggested guidelines to follow. Written testimony may be submitted to the Commission at any time subsequent to the hearings.

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Guidelines for Written and Oral Testimony

In developing testimony, oral or written for the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, it is advisable that individuals keep certain things in mind. With respect to the preparation of written testimony the following should be observed. While the written statement may be broad in scope, ie, dealing with the pre-evacuation, evacuation, internment, and post-internment, it must be kept in mind that this information must be conveyed in great detail. Specific details will have a much greater impact on the Commission and its staff. At the same time, written statements need not necessarily deal with an overall perspective. They may also be limited to specific areas that the individual feels will have great impact.

The presentation of oral testimony is a different matter because of the time constraints that will be placed on the witnesses. It is advised that because of this constraint, individuals focus their attention in very narrow and limited areas. It would be very difficult, for instance, to convey one's total experience in a few minutes, thus the most effective use of time would point to a specific area or incident and in the time allotted, express with impact and detail that subject matter.

In general, the oral and written statements should revolve around the same basic structure. There should be an introduction to the statement, a body of content, and some form of conclusion. The introduction should accomplish two purposes. First, it serves to introduce the individual to the Commission, and secondly, it states the theme of your statement. The body of content should contain the substance of the presentation, detailing the theme of the statement. The conclusion may take several forms. First, it may serve as a summary of what the presentor has stated. Secondly, it may serve to give guidance for the Commission recommendation, or thirdly, it may serve to reiterate a singular point the presentor is trying to make.

Areas of suggested testimony appear elsewhere in this packet; however, it must again be stressed that especially in oral testimony, narrowly defined statements of experience will be most effective. For example, pre-evacuation areas of testimony may include the plight of the voluntary evacuee or the effects of the random FBI searches, and the effects on the families of those arrested. A narrow area of testimony dealing with the internment may include incidents involving medical care and the facilities to carry out this treatment. Post-camp experience may deal with the subject of economic losses and evacuation claims.

Following are examples of oral testimony with suggestions for making them more appropriate.

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Suggested Questions for Written Testimony to the Commission

The following questions are salient points you might consider and are provided simply as a guide to assist you in preparing your written testimony to the Commission. Please use this sheet accordingly and do not limit yourself to these questions.

1. Introduce yourself: name, residence, present occupation, age.

2. Pre-Evacuation

a. Where you were living; what were you or your family doing in 1941 (i.e., student, working, nature of work, etc.)?

b. What was your reaction (or your family's reaction) to the order to evacuate?

c. How much time were you given to prepare for camp?

d. What did you take; what did you leave behind?

e. What would you estimate your losses (or your family's losses) at that time?

3. Camp Life

a. What camp (temporary and permanent concentration camp) were you in?

b. Describe living conditions in temporary/permanent concentration camps.

c. How were you transported from your home to camp; from camp to camp? Are there significant experiences you remember on the ride?

d. What was your first impression when you arrived at camp?

e. What did you do in camp? Was it difficult to adjust to the lifestyle?

f. Were you in camp with your family? Did camp life affect your family relations?

g. How did the loyalty oath affect you/your family?

h. Is there a single event that occurred in camp that had great impact?

4. Post-Camp

a. What did you do following camp? Where did you resettle? What were the problems you encountered during this period?

b. What was/is the most difficult problem for you to overcome?

c. Has the WWII incarceration affected your life?

d. What would you accept as adequate compensation for your years spent in camp? Direct compensation? Non-monetary redress?

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Suggested Guidelines for Oral Testimony to
The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

1. Don't draw comparisons (eg, Holocaust, Sioux Nation, Black slavery) that will invite questions which may prove difficult to answer. Keep in mind the make-up of the Commissioners.

2. Be specific -- deal with your own personal experiences.

3. Leave the legal arguments to the experts. There will be plenty of attorneys who will testify on the constitutional issues.

