Fred Korematsu, Japanese American Hero & the Internment of WW II

Fred Korematsu, Japanese American Hero & the Internment of WW II

Have you ever heard of Fred Korematsu? I confess that while I should have, I had never heard of him until I recently came across an account of this Japanese Japanese American hero. He was born in Oakland, California in 1919 to a Japanese American family who operated a nursery in California. On December 7, 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II. Two months later President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which authorized the Army to "designate military areas" from which "any persons may be excluded." No mention was made about people of Japanese accessory, but it was understood that the order was intended to authorize rounding up and confining only to people of Japanese accessory in spite of their being citizens and legal aliens.

Washington State was involved in the process. It started on Bainbridge Island. There were about 250 Japanese farmers and fisherman living on the island when war broke out. On March 24, 1942 Lt. General DeWitt, West Coast commander of the U.S. Army, issued Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1. It ordered the evacuation of all Japanese Americans on the Island. All Japanese Americans, whether citizens or not, were given six days to register, pack up and sell or dispose of their homes and possessions. Six days later they were transported under armed guard to the Washington State Ferry Keholoken and transported to Seattle. From their they were put on a train and sent to a camp in central California which became their home for the next four years. This was the first evacuation order issued and it became the model for the entire West Coast round up and confinement procedure.

Puyallup, Washington became a temporary assembly center pending transportation to camps such as the Minidoka "relocation center" near Twin Falls, Idaho. Four separate temporary assembly areas were created near the town. Within four months of the creation, the camp, unofficially known as "Camp Harmony" was empty and the assembly areas were later converted into the present Puyallup Fairgrounds.

After that first evacuation and over the next eight months, some 120,000 people of Japanese accessory were rounded up in Alaska, California, Washington, Oregon and Arizona by the Army. Most all of them were American citizens. Without any trial, hearing or opportunity to respond they were all rounded up and sent to nearby assembly centers. From there, they were transported by train to one of ten internment camps the government called "relocation centers." The camps were located in isolated areas with over crowding, little basic living comforts and sparse furniture. They were surrounded by barb wire and armed guards in watch towers with machine guns. These would be their homes for the next four years.

When Korematsu’s family was ordered to report, Fred refused to comply. While his family was taken with other Japanese Americans to a Race Track in California where the people lived in horse stalls Korematsu hid. From the race track, his family was transported to Topaz, a camp in the Utah desert. Korematsu evaded authorities until his arrest and jailing. He was tried and convicted of a felony. He appealed, challenging the constitutionality of the internment. In 1944 his case was decided by the Korematsu United States Supreme Court. In Korematsu vs United States the Court, in a six to three decision upheld the President’s Order on the grounds of military necessity based on the evidence the government presented at trial. The court made this decision in spite of the fact no Italian Americans or German Americans were ever interned. In fact, it was reported Roosevelt had said "We don’t have to worry about the Italians. They’re not a dangerous people. They’re just a nation of opera singers."

The government ended internment in 1944. Korematsu returned to California, but had difficulty finding work because of his felony conviction. In 1981 a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, on his behalf, obtained the previously secret government files and found, among other things, a memo from the Justice Department accusing the U.S. Solicitor General Charles Fahy, who had argued the case, of withholding information and providing false facts to the Court. Examination of the boxes of government files revealed that no government agency had found any evidence of spying on the part of the Japanese Americans or other evidence to justify their confinement for military purposes. But, but this information had been intentionally suppressed by government lawyers.

Korematsu’s case was reopened in light of the new evidence of governmental misconduct. After the case was reopened, government lawyers offered Korematsu a pardon if he would drop the lawsuit. He firmly refused the offer, insisting the case was for the benefit of all Japanese Americans who had been interned. At the conclusion of the case the U.S. District Court of Northern California found in his favor and determined the conviction had been based on false, misleading and racially biased information. It set aside the conviction and that decision was upheld on appeal.

In 1988 Congress passed legislation apologizing and awarded each survivor $20,000. In 1998 President Clinton awarded Korematsu the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor an American can receive. Clinton referred to him as "a man of quiet bravery." He died in California at age 86 in March of 2005. Another ordinary American who single handedly obtained justice by quiet determination and courage inspite of the power of the United States government.

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