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T i m e o f Re m e m b r a n c e

Written by Donna McGuire, Marielle Tsukamoto, Georgiana White, and Reiko Nagumo

Presented by Florin, Lodi, Marysville, Placer County, Sacramento, and Stockton chapters of theJapanese American Citizen’s League, California State University Sacramento Archives and SpecialCollections, the Elk Grove Unified School District, Office of the Secretary of State, and The Cali-fornia Museum for History, Women and the Arts

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Introduction ...................................................................................................................1Historical Overview

Root Causes ............................................................................................................. 2Arrival of Japanese ................................................................................................. 2-3Outbreak of War .................................................................................................... 3Executive Order 9066 ............................................................................................ 3-4Evacuation and Relocation ................................................................................... 4-5Military Service ....................................................................................................... 6Returning Home ..................................................................................................... 6-7Redress ..................................................................................................................... 7

Sources ........................................................................................................................... 7U.S. Historical Dates .................................................................................................... 8-9Learning Activities ........................................................................................................ 10-17Supplements

Activity Cards for Day 2 ........................................................................................ 18Vocabulary Words and Terms .............................................................................. 19Crossword Puzzle ................................................................................................... 20Civilian Exclusion Order No. 92 .......................................................................... 21-22Map, WWII Japanese American Internment Camps ........................................ 23“RIGHTS” .............................................................................................................. 24Teacher Resource Guide Evaluation ................................................................... 25

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The tradegy of September 11th and the increase of hate crimes in the aftermath against innocent personsbecause of their ethnic identity demonstrates the importance of studying the experience of JapaneseAmericans. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the U.S. interned 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry,denying their basic civil rights. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past by allowing war hysteriaand lack of understanding to deny anyone their basic rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

The mass imprisonment of persons with Japanese ancestry during World War II challenged the very founda-tion of our democratic society. The California State Board of Education in its Model Curriculum for Hu-man Rights and Genocide stated that “there is nomore urgent task for educators in the field ofhistory and social science than to teach studentsabout the importance of human rights” and thatwe must “acknowledge unflinchingly the in-stances in U.S. history when our own best idealswere betrayed by the systematic mistreatment ofgroup members because of their race, religion,culture, language, gender or political views.” Weare a strong nation of immigrants, and ourancestors come from many cultures.

The purpose of this resource guide is to assist you in teaching your students about the internment of Japa-nese Americans in relation to our rights under the United States Constitution. The “Time of Remembrance”program and the exhibit, “The Japanese American Experience in California,” at the Golden State Museumwill give you and your students an opportunity to hear first-hand stories from Japanese Americans who werein the internment camps. The Golden State Museum offers this program in partnership with the Florin,Marysville, Placer, Sacramento, and Stockton Japanese American Citizen’s League, California State Univer-sity Sacramento Archives and Special Collections, and the Elk Grove Unified School District. We need toteach students that although the strongest protection for human rights is fundamental in our democraticnation, mistakes are made. It is the responsibility of citizens to challenge those in positions of power in thegovernment and not allow unfair treatment or practices to continue. The significance of this study goesbeyond the treatment of Japanese Americans. When the constitutional rights of one group of citizens areviolated, all Americans are affected.

Marielle TsukamotoFlorin Japanese American Citizen’s LeagueTime of Remembrance Education Project Chairman

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Arrival of JapaneseAs the Chinese population declined due to the lack

of women and to many men return-ing to their homeland, a laborshortage developed. The agriculturalindustry looked to Japan as a newsource of workers for menial laborat low wages. Under pressure fromthe United States to relax the ban onlabor emigration, Japan allowedlaborers to leave in 1884. The Issei,the first generation of Japaneseimmigrants, began working in thesugar cane fields of Hawaii and thevegetable and fruit farms in Califor-nia. By 1900, the Japanese popula-tion increased in Hawaii and themainland to about 90,000.

Since the major labor unions denied membership toworkers of Asian ancestry, the Japanese farmworkers formed independent unions, and theleaders aggressively negotiated for higher pay. ManyJapanese Americans saved enough money to buy orlease farmland. The Japanese farmers developedmuch unwanted farmland into rich agriculturalareas. As long as the Japanese remained docile, theirhard work was welcomed. But as they showed signsof initiative, the Japanese were perceived as threatsto white dominance. The anti-Japanese campaignbegan with mob assaults, arson, and expulsion fromfarming areas. Prejudices soon became institutional-ized into law. As with the earlier Chinese, theJapanese were denied citizenship, forced to sendtheir children to segregated schools, prohibited fromcertain occupations and from marrying whites.Some laws denied immigrant Japanese the right toown or lease agricultural land. The Asian ExclusionAct of 1924 prohibited Japanese from establishingpermanent residency. Many considered this anational insult, since the United States had insistedupon Japanese immigration in the first place. TheJapanese population did not significantly decreaselike the Chinese population.