4. Don't get verbose in condemning the government's actions in 1942 (eg, "one of the greatest constitutional injustices in the history of the U.S.") because this type of statement, like the legal argument, is too vulnerable to a challenge by the Commissioners. There will be testimony presented condemning the government's action and rationale for the evacuation. The effects of the government's action, however, should be condemned in light of the personal tragedy it created.

5. Determine what exactly the point is that you're trying to make through your oral testimony. What is the focus you are trying to present?

6. Don't over-polish your oral presentation. The most effective testimony you can give will be in the language that is the most comfortable to you.

7. Keep in mind that the Commissioner are there to gather information and facts and not to place witnesses or any kind of "hot seat."

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Written Statement from Mr. Minoru Yasui, submitted to the Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, on S. 1647 Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Act, March 18, 1980.

March 18, 1980

To: The Honorable Abraham Ribicoff, Chairman
U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
Rm #3308, Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510.

In re: Hearings on U.S. Senate Bill #1647

I, MINORU YASUI of Denver, Colorado, respectfully request leave to file written testimony concerning Senate Bill #1647, as follows:

1. IDENTIFICATION:

I am Minoru Yasui, an attorney at law, admitted to practice in the State of Oregon in 1939, and further admitted to practice in the State of Colorado in 1946. I was engaged in the active practice of law for 25 years until 1967, continuously except during 1943-1946.

Since 1967, I have served, and am continuing to serve as the executive director of the Commission on Community Relations for the City and County of Denver, in the State of Colorado.

At the present time, my active participation and membership on a number of boards, commissions and committees, include, among others: the National JACL Redress committee; chairman of the Colorado State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission; the International Consultation of Human Rights; acting chairman of the Denver Anti-Crime Council (formerly chairman for five years); member of the national advisory board of Joint Action in Community Services (JACS); regional board of the Institute for International Education; and local boards of the YMCA, Boy Scouts of America, Mile-High chapter of American Red Cross, the South Denver Chamber of Commerce, the Superintendent's Executive Advisory Council for Denver Public Schools, and numerous other local boards and commissions.

During the past 36 years in Denver, after having a normal life completely disrupted by the evacuation of persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. In 1942, I believe I have attained some degree of acceptance in the Denver community, by dint of extensive community service over a long period of time.

2. EVACUATION EXPERIENCES:

Commencing on March 28, 1942, I initiated a test case involving the United States government, testing whether or not military orders (curfew) could be selectively enforced against United States citizens of Japanese ancestry and no other U.S. citizens, in the absence of martial law.

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On Nov. 16, 1942, the U.S. District Court for Oregon held that such military orders, in absence of martial law, could not be reinforced against United States citizens, but ruled that I was not a citizen of the United States. (United States vs. Minoru Yasui, 48 Feb. Supp. 40, Cas. #16056) I was found guilty of violating Public Law 503, and sentenced to one year in jail and $5,000 fine.

The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in June, 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that military orders against persons of Japanese ancestry, regardless of United States citizenship, were valid. (Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi vs. United States, 1943, 320 U.S. 81, 63 S. Ct. 1375) My case is noted as a companion case to the Hirabayashi case, and was remanded nothing that the government did not claim that I was not a citizen of the United States.

I served sentence in solitary confinement in the Multnomah County Jail, in Portland, Oregon, for slightly more than 9 months, from Nov. 1942 until Aug. 19, 1943.

Although I was engaged in the private practice of law from January, 1942 until May, 1942, in Portland, Oregon, I was forced to leave my home in Hood River, Oregon, by a squad of armed military police led by a 2nd Lt. of the United States Army, during May, 1942, and taken to the Wartime Civilian Control Center in the livestock pavilion of North Portland, Oregon, and there confined with some 4,000 other persons of Japanese ancestry.

After four months in the WCCA center in North Portland, Oregon, during September, 1942, we were transported by outmoded troop trains to a yet uncompleted desert camp at the Minidoka WRA, just north of Twin Falls, Idaho, to join a total of about 9,500 other evacuees, primarily from the Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, areas.

