Seattle, Washington
August 25, 1981
Chairman
Commission Of Wartime Relocation
And Internment of Civilians
Suite #2020
726 Jackson Place N.W.
Washington D.C. 20506
My name is Alfred P. Galloway of _________, Seattle, Washington 98133.
I am the State Commander of the Department of Washington, American Ex-Prisoners of War, Inc.
At the National Convention of the American Ex-Prisoners of War, held in Ft. Worth, Texas on July 22-24, 1981, the National Organization expressed opposition to payment to those persons who were detained during World War II by the United States of America because of their racial origin.
The following statement is not necessarily the expressed thought of our National Organization, but does have the concurrence of our National Commander, Charles Morgan, and are the feelings of many Ex-Prisoners of War and their families.
As an Ex-Prisoner of War, I know what it is like to be a "highly visible person". By that, I mean one who because of Race, stands out. In 1942, the newspapers told of the war with Japan and especially the fall of Bataan and Corregidor with the brutal and inhumane treatment being inflicted upon those captured by the Japanese troops. No one can fully realize what it is like to suffer physical and mental troture unless you have been there. I made the Bataan Death March and spent three and one-half years as a prisoner. For that my health is bad; I do have recurring thoughts and nightmares of that time, and they are not good thoughts or nightmares. I know that there were not many that there were not many that came out of the enemy prisoner of war camps that have not been affected, both mentally and physically, the rest of their lives, no matter what the length of their internment.
In September, 1945, all the prisoners in the camp I was in, were called to a formation. A Japanese Officer from Headquarters came in and said that the Americans do not play fair in War. One airplane carne over, drop one bomb. Now, no more city - one city all gone. If the Americans do this again, all Caucasians will be killed. We reasoned afterwards that if they meant to kill all white people, then they also would tell the civilian population that if anyone saw a white person, he was from an invading Army; Kill them!
Now let us back up a bit and ask a few questions, if you please. I think we should look at this incident as if it were 1942 and not 1981. Was, what was being done, in the best interest of our government? Were the Japanese-Americans not asked to move inland? And did not some of them do so and they were not detained in camps? Only those that would not move were placed in camps.
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Given the feeling of the American people at that time, is it not possible that physical harm could have come to many of these people by returning military personnel and possibly by families who had lost loved ones in the Pacific? After all, it was said that all Japanese looked alike. As I said before highly visible persons". The same could have been the reasoning by the Military in the United States in 1942. And of those interned by the United States, what per-cent have suffered the rest of their lives because of cruel treatment they received and medical care and food they did not receive?
I am against payment of any kind for those that were interned by the United States government except, possibly, a settlement for lost property in 1941. But let America apologize to them and see that it does not happen again. Money will never change what is history.
I thank you for the privilege of making this statement.
Respectfully,
[Signed]
Alfred P. Galloway
Seattle, Washington 98133
August 25, 1981