Table Of ContentYears of Infamy
Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date which will live in
infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliber
ately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
-FRANKLIN D. RooSEVELT, War Message to Congress,
December 8, 1941
YEARS
· of
INFAMY
THE UNTOLD STORY
OF AMERICA'S
CONCENTRATION CAMPS
by Michi Weglyn
WILLIAM MORROW AND COMPANY, INC.
NEW YORK 1976
Copyright© 1976 by Michi Nishiura Weglyn
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo
copying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the Publisher. Inquiries should be
addressed to William Morrow and Company, Inc., 105 Madison Ave.,
New York, N. Y. 10016.
Printed in the United States of America.
5 80 79 78 77 76
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Weglyn, Michi (date)
Years of infamy.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Japanese Americans-Evacuation and relocation,
1942-1945. I. Title.
D769.8.A6W43 940.54'72'73 75-34397
ISBN 0-688-02996-5
Book Design by Helen Roberts
DEDICATED
TO
WAYNE M. COLLINS
Who Did More to Correct a Democracy's Mistake
Than Any Other One Person
Wayne Collins
(San Francisco Chronicle)
Preface
In the wake of the wartime panic which followed the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor, 110,000 Japanese Americans* residing along the West
Coast of America were driven from home and society and banished to
desert wastes.
As a teen-age participant in this mass exodus I, like others, went
along into confinement, trusting that our revered President in his great
wisdom and discernment had found that the measure was in the best in
terest of our country. With profound remorse, I believed, as did numerous
Japanese Americans, that somehow the stain of dishonor we collectively
felt for the treachery of Pearl Harbor must be eradicated, however great
the sacrifice, however little we were responsible for it. In our immaturity
and naivete, many of us who were American citizens-two-thirds of the
total-believed that this, under the circumstances, was the only way to
prove our loyalty to a country which we loved with the same depth of
feeling that children in Japan were then being brought up to love their
proud island nation.
In an inexplicable spirit of atonement and with great sadness, we went
with our parents to concentration camps.
Twenty-five years later, curiosity led me into exhuming documents of
this extraordinary chapter in our history, which had seen the shattering
of so many hearths, lives, careers-of so many hopes and dreams. Among
once impounded papers, I came face to face with facts, some that left me
greatly pained. A quarter of a century later, at a time when angry charges
of government duplicity and "credibility gaps" were being hurled at heads
of state, the gaps of the evacuation era appeared more like chasms.
Persuaded that the enormity of a bygone injustice has been only par
tially perceived, I have taken upon myself the task of piecing together
* Although 110,000 individuals were involved in the West Coast evacuation,
120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry eventually came under WRA custody. This
included 1,275 institutionalized individuals transferred to the centers, 1,118 citizens
and aliens evacuated from Hawaii, 219 voluntary residents, and 5,981 who were
born in the camps. WRA Statistics Section.
21
22
what might be called the "forgotten"-or ignored-parts of the tapestry
of those years. This I have done not to awaken disquieting memories or
arouse negative feelings, but because of a clear responsibility I feel for
those whose honor was so wrongly impugned, many of whom died without
vindication.
More significantly, I hope this uniquely American story will serve as
a reminder to all those who cherish their liberties of the very fragility of
their rights against the exploding passions of their more numerous fellow
citizens, and as a warning that they who say that it can never happen again
are probably wrong.
New York City MICHi NISHIURA WEGL YN
Acknowledgments
In the preparation of this volume, I have become indebted to scores
of people who have contributed to it, directly and indirectly, by their
courtesy in answering queries by mail, granting interviews, providing me
with leads and contacts, in criticizing portions of the manuscript, in send
ing me books, pamphlets, clippings, and documents from their own evacu
ation files and libraries. To all, I give sincere thanks.
None has contributed with more constancy than Edison Uno, Lecturer
in Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, who has
been a source of unfailing support, encouragement, and inspiration. I
recall that, years back, a request for contributions of evacuation remi
niscences directed to readers of the Pacific Citizen brought only one re
sponse: It was from Edison Uno, challenging the credentials of a "Weg
lyn" presuming to write about a matter of such deep concern to the
Japanese community on the basis of such a query. The letter had been
accompanied by a bulging envelope filled with faded old newspaper clip
pings, pamphlets, and a bibliography of the internment years, with a
pointed suggestion that the matter be properly researched.
I hope that, as a fellow Nisei, I have not failed him.
A sincere debt of gratitude is owed Dr. William Petersen, Robert
Lazarus Professor of Social Demography, Ohio State University, for in
valuable editorial criticism and suggestions made available to me after a
reading of an earlier draft of the manuscript. It was my singular good for
tune to have the distinguished Senior Editor of the Yomiuri Shimbun, Mr.
Tatsugi Ogane, bring Dr. Petersen's strongly positive critique of Years of
Infamy to public attention, which led to its Japanese-language publication
by the Political Public Relations Center, Tokyo.
Earlier drafts of this book ( or portions thereof) were read by a num
ber of persons whose criticisms, suggestions, and insights have been ex
tremely helpful. I am indebted to Richard Marshall and Betty Voigt
Marshall for their ever-dependable counsel and vigorous support; to Mrs.
Yvonne Cannon for helpful editorial suggestions on my first draft; to
Paul G. Robertson for a careful scrutiny of the chapter on the isolation
23
24
centers; to Harry Honda for perusing the section dealing with evacuee
claims and for responding, without failure, to query after query through
the years; to Karl Yoneda for some vigorous criticisms which were helpful
and constructive; to Grant Ujifusa for a perceptive analysis which, I hope,
has resulted in the strengthening of certain chapters; to Mrs. Mary Naka
hiro Karasawa, whose contributions have gone beyond providing advice and
encouragement; to Fairley Muehleck for her expert and invaluable editorial
assistance; to Merrill Pollack for his unfailing enthusiasm and encourage
ment.
Special and grateful acknowledgment is made to Mrs. Y one Stafford,
who made available to me a whole library of books-some of them eye
openers-and for being a constant inspiration for all who seek after truth.
And to Mrs. Mabel Sheldon Williams, lovingly remembered by countless
Japanese Americans who knew her in Gila, I pay special tribute for having
profoundly influenced my camp and postcamp years.
And for making the publication of this book in the English language
possible, I am deeply mindful of my indebtedness to Mr. Howard Cady of
William Morrow for the deep personal interest he has taken in the project;
and I feel singularly privileged to have the warm support and invaluable
assistance of my editor, Susanne Williams Howard, and others of Morrow's
very capable staff. I wish to express my gratitude, also, for the strong moral
backing given the project by the distinguished former National Secretary
and long-time Washington Representative of the Japanese American Citi
zens League, Mike M. Masaoka, and by JACL's current National Execu
tive Director, David Ushio, and others in the organization who have
encouraged the publication of Years of Infamy. Among these, I make spe
cial mention of the Executive Director of the New York JACL Chapter,
Ruby Yoshino Schaar, for her most energetic support, and to Bill Hoso
kawa, Associate Editor of The Denver Post, whose astute editorial sugges
tions after a reading of one of the final rewrites proved exceedingly helpful.
And deep-felt appreciation goes to my husband, Walter Weglyn, with
out whose never-failing encouragement and vital contributions the entire
project might have been abandoned years ago.
