442nd INFANTRY REGIMENT
USAACE
NCOA
SFC Calvin L. Burks
15T SLC
Class 15-005
SFC Anthony L. Garcia
Understanding and defining the impact on the modern Army today by the 442nd Infantry Regiment during WWII, is evident by their unique formation that stood out amongst organizations during that period. While trying to compare the differences in social acceptance from a unit composed almost entirely of Soldiers of Japanese ancestry, you must first understand the period in which this unit left its legacy. During one of the most controversial times in the history of diplomatic relations, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 without any formal announcement of war. Although the transmissions from Japan were decoded, the actual declaration of war did not reach the United States until the following day. Unknown to many Americans that the so-called peace talks were already nearing the end of negotiations, Americans lost trust in the Japanese-Americans and immediately labeled them traitors and rejected them from their communities; this was primarily so on the west coast. The repercussions of this event in the United States were immediate. According to the Library of Congress, within a three-year period, thousands of Japanese-Americans regardless of their citizenship were required to abandon their homes and businesses and move to isolated war relocation and internment camps run by the United States government. President Roosevelt signed and issued
The day after bombing, Congress approved Roosevelt’s declaration to start the war with Japan. After that Italy and Germany declared war on the United States. Couple months after the tragical event at Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order for all Japanese Americans to evacuate West Coast in order to provide “national security”. It cause relocation of nearly 120,000 people, more than a half of whom were American citizens. They were relocated to internment camps. Japanese aliens were called “enemy aliens”.
When Pearl Harbor was hit they removed 5,000 Japanese-Americans from the U.S. army on December, 19412. They army took away Japanese-American rights as citizens, by not allowing them to be apart of the United States Army. The selective services renamed them “enemy aliens” and stopped the draft of Japanese-American citizens. Military officials denied Japanese-Americans citizenships. December 7th, 19412, FBI arrested selected Japanese-American nationals on the West coast, they never returned home. They never got to say goodbye to their family until after six years, when the war was over.
The surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy shook the United States at its core, and challenged how this nation would treat to its own citizens who shared ancestry with the enemy forces. The U.S. government believed that the Japanese Americans could be loyal to their ancestral homeland and can assist the Japanese forces on potential attacks on American soil. Japanese Americans were considered “potential enemies”, and having them at critical areas like the west coast was considered too great of a threat on national security. In order to contain that threat, the U.S. government planned to relocate Japanese Americans inland, to remote and abandoned areas in Arizona, Utah, and other inland states. In the height of WW2 and Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued the Executive Order No. 9006. This policy led to the relocation and incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans, including Yoshiko Uchida and her family, under the pretense of “military necessity”. (Lee, 211) Families were forced to abandon their home and uprooted from their normal American lives. During the whole ordeal, Japanese Americans were denied their constitutional rights and became prisoners for being Japanese. The incarceration of Japanese Americans was under the pretense of “military necessity”. The real rationalization
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, in the United States Territory of Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (History.com)Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which permitted the military to circumvent the constitutional safeguards of American citizens in the name of national defense (Michi Weglyn). Between 1942 and 1945, the U.S. government forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes, farms, schools, jobs and businesses, in violation of their constitutional civil rights and liberties. (momomedia.com)On the West Coast, a hysteria
After the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, United States officials believed that have Japanese- American citizens posed a security threat. Since there was a great deal of Japanese-American citizens living on the west coast, fear of attack within the nation spread like wildfire. As a result, these people were wrongly imprisoned in a similar fashion to Hitler's concentration camps. Although the camps were not as brutal, the prisoners were given only the necessities. To the families that were imprisoned, internment meant the false accusation of being a terrorist. It also meant that they would be stripped of their rights while detained, and also stripped of their dignity when eventually released. Eventually, the Supreme Court decided
In the early morning on December 7th, 1941, Japan held a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, causing the death of 2,000 American Soldiers and Sailors. On this morning there was also tremendous amounts of damage to the United States Military, For example: the Japanese destroyed 20 American Naval Vessels, eight battleships, and 300 airplanes. It also caused the United States to enter World War ii along with Germany, Italy, and Japan. The motivation for the bombing of Pearl Harbor was how the Japanese wanted to destroy our oil and fuel facilities, and trap our military. The internment of Japanese Americans after the bombing at Pearl Harbor, was justified because internment camps were constitutional, it was a necessary form of protection to ease the hysteria of the country, and Japanese Americans should have been willing to make the sacrifice to benefit the welfare of the country during the war.