I was an inmate of the Minidoka WRA from Sept. 1942 until June, 1944, except for a the period of time from Nov. 1942 until Aug. 1943, and except for a month's furlough during October, 1943, at which time I joined Joe Grant Masaoka of the Rocky Mountain JACL office, in touring the WRA camps at Granada, Colorado, and the Gila River and Poston, Arizona, urging Japanese American males over the age of 18 to volunteer for the 442nd Infantry Combat team to demonstrate unquestionably our loyalty to the United States.

I had held a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Officers Reserve Corps, as of Jan. 19, 1942, but was rejected for active service. Thereafter, I did volunteer as a buck private both for the infantry as well as for military intelligence at Camp Savage in Minnesota, but despite some 8 efforts to volunteer, was rejected each time.

In June, 1944, I relocated from the Minidoka WRA camp in Idaho, to Chicago, Illinois. After a summer in Chicago, working in an ice plant, I took up permanent residence in Denver, Colo., during Sept. 1944. I have been a resident of Denver, Colorado, during the past 36 years, or since Sept. 1944.

March 18, 1980

Hon. Abraham Ribicoff

In sum, I was an inmate of either the WCCA center in North Portland, Oregon, or the WRA camp in Minidoka, Idaho, for a total period of 16 months. In addition thereto, I spent nine months in jail -- in solitary confinement -- during the evacuation period.

During the evacuation period, when the camps were still populated by persons of Japanese ancestry, during about October, 1943, I did visit and spend some time in three WRA camps, viz., Granada, Colo., Gila River and Poston, Ariz.

Subsequent to the closing of the camps in 1946, over the years, I have visited the sites of all WRA camps in the United States, to get a visceral feel for the localities where Americans of Japanese ancestry were incarcerated during World War II.

During the period of from Jan. 1942 until May 1942, as a private attorney, I handled many legal cases for persons of Japanese ancestry in Portland, Oregon, relative to the up-coming evacuation process. During the period I was confined in the WCCA/WRA camps, I further handled innumerable legal matters for and on behalf of evacuees. Subsequent to the enactment of the Evacuation Claims Act of 1949, I handled several hundred evacuation claims, as a private attorney both in Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado, as well as many other matters related to evacuation, for a period extending well over 5 years. I am thus familiar on a first hand basis with many of the problems and losses incurred by evacuees from the Portland, Oregon, area, as well as relocates to Denver, Colorado.

3. Support for S. 1657:

Based upon all of the experiences hereinabove set forth, it is my considered judgment that the Congress of the United States should enact S. 1647 and HR 5499, which would authorize and mandate an in-depth and definite investigation of all the events which took place after Dec. 7, 1941, through the entire evacuation period, until the final closing of the camps in 1946.

We can note the enormous financial losses incurred by persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast in 1942. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, through its TFR-300 and TFBE-1 reports, tabulated assets in excess of $400,000,000 during the spring of 1942. We know that the eventual recovery under the Evacuation Claims Act of 1949 amounted to about $38,000,000 or about 8 1/2 cents on the dollar.

But, more than the financial losses incurred, were the shattering disruptions of homes and lives of individuals. Entire social and family structures were shattered. Individuals were subjected to bitterness, frustrations, incarceration, disruption of careers, and personal ruination on the basis of ancestry only. We know that tens of thousands of individuals, out of the total 120,000 who were evacuated, were completely innocent individuals -- but who were made to suffer without any charges initiated against them and without any conviction for any crime committed.

We know the rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Hirabayashi case, and in the Korematsu case. We do not believe that judicial review of those cases are possible now, 38 years after the event. However, this matter too should be investigated and studies by the Congress, for possible legislative relief or nullification.

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March 18, 1980

Hon. Abraham Ribicoff

I belief that those decisions of the United States Supreme Court were wrong; I do not suggest that it is feasible to over-turn such decisions at this late date.

