THE NISEI GET A BREAK

Most heartening to those of us who have raised our small voices in behalf of the Japanese-American citizen was last week's authentic announcement from Honolulu by Lieut. Gen. Delsos C. Emmons, military governor of Hawaii, that 1,500 Americans of Japanese descent will be admitted as volunteers in the United States army.

Persons who have been unable--or unwilling--to distinguish between a Tokyo "Jap" and a perfectly loyal American citizen had wicked fun gossiping about the treachery of American Japanese in Honolulu during the Pearl Harbor raid. They have persisted in this despite official reports from J. Edgar Hoover that there was not one piece of evidence to support such stories.

Now, perhaps, they will awaken to the fact that this nation possesses in its nisei (American citizens of Japanese descent) a segment of its population which should not only be freed from relocation centers, but which should be given a chance to fight for the America it loves. The Review always has believed that the nisei were loyal to America. We have the further conviction that they are almost fanatical in their loyalty. They, perhaps more than any other group in this nation, are "on the spot" as the result of Japan's unprovoked assault on us. They, more than anyone else, should have an impelling desire to smash Japan.

Particularly thrilling was General Emmons' announcement that the Japanese-American volunteers "will be formed into combat units ... and will, when trained, be sent into an active theater of operation." This should be an effective answer to those who have said that previous nisei volunteers in our army have been assigned, "under watch," to such non-combatant units as the medical corps.

Still another interesting development is the apparent change in the editorial policy of such dailies as the Seattle Post Intelligencer. In comment on the recent riot at Manzanar, the P-I was--we felt--unfair in its attitude toward the nisei. But now--although in a rather left-handed way--the P-I welcomes the Hawaii announcement under the heading "Use the Japanese!"

It says: "The loyal are entitled to establish their standing. And it would be folly for the nation to fail to avail itself of the manpower now so largely wasted (in relocation centers)."

It is but a reiteration of our constant policy, established long before Pearl Harbor, to say that The Review has an abiding faith that the vast majority of Japanese-American citizens, if given a decent chance, will prove to be intensely loyal workers and fighters in America's struggle for freedom.