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Many Americans find this event in Americanhistory difficult to understand in a democraticsociety embracing “liberty and justicefor all.” This overview will attempt toexplain how and what happened topersons of Japanese ancestry leadingto internment until the completionof redress when President Reagansigned an apology in 1988.

Root CausesThe seeds of prejudice that resultedin the incarceration of JapaneseAmericans during World War II weresown nearly a century earlier whenthe first Asian immigrants arrivedduring the California gold rush.There was intense and often violentcompetition for control of the gold mines. About25 percent of the miners in California immigratedfrom China. With no tolerance for further competi-tion and using acts of terrorism, the white newcom-ers drove the Chinese out of the mining areas. AfterCalifornia became a state in 1850, violence againstthe Chinese became legal discrimination. Article 19of the California Constitution authorized cities toexpel or segregate Chinese persons and to restrictemployment opportunities. Laws prohibited theChinese from becoming citizens or voting, attend-ing school with whites, marrying whites, and testify-ing in court against a white person. California lawsrequired Chinese persons to pay a special tax,providing a major source of revenue for cities,counties, and the state.Despite these circumstances,more Chinese immigrated toescape their poverty-strickenlife in China. With the largeinflux of whites from thestates and Europe, theproportion of Chinese inCalifornia dropped to 10%of the population.

There was a sufficientnumber of Japanesewomen who married,resulting in the Niseigeneration, or American-born persons of Japaneseancestry.

As the exclusionistsintensified their efforts toget rid of the Japanese, apowerful new weapon,the mass media, enhancedtheir campaign. Newspa-

pers, radio, and motion pictures stereotyped per-sons of Japanese ancestry as unassimilable anduntrustworthy. The media did not recognize thefact that many of them were citizens of the UnitedStates. Living in segregated neighborhoods andwithout access to media, the Japanese were unableto counteract false stereotypes.

Outbreak of WarThe onset of World War II is difficult to pinpoint.During the depression of the 1930s, Germany andJapan became military powers, beginning conquestsof neighboring nations. Conflicts broke out whenJapan invaded China in 1937 andGermany invaded Poland in 1939.The United States was under tre-mendous pressure to enter the war.In July 1941, the United States,Britain and the Dutch East Indies(Indonesia) imposed an embargo onexports to Japan, effectively cuttingoff Japan’s oil supply. The UnitedStates had broken Japan’s top-secretcode and was aware of the possibility of armedconflict.

In anticipation of war with Japan, the United Statesgovernment undertook precautions to providesecurity for American civilians. Early in 1941, theState Department sent Curtis Munson to investigatethe loyalty of Japanese Americans on the WestCoast and Hawaii. The Munson Report stated thatJapanese Americans citizens possessed an extraordi-nary degree of loyalty to the United States and

should not be considered a security risk. FBI andNaval Intelligence corroborated Munson’s findingsconcerning the loyalty of Japanese Americans. Theintelligence reports on the loyalty of JapaneseAmericans were known by high government offi-cials, but kept secret from the public. AttorneyGeneral Francis Biddle and FBI Director J. EdgarHoover both felt that the relocation of JapaneseAmericans was unnecessary and unconstitutional.

On December 7, 1941, Japan military forces at-tacked the U.S. military bases at Pearl Harbor. TheUnited States declared war on Japan the followingday. Within a few days after the declaration of war,the FBI began arresting over 2,000 persons ofJapanese ancestry thought to be “suspicious” livingthroughout the United States and the territories ofAlaska and Hawaii. Men considered communityleaders were taken away without notice, leavingtheir families with no means for livelihood. In theabsence of community leadership, inexperiencedteenagers and young adults suddenly found them-selves in the position of making decisions for theentire Japanese community. After a few weeks somewere released, but most were secretly transported toone of the 26 relocation camps situated in remoteareas of the U.S. The government never filed asingle charge of sabotage, espionage or any other

crime against the arrested JapaneseAmericans.

Executive Order 9066Many people who are unfamiliarwith the historical backgroundhave assumed that the attack onHawaii was the cause, or justifica-tion, for the mass incarceration of

Japanese Americans on the West Coast. Thisassumption is inconsistent with the fact that theJapanese Americans living in Hawaii were notincarcerated en masse. Hawaii was 3,000 milescloser to Japan, in closer proximity to invasion andpossible acts of sabotage. The Hawaiian militarycommander decided that “military necessity”required the Japanese Americans remain free tosustain the sugar cane fields in Hawaii. The historyof prejudice and legal discrimination began nearly

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100 years earlier in California. Economic interests inCalifornia were not satisfied with the arrests ofindividuals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Theywanted the entire Japanese American populationremoved from California. Pressure groups and themedia organized an intense campaign, publishingstories inflamed with “Yellow Peril”myths about spies and saboteurs.Radio, newspapers, movies andcomic strips spread prejudice andstereotypes throughout the UnitedStates. The war became the perfectpretext for anti-Japanese groups toaccomplish the goal they had beenseeking for almost 50 years.