My concern is that our nation, the United States of America, should never again perpetrate such an outrageous violation of human rights against any individual in the future, and that we restore our nation to its rightful place as the leader in the world in defending human rights, dignity and freedom.

I believe we owe this obligation, as true Americans, to ourselves and our posterity, to make a permanent record of what transpired so that those errors will never again be repeated in the future -- war or no war.

I am a firm believer in the saying of George Santayana who said "Those who forget the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them."

I strongly urge that the Congress of the United States enact Senate bill #1647 and HR #5499, so that the melancholy years of 1942-1946 now besmirched by a racist and official violation of the human rights of a tiny minority of Americans of Japanese ancestry -- from which group came men who gave of their lives, their blood, and their dedication and loyalty in the armed forces of United States, some 40,000 strong -- can be properly documented in history to the end that it shall not be repeated against any group of individuals in America henceforth.

Respectfully submitted,

[Signed] Minoru Yasui
1150 So. Williams St.
Denver, Colorado 80210

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Testimony of Roger Daniels, Head, Department of History, University of Cincinnati

Mr. Daniels. Yes, sir. Thank you, Senator Jackson.

I have been studying and writing about Japanese Americans for more than 20 years. Among my books on the subject are "The Politics of Prejudice," "Concentration Camps, U.S.A.", and "The Decision To Relocate the Japanese Americans."

Although Japanese Americans suffered from a wide variety of discriminatory actions at every level of government, the climactic discrimination began on February 19, 1942, when Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. That order set off a chain of events which resulted in about 110,000 persons, more than two-thirds of them native-born American citizens, being incarcerated behind barbed wire simply because they belonged to an enemy ethnic group.

Since the publication of Eugene V. Rostow's 1945 article calling it "Our Worst Wartime Mistake," most scholarly opinion has condemned the relocation. We now know that the alleged "military necessity" did not exist. The professional heads of the armed services did not advocate the relocation; they reluctantly agreed to it. It was imposed on the Nation by political leaders against the advice of both professional soldiers and security experts in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Naval Intelligence.

Not knowing this, the Supreme Court of the United States eventually ratified the evacuation. Hirabayashi v. United States (320 U.S. 81) in 1943 held that a citizen could be jailed for violating a military curfew order that applied to only one ethnic group. Korematsu v. United States (323 U.S. 214) in 1944 held that a citizen could be jailed for refusing to report to an assembly center that was a prelude to sending him to a concentration camp that was strictly for ethnic Japanese.

At the same time, the Court ruled in Ex Parte Endo (323 U.S. 283) that any loyal citizen, as Ms. Endo admittedly was, could apply for a writ of habeas corpus and thus gain release.

Ms. Endo, who was incarcerated in mid-1942, spent nearly 2 1/2 years behind barbed wire simply because we were at war with the nation from which her parents had emigrated. Neither she nor any other Japanese American was ever indicted, no less convicted, for any treasonous act in the continental United States.

Since the closing of the last of the relocation centers in spring, 1946, the social and legal position of Japanese Americans has gradually improved. The heroic an dwell-publicized performance of Japanese American troops in Italy and France, as well as the almost unknown exploits of some 5,000 who served in the various military intelligence roles in the Pacific, were, to a degree, responsible for the change in the Japanese American image.

In 1948 Congress passed the Japanese American Claims Act under which some Japanese Americans received about 10 postwar cents on the pre-war dollar of assets that were lost or damaged because of their enforced relocation.

In 1952, Japanese and other aliens from Asia were made eligible for naturalization so that the last vestige of legal discrimination was erased from the statute books. And finally, just over 4 years ago, President Gerald R. Ford, on February 19, 1976, issued a proclamation revoking Executive Order 9066, saying, in part:

We know now what we should have known then -- not only was the evacuation wrong, but Japanese Americans were and are loyal Americans.

For more than a generation the Japanese American community was largely silent about the question of redress for what was an undoubted wrong. It is silent no more. The bill before you, which would set up a commission to investigate, take testimony, and make legislative recommendations, is an excellent way to begin to make some amends. Such a commission could also serve an educational purpose by reminding Americans about one of the wrongs of our past.

This bill does not just affect Japanese Americans. The late Morton Grodzins pointed out that although:

Japanese Americans were the immediate victims of the evacuation ... [its] larger consequences are carried by the American people as a whole. Their legacy is a lasting one of precedent and constitutional sanctity for a policy of mass incarceration under military auspices. This is the most important result of the process by which the evacuation decision was made. That decision betrayed all Americans.

Your committee has an opportunity to begin a significant mitigation of that process.

Thank you.

Senator Jackson. Thank you very much, Dr. Daniels. We appreciate having your statement. It should be very helpful in the delib-

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Sample Oral Testimony

Madame Chairperson/Mr. Chairman:

My name is (first, middle initial, last name). I appreciate the opportunity you have given me to appear before you today to express some of my concerns and thoughts about the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War, and I would like to take this opportunity to give you my own personal perspective of that experience.

The majority of the witnesses who have appeared before you and will appear before you throughout the course of the Commission's hearings with their personal accounts of the concentration camp experience have been and will be the Nisei, those who were either teenagers or in their early twenties in 1942. Their story is a familiar one, for it is in their experiences that I believe one can most easily see the greatest manifestations of the impact of the internment experience.

However, I would like to give you a personal view as a member of the Sansei generation that spent its early, formative years in America's concentration camps. Although the effects of the camp experience isn't seen as easily in my generation, I believe that we suffered a great damage and that we serve as a prime example of the negative impact of the concentration camps.

I was just the young boy when Japanese Americans were evicted from the west coast in 1942. I was ten years old and the oldest of six children in my family. My father worked in the produce market in Los Angeles and my mother was a maid. We didn't have much before the war but my parents worked hard and owned a house and owned a house

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and car. My parents were good people who believed in what American democracy stood for.

After Pearl Harbor was bombed and rumors began to spread about a mass evacuation, I remember my father telling us that we would not be evacuated because we were American citizens. My parents continued to work and plan for some kind of future because they were convinced that we wouldn't be evacuated.

In April of 1942, the evacuation notices were posted around Los Angeles and I can recall my parents going through the painful process of selling off their property. For me and my brothers and sisters, it was a confusing time because we didn't know what was happening or where we were going. We wanted to stay in Los Angeles because all of our friends were there.

When the evacuation came, I recall being sad at leaving our home and friends. For me, the most painful event was having to leave our dog behind because he had been my close companion for years. At the time, I didn't understand why we couldn't take the dog with us, but I later found out that there were a lot of other kids in the camps who had gone through a similar experience.

I don't recall that much about the first camp we were in, except that our family lived in a horse stable. What I remember was the smell of manure and the strong stench whenever the weather turned hot. Santa Anita, where my family spent the first few months, was home for us. Because it was so crowded and because we seemed to have to wait in lines for everything, I didn't pay much attention to what our situation was. My father kept telling us that as long as we were together, everything would be alright.

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It seems that just as we began to get settled in at Santa Anita, we were told that we were going to move again. I think all of us kids sensed that, while the initial evacuation caused a lot of confusion among our parents and the Nisei, this time there was a sense of fear because there seemed to be something ominous about the move that was about to take place.

Being a kid, I wasn't aware of the types of preparation that were being made for the move, and it seemed to come all of a sudden. One day we were at Santa Anita and the next day we were boarded on buses with our suitcases. What seemed to worry most of the adults was the fact that we weren't allowed to open the shades on the buses. I remember some of the people saying that we should refuse to stay on the buses because there was no telling what would happen to us. The memory of that has always stuck with me. As a ten year old boy, I was terribly frightened.

My family ended up at Manzanar Relocation Center in the Owens valley of California. When we got there, there was nothing around but the barren land, the rows of barracks, and sage brush everywhere. I remember it being really hot and windy, and there was dust everywhere. Some of the people who had been at Santa Anita had already arrived, but we were among the first group to be sent to Manzanar.

Although much of what happened during the three years my family was at Manzanar is lost to memory for me, there are certain things that I'll never forget. While Santa Anita was filled with the stench of horse manure, the first weeks at Manzanar recall for me the open sewer lines from the latrines that hadn't been finished

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by the time we arrived. The stench from the sewers seemed to pervade the entire camp until the men were able to dig the ditches and put in a proper sewer system. I can also recall the wind and dust, the unbearable heat of summer and the cold of winter. But more than anything, the image of Manzanar for me will always be the barbed wire and guard towers.

For me, and I think for the rest of the Sansei generation that grew up in the camps, there was an awareness that we had been singled out for imprisonment because we were of Japanese ancestry. In my mind, the fact that I was Japanese American became a stigma, something that plagued me with a sense of shame for many years after I left the camps. In the logic I could understand that being held prisoners was something to be ashamed about. It took me until I became an adult to understand what had happened to us and that there was no reason to feel as I did.

There is no doubt that the Issei and Nisei generations suffered the greatest damage in the entire internment experience, but what I'm trying to tell you is that my generation experienced irreparable damage psychologically from the years we spent in camp.

The imprisonment of Japanese Americans, in my view, is the greatest injustice done to citizens of this country and is something that must be rectified by our government even though the experience took place almost forty years ago.

And in closing, the evacuation order represents, without proper remedial action an unparalleled breach in constitutional rights.

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CRITIQUE: SAMPLE ORAL TESTIMONY #1

1. Given the time constraints in an oral presentation (3 minutes), be more direct in your introductory paragraphs. Many of the comments in the first five paragraphs are superfluous and can be deleted without harming the intent and impact of the testimony.

The introduction may be rewritten as:

My name is (first, middle initial, last name). I appreciate the opportunity you have given me to appear before you today.

I would like to give you a personal view as a member of the Sansei generation who spent his early, formative years in America's concentration camps.

I was just a young boy when Japanese Americans were evicted from the west coast in 1942. I was ten years old and the oldest of six children in my family. My father worked in the produce market in Los Angeles and mother was a maid. We didn't have much before the war but my parents worked hard and owned a house and car.

After Pearl Harbor was bombed and rumors began to spread about a mass evacuation, I remember my father telling us that we would not be evacuated because we were American citizens.

For me and my brothers and sisters, it was a confusing time because we didn't know what was happening or where we were going. We wanted to stay in Los Angeles because all of our friends were there.

2. The paragraphs which follow (pp. 10-11) are descriptions of the temporary and permanent concentration camps. While they offer a glimpse of the circumstances surrounding him, eg, living conditions, sanitation, etc., it fails to discuss the affect it may have had upon him as he had intended.

One suggestion would be to discuss specific events which have occurred and have had a significant impact, i.e. the process of being taken away from your home, school, friends; the attitude of your non-Japanese American class mates; the confusion and instability of living in camp; etc.

3. The first full paragraph on the last page of the testimony (page 12) should be the focus of this testimony. The post-camp impact upon your identity should be expanded.

Some points to consider would be:

What did you do following camp? What kinds of problems/situations did you encounter in which you felt inferior as a Japanese American?

How did you resolve this conflict?

4. The concluding three paragraphs will evoke questions from the Commission and may be damaging to your testimony.

a. Don't compare your experience as a child to that of the Nisei or Issei.

b. Avoid discussing the constitutionality of the incarceration unless you're an attorney. (See the "Suggested Guidelines for Oral Testimony to the Commission," page 4)

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Mr. Chairman, members of the Commision, my name is ___________ and I reside in New York. I am currently retired due to a disability. I appreciate this opportunity to testify before you so that I might relate my experience resulting from the issuance of Executive Order 9066.

By way of background, my father _________ came to the United States from Japan in 1904. I recall my father telling me that he came to this country as a result of taking a job aboard a U.S. floating cannery in Japan. From there the ship sailed to the fishing waters of Alaska where he found employment in the land based canneries. After a short period of time and through the cannery fleets, he found passage to the U.S. mainland and eventually settled in California. Although he eventually pursued a life in agriculture, for a short time he was employed by the railroads engaged in laying track. In 1919, my father returned to Japan where he married my mother __________. They returned to the U.S. almost immediately thereafter and settled in the central valley of California, near Fresno, where my mother died shortly before the war.

From the early 1920's until May of 1942, my father farmed in the central valley. His inability to become naturalized precluded him from purchasing land and as a result he lived the life of a "sharecropper" in which the owner of the land he farmed financed my father's crop settling for a percentage of the profits at year end.

I was born in ________, in Fresno, California. I attended the public schools in Fresno and graduated in 1941. Following

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graduation, I worked for approximately one year, helping my father as well as working on various other farms with the anticipation of enrolling in college, however, the events of December 7, 1941 and subsequent dramatically upset my college aspirations.

It is difficult at times to recall events in ones life and it seems that that the more vivid the recollection. I recall the restrictions put on our lives such as the curfew. I remember in May of 1942 the notices of evacuation being posted. I recall our family hurriedly selling the car and some farm implements. I remember storing the remainder of our possessions at a neighbor's barn.

We were ordered to gather at the Fresno fairgrounds where on the infield of the racetrack were constructed army style barracks. The asphalt flooring lent a permanence to the structure which as I understand were later used as an induction center for the army. Each barrack had four rooms separated by partitions. Our family lived in one of these partitioned areas. I recall that each block (comprised of 12 barracks) had one community latrine, one mess hall, and one community shower.

After six months at the Fresno assembly center, we were ordered to board a train for our ultimate destination -- Jerome, Arkansas. As we boarded the trains, beyond the uncertainty of what lay ahead, were the real presence of the armed guards. The trip to Jerome lasted 5 days. In that time we only made one stop in Cheyenne, Wyoming and at that time, under the supervision of guards we were able to stop off the train and stretch our legs. The worst thing I remember of the train ride was the filth. The train cars were

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old and unkept and this combined with a supervisory nonconcern for our personal hygiene made for intolerable conditions. Further, while enroute to Jerome, we were unable to draw the window shades during the day and this was enforced by the everpresent guards.

Upon our arrival at the Jerome Relocation Center, we were confronted with the same kinds of depressing living conditions that were present in the Fresno Center. The barracks, constructed totally of wood had similar partitioning with community latrines and community showers. Barbed wire was present as were the guards.

For two years, I lived in this camp, working as most worked, chopping wood for barracks stoves so that heat could be maintained. I recall others working in the hospital and yet others serving as mechanics in the motor pool, however most were engaged in the menial task of chopping.

I left the camp in 1944, and found employment with the Curtis Candy Company in Chicago. From there I was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1945. I saw no combat, however, as the war ended soon after my draft call.

My father stayed in the camp until they closed it. From there he went to St. Louis, where he lived in a hostel and eventually found work for a private family doing odd jobs. Through my army pay I was able to supplement his moving to an apartment and he remained there until 1958, when he died.

I'm not quite sure what the government should now do about what we suffered beginning in 1942. Perhaps we should be compensated for the time we were at a certain rate per day. Maybe we

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should do something about the Supreme Court cases that are still on the books. Maybe there should be programs established to aid those affected. I'm not sure what the remedies should be, but certainly something should be done.

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CRITIQUE: SAMPLE ORAL TESTIMONY #2

1. Keep in mind the time limitations for an oral testimony, 3-10 minutes. Your written testimony may be as detailed as you wish; however, in the oral presentation, you may wish to focus upon one aspect of your wartime experience.

If you do this, direct the Commission to your previously submitted written testimony for a more comprehensive understanding of your experience.

2. The main problem with this oral presentation is that it lacks a central focus or theme. It attempts to cover too much, yet does not deal with a single aspect at length, thereby giving a vague, sketchy idea of camp life.

There are three primary themes contained here: the experience of his parents, particularly his father's life before and during camp; the conditions in the temporary and permanent camp and the train ride; and the problems in resettling from camp. Perhaps it would be more effective to focus upon one aspect, e.g., the train ride to Jerome and the difficulties encountered.

3. The final paragraph contains the individual's opinion of possible remedial action. It must be kept in mind that while individuals' opinion's on this are important and in fact, are encouraged, that the individual should be prepared to defend and develop the rationale for the forms of remedy presented. Because remedial recommendations are among the purposes of the commission, it may be wise to anticipate a question such as this from a commissioner.

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Madame Chairperson, Members of the Commission:

My name is _________. I appreciate this opportunity to address the issue of the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War and I thank you for allowing me to appear before you today. I have provided the Commission staff with a more fully detailed document of my testimony and, in the time allowed, I wish to speak to a portion of the testimony I have submitted.

In a taped conversation with my father, which has been transcribed and entered as part of my testimony, he describes an incident which occurred at one of the government's Justice Department internment camps which bears light on the nature of our incarceration. It is this particular incident, described in my father's words, which I wish to present. As brief background, my father was arrested by the F.B.I. from our home in Stockton, California, immediately following the bombing of Pearl Harbor because he was an elected officer of the Japanese Association of Central California. He was first detained in San Francisco by federal authorities and three weeks later sent to a Justice internment camp at Lourdesburg, Arizona, with its familiar barbed wire fences and ever present watchtowers with armed guards posted. It was at Lourdesburg that he describes the following incident:

"I was sitting on my barracks steps one afternoon when I saw a bus with more Issei arrive. For some reason, the bus couldn't enter the camp and had to remain parked outside the gate. I remember that it was really hot that afternoon. The bus sat there in the sun for some time, and after a while the driver opened the door and got out. He was standing outside talking to some of the men inside the bus through the open door. Then he went over by the gate and was smoking a cigarette and talking to a couple of guards.

About ten minutes later, three Issei men got out of the bus and began stretching and doing exercises. They looked to be in their sixties. They kept looking towards the camp, probably curious about the place. After a while the three men began walking along the fence, stretching every now and then, but just kind of taking a leisurely walk in a strolling manner with their hands behind their backs and chatting. As

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they got closer to the fence, a guard from a distance shouted something at them but they didn't seem to hear him because they just kept walking and didn't even seem aware of the guard. The guard shouted again and seemed to be motioning for them to move away from the fence. Then all of a sudden he started shooting at them and before it was all over, two of the men lay dead on the ground from their wounds. A couple of other guards immediately posted themselves around the bus and we were all told to go into our barracks and stay there until we were given permission to come out. It was a really frightening experience for all of us."

This is an account of what happened to two men who were legal and permanent resident in this country, two men who had committed no crimes, and two men who had children who were citizens of the United States. These two men died as a result of the government's actions against persons of Japanese ancestry during the war.

This incident should not go unrecorded, for it speaks of the injustice of the internment and is only one of the many personal tragedies that we experienced. Do not be deceived by the rhetoric of those who did not experience the camps as we did and make no mistake: the camps, whether they were the Justice Department internment camps or the concentration camps of the War Relocation Authority, signified the loss of our personal freedom. And for some, they signified the loss of much more.

This Commission's task of determining whether or not there was justification for the forced imprisonment of legal, permanent resident aliens and of American citizens by their own government without any evidence of wrongdoing cannot ignore such incidents as those that took place at Lourdesburg. To do so, in my view, would be to ignore the principles of American democracy enumerated in the Constitution, and it is my firm belief that the laws of this nation must be applied equally and with justice to all persons.

A former United States Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark stated, "the mere existence of a legal right is no more protection to individual liberty than the parchment upon which it is written, and ... mutual love, respect, and understanding of one another are stronger bonds than constitutions."

Thank you.