December 7th, 1941 was a day when tragedy struck. Forever known as the bombing of Pearl Harbor, The Hawaiian Naval Base was attacked by a fleet of Japanese bombers while the surprised members of the base scrambled trying to fight back. This is widely suggested to be the beginning of the resentment and fear of the Japanese population. World War II was in full swing and the internment of Japanese-American citizens began. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the president at the time, did not know how to approach this fear. The idea Roosevelt and the government came up with was to simply detain all citizens or immigrants of Japanese descent into internment camps to prevent another tragedy such as Pearl Harbor. There was much criticism against the
December 7, 1941, Japan performed a surprise attack on America at Pearl Harbor. "According to Japanese feudal code of honor, the idea of a surprise is recommended and it raises no moral problems" (Sulzberger 146). During Japan's attack, they broke the seal of trust. "Japan's Ambassador and Diplomatic agent were in Washington pretending to have been seeking a negotiated settlement between the two countries" (Sulzberger 146). America lost over 3,000 service men from this bombing. This type of betrayal could only cause anger and determination to strike back.
Additionally, the attack on Pearl Harbor impacted the people living in America, especially the Japanese Americans. For example, there were rumors in January of 1942 that the Japanese Americans in America would be imprisoned in concentration camps. According to the article “Japanese Americans”, some whites were motivated to get the Japanese Americans imprisoned because of economic self-interest. Others were motivated because they wanted to ruin the Japanese Americans businesses (“Japanese Americans”). According to the article “Relocation Camps”, an abundance of west coast civilians
When the war was over there were people and signs saying remember “Pearl Harbor.” The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt told Congress to declare war on Japan. Three days after the U.S. declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. After more than two years of conflict, the U.S. joined World War II. After the attack, 3,851 people were listed as dead or injured. After the war the Americans were fine, but the Japanese Americans were singled out as traitors. The Japanese Americans couldn’t own homes, land, or buy food. People all over the U.S. said the Japanese were an enemy race. All Japanese Americans had to be relocated. An FBI director said that not all Japanese Americans should
Between 1942 and 1945, thousands of Japanese Americans, regardless of United States citizenship status, received orders to evacuate their homes and businesses. Sparked by rising fear amongst the American people after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a Naval base in Hawaii, the U.S. government relocated Japanese Americans to remote areas on the West Coast and in the south, isolating them in internment camps. With no actual evidence supporting the creation of internment camps, the U.S. interned Japanese Americans because of Japanese involvement in Pearl Harbor resulting in a rise of anti-Japanese paranoia sparked by the economic success of Japanese Americans, increased fear and prejudice within the United States government and amongst citizens,
The internment of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor exemplified the lack of compromise for the time, along with the paranoia, and borderline hysteria defined by decisions made based off race and fear made by the government. The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was marked by times of high tension, yet now it stands as a constant reminder of the past and mistakes not to be made again. Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 The attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 created a lot of tension in America. With rumors of spies, espionage, and disloyalty, the Japanese American class came under attack from other paranoid Americans in acts of prejudice and want for unconstitutional preemptive action Japanese Americans
The Incarceration of Japanese Americans is widely regarded as one of the biggest breaches of civil rights in American History. Incarceration evolved from deep-seated anti-Japanese sentiment in the West Coast of the United States. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, pressure from the military leadership, politicians, media and nativist groups in the West Coast eventually convinced the President Franklin Roosevelt that action had to be taken to deal with the national security “threat” that Japanese Americans posed. In reality, Japanese Americans were no real threat to the United States, but the racist sentiments against them prevailed and greatly influenced United States policy during the war.
When discussing the hierarchy of the army, they ultimately come to a conclusion that can be applied to the world and modern society. Kat, a very experienced soldier, said this quote in a speech. In Kat’s speech, he eventually comes to the conclusion that “one man must always have power over another”; this quotation also includes Kat saying “The army is based on that” explaining the ultimate conclusion was explaining a part of the army’s system (Remarque 44). Even though Kat was only talking about the army, the statement can be applied to the world. “There’s always someone better than you” this is a saying that many people have heard before and will hear time and time again. It being repeated is due to the truth in it; no matter what, there
December 7, 1941 was a day that changed history. The Japanese launched an attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States Pacific fleet. This attack not only brought the United States into World War II, but also sparked fear into the citizens of America. Even as American soldiers fought to free the Jewish people from Nazi concentration camps, Japanese Americans were being put into similar camps right on American soil.