The California lobbyists pressuredthe federal government to removeand detain all Japanese Americans.Relying on the report of GeneralJohn L. DeWitt, military com-mander of the Western Defense,Franklin D. Roosevelt eventuallyyielded to the West Coast pressureand signed Executive Order 9066on February 19, 1942. Roosevelt signed the orderdespite the objections of Attorney General FrancisBiddle and the FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, whoboth felt the order was unnecessary and unconstitu-tional. Executive Order 9066 broadly authorizedany commander to exclude any person from adesignated area. Although the order did not men-tion any specific group, it was the understandingamong high government officials that the authoriza-tion was for the purpose of removing and incarcer-ating Japanese Americans. General Dewitt issued aseries of civilian exclusion orders topersons of Japanese ancestry living inCalifornia, parts of Arizona, Oregon,and Washington to evacuate to reloca-tion camps. The justification for theseactions on the West Coast was “mili-tary necessity,” which contradicted themilitary decision made in Hawaii. Hemasked the issue of citizen rights byusing the term “non-alien” in reference to UnitedStates citizens on all of his written orders.

Evacuation and RelocationJapanese Americans had to leave their homes withonly items they could carry. Many times, familieshad three to five days to pack. During evacuation,the sales of homes, businesses, and possessionsdrove values down. Farms and businesses that had

taken thirty and forty years toestablish sold for less than 10percent of their value. During theevacuation in May 1942, many farmfamilies abandoned crops ready forharvest losing potential income. Theevacuation order did not permitpets, so families had to find othersto care for beloved pets. Trains,buses, and trucks transportedfamilies to temporary housing calledassembly centers, located at countyfairgrounds, racetracks, and live-stock exhibition halls. Some familieswere housed in hastily constructedbarracks, while others were forcedto live in horse stalls.

In June 1942, the U.S. Navy won a decisive victoryand the tide of war shifted in favor of the UnitedStates. Japan was no longer militarily capable ofattacking the West Coast and Hawaii. Although thethreat of invasion had vanished, the U.S. govern-ment continued its plans to build ten permanentrelocation or internment camps in interior desertand swamp regions. A total of about 120,000persons of Japanese ancestry were ultimatelyrelocated to internment camps that were sur-rounded by high barbed wire fences and guardtowers manned by armed American soldiers. The

soldiers, who had orders to shootinternees leaving without permission,wounded dozens and killed eightinternees. In most cases, theshootings occurred when a confusedelderly person got too close to thefence or when an internee tried toretrieve a child’s toy or rescue ananimal caught in the fence.

Barracks constructed of uncured lumber coveredwith tarpaper provided little protection from the

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elements. Internees found themselves subjected toextreme heat in the summer and sub-freezingtemperatures in the winter. Dirt, sand, and weedsfound their way through the poorly constructedfloors and walls. The walls separating the barrackapartments ended below the roof, allowing privatefamily discussions to be heard from one apartmentto another. The barrack apartments were generally20’ x 25’ open rooms, with cots lined up next toeach other and without any private area for chang-ing clothes. Often, large extended families werecrowded together in these one-room apartments.Internees without family were sometimes housed inbarrack rooms with total strangers. A small potbellystove provided the only heat, and a bare bulbhanging from the ceiling provided light. Interneesstood in long lines at the mess hall in their block formeals at assigned times. Personal necessities, suchas bathing or using the bathroom, required walkingto an assigned latrine. The bathrooms often did notprovide privacy. Internees had to bathe and use thelatrines in open rooms without partitions.

Japanese Americans were known for their pride anddignity. Under the regulations of the internmentcamps, their family structure and self-esteemsuffered. Fathers were no longer the breadwinners,families rarely ate meals together, and parents lostcontrol of their children. It was difficult to provideparental influence and discussion of values to thechildren around the dinner table. The camp admin-istration controlled mail and other forms of com-munication. The Japanese language was banned atpublic meetings, and the Buddhist and Shintoreligions were suppressed. Another form of indig-nity was imposed on the internees in February 1943.After being incarcerated for almost a year, detainees17 years of age and older were required to answer aquestionnaire indicating their loyalty to the United

States and their willingness to serve in the U.S.armed forces. Insensitive wording that effectivelyasked them to renounce their Japanese citizenshipcaused confusion and fear among the internees,especially the elderly Issei. Prohibited from beingU.S. citizens, the Issei would render themselvesstateless. Despite the pain and anger that the ques-tionnaire generated, the majority of the interneesanswered the questions concerning loyalty to theUnited States in the affirmative.

As the days in camp stretched into months, Japa-nese Americans went to work to make camp lifemore tolerable. Men gathered scrap lumber tomake furniture. Parents demanded schools for thechildren. The internees cultivated crops on barrenland. Their fresh produce greatly improved thequality of food available at the mess hall. Formerfarmers now imprisoned in internment camps werecalled upon to help solve the farm labor shortageand volunteered to help civilians plant and harvesttheir crops. The internees planted trees and shrubs,constructed small Japanese gardens, and builtbaseball diamonds and basketball courts. Fridaynight movies and talent shows provided entertain-ment. Remarkable art forms flourished in thecamps. The Amache internment camp was knownfor its talented silk screeners. Many camps had artstudios where internees painted oils and watercolorsdocumenting camp life. Women created beautifulpins, corsages and curio boxes from shells collectedfrom former lake beds at Tule Lake and Topazinternment camps. Some women created beautifuldolls from scraps and kimono fabric. Women alsomade vases and baskets from wire and crepe paper.

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Other internees used their time to write essays andpoetry. Camp life often dominated the theme of thewriter’s work. Many essays written by children andyoung people focused on democracy and love ofcountry.

Military ServiceWhen the United States entered World War II, therewere 5,000 Japanese Americans in the U.S. armedforces. Many of them were discharged, beingclassified as “enemy aliens” even though they wereU.S. citizens. In Hawaii, a battalion of Nisei volun-teers formed the 100th Infantry Battalion in May1942. After facing fierce combat in northern Africaand Italy, they became known as the “Purple HeartBattalion” due to their high casualty rate. TheUnited States soon discovered the need for Japaneselanguage specialists and recruited men and womenof Japanese ancestry for Military Intelligence Service(MIS) in June 1942. The crucial military intelligencegathered by Japanese American soldiers helped toshorten the war in the Pacific.

By 1943, the United States needed more soldiers andannounced the formation of the 442nd RegimentalCombat Team, made up of Nisei volunteers fromHawaii and the mainland. The following year, the442nd joined forces with the 100th Infantry Battalionin Europe. Due to the success of the Nisei incombat, the U.S. reinstated the draft to include Niseiin detention camps to add to the ranks of the 442nd.Some 33,000 Japanese Americans served in thearmed forces during World War II while theirfamilies were still incarcerated behind barbed wirefences.

The Nisei fought bravely and many died in combat.

Injured soldiers returned to battle after their woundshealed. Due to outstanding bravery and heavycombat duty, the 100th/442nd Regiment CombatTeam became the most-decorated battalion, earningmore medals of honor than any other unit ofcomparable size and length of duty in U.S. militaryhistory. The Nisei fought bravely in part to convincethe U.S. government that they were loyal Americancitizens. They hoped their brave deeds would earnfreedom for their families and the other JapaneseAmericans.

Returning HomeAfter the United States dropped atomic bombs onHiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered onAugust 14, 1945, marking the end of World War II.Some internees celebrated the end of the war andanticipated the day they would return home. Otherswere ambivalent about returning home. JapaneseAmericans worried about how their neighbors andcommunities would receive them. Many had losttheir homes and businesses, and others, uponreturning, found their homes and farms occupied bytenants unwilling to leave. Many Japanese Ameri-cans found that their belongings placed in churchbasements and government storage facilities beforeinternment had been vandalized or stolen. Thereturn of Japanese Americans to their homes inCalifornia, Oregon, and Washington was marked byacts of violence by pressure groups who wanted tokeep out the Japanese Americans permanently.Some West Coast restaurants and businesses refusedservice to Japanese Americans, even soldiers inuniform. More acts of violence and terrorism werecommitted against Japanese Americans at the endof the war than at the beginning.

Reconstructing their lives after WWII was difficultfor Japanese Americans. The Issei were too old tostart up their businesses and farms again. The youngNisei generation had their education disrupted andcould no longer afford to go to college becausefamily support became their responsibility. Losseswere compounded by long-lasting psychologicaldamages. Prison-like conditions disintegrated thefamily structure. Many extended families broke up,settling in separate areas of the United States where

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they could find jobs. As they had done in theinternment camps, Japanese Americans did whatthey could to make the most of a terrible situation.Men started small gardening businesses and womenfound work in canneries. Japanese Americans didtheir best to reestablish themselves as good andhardworking Americans. Parents soon found thattheir children faced the lifelong stigma of havingtheir birth certificates and school records indicatethat they spent their childhood in captivity. Japa-nese Americans suffered the greatest indignity ofbeing falsely imprisoned by their own government.

RedressInitiated by pressure groups on the West Coast andexecuted by the highest levels of government, thisextraordinary episode in the history of the UnitedStates is a demonstration of how the system ofchecks and balances can fail. President Gerald R.Ford rescinded Executive Order 9066 on February19, 1976, exactly 34 years after it was signed byPresident Roosevