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Archives in Context: Teachable Topics from the CSU Japanese American Digitization Project

Loyalty questionnaire distributed by WRA

The War Department developed a questionnaire to identify possible military volunteers and the War Relocation Authority decided to use it to identify incarcerees who might be released from the camps. Called the “Application for Leave Clearance,” it was distributed to all WRA camps to determine the loyalty of all persons of Japanese descent over 17 years of age, male and female. Two clumsily worded questions caused confusion/consternation. Refusal to fill out the questionnaire, qualified answers, or “no” answers were treated as evidence of disloyalty. This questionnaire from Atsushi Ishida is partially filled out.

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Contents of this tag:
1. Japan attacks U.S.
2. Tule Lake Segregation Center receives about 12,000 "disloyals"
3. U.S. declares war on Japan
4. Sixty-three Japanese Americans resist draft at Heart Mountain, Wyoming
5. U.S. drops atomic bombs, Japan surrenders days later
6. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 authorizing military to exclude civilians Donald and Alice Nakahata in 1985 with copies of executive order 9066. Caption above image reads, "REMEMBERING THE JAPANESE-AMERICAN INTERNMENT--Donald and Alice Nakahata look over two posters of Executive Order 9066 that hang in their Mill Valley, Calif., home as a reminder to their three college-age sons that the freedoms in the U.S. Constitution easily can be taken away. The Nakahatas have not forgotten the lesson they learned during four years of wartime internment that the American dream can turn into a nightmare."
7. Japanese American draft status restricted
8. WRA Leave Clearance Procedures enables Nisei to re-enter civilian life WRA Leave Clearance Procedures enabled approximately 17,000 Nisei (majority 18-30 years-old) to re-enter civilian life after loyalty check, prospects for self-support, and the reception of the community were reviewed (about 7% of total Japanese American incarcerees). Many went to Chicago, Denver, or Salt Lake City. This Policy of the War Relocation Authority from Ocotber 22, 1942, discusses the different types of leaves, the procedures to obtain the permit for the leaves and other topics related to the application and securing of the leaves.
9. War Department announces Selective Service procedures The War Department announced that normal Selective Service procedures would be applied to Japanese Americans inside and outside the WRA camps and draft procedures begin. IN this essay from 1987, Lieutenant Colonel Roy Takai shares his experience being forcefully removed to Poston incarceration camp, serving in the armed forced during World War II, and the controversy surrounding voluntary enlistment among Nisei in incarceration camps. From the Poston II Reunion Program.
10. Mass deportation over U.S. Citizenship renouncements avoided Wayne Mortimer Collins, Civil Liberties Attorney, prevents the Department of Justice from deporting en masse the people of Japanese descent who renounced their U.S. citizenship (7,222 Nisei and Kibei at Tule Lake renounced, whereas only 128 from all the other WRA camps renounced). The effort to restore citizenship took 22 years (all restored, except about 40-50 people). This 1958 letter by Wayne M. Collins, Attorney at Law, discusses the "Final Order, Judgement and Decree," which was brought to litigation on behalf of Tsugitada Kanamori, who had renounced his United States citizenship. According to the judgement, this renunciation is null and void and thus Kanamori will remain a citizen of the United States. He is therefore able to exercise all rights and privileges of United States citizenship.
11. Wartime Civil Control Administration opens 15 Assembly Centers After General DeWitt designates Western coastal areas as places where people of Japanese descent should be removed, the Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) opens 15 Assembly Centers to detain them. The War Relocation Authority (WRA) is established through Executive Order 9102 and the transfers of 119,803 men, women, and children to these more permanent facilities are completed. In this photograph from 1942, is a busy scene of family groups identifying their baggages prior to departure from the assembly center at Santa Anita, California. Caption on album page: "Transfer of the evacuees from the Assembly Centers to War Relocation Centers was conducted by the Army. Train lists were made up so that families would not be separated and in most instances, groups associated by residence in pre-evacuation days were kept together.
12. Loyalty questionnaire distributed by WRA The War Department developed a questionnaire to identify possible military volunteers and the War Relocation Authority decided to use it to identify incarcerees who might be released from the camps. Called the “Application for Leave Clearance,” it was distributed to all WRA camps to determine the loyalty of all persons of Japanese descent over 17 years of age, male and female. Two clumsily worded questions caused confusion/consternation. Refusal to fill out the questionnaire, qualified answers, or “no” answers were treated as evidence of disloyalty. This questionnaire from Atsushi Ishida is partially filled out.
13. War dept. creates segregated military The date that the 100th Infantry Battalion was shipped to North Africa. The War Department decided to create segregated Japanese American army units—the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regiment Combat Team. There were calls for volunteers and about 10,000 volunteers (2,686 chosen) from Hawaii (where there were no incarceration camps) and 1,256 volunteers (about 800 chosen) from mainland WRA camps. This pamphlet from 1944 covers Nisei in the 100th battalion serving in the armed forces during World War II.
14. Germany surrenders, ending war in Europe. Newspaper reporting on the ally victory in World War II and defeat of the Wehrmacht and Nazi party. Front page article is titled, "The war is over over Here." Following articles include "War spawned deadly techniques; cost in lives and dollars tremendous," "Great allied campaigns brought defeat to Nazis," "Strategic geography set pattern of victory," "Top Nazis as neurotic as Hitler himself," "1940 marked darkest period for allies."
15. Tule Lake “Segregation Center” closes
16. Martial Law declared at Tule Lake Segregation Center Martial Law declared at Tule Lake Segregation Center due to camp disturbances leading to months of repression and hardship. This letter from February 23, 1944 describes the imprisonment of William Fujimoto for 34 days. Fujimoto states that the cause for his arrest has never been made clear, especially given that he has "never entertained radical ideas" and has been cooperative with authorities, and requests a meeting with Best to review his case.
17. Exclusion order is rescinded War Department announces that the exclusion order is rescinded since the military necessity for the incarceration had been alleviated, effective January 2, 1945, and the ban on Japanese Americans returning to their former homes would be rescinded. WRA announces all the camps would close before the end of 1945. In ex parte Endo the Supreme Court rules that WRA has no authority to detain “concededly loyal” American citizens. This pamphlet describes procedures for resettlement, including applying for transportation and relocation assistance; sending property; arranging for counseling for resettlement planning and for "special services" such as legal aid; leaving the center; and getting assistance from public and private agencies upon arriving at one's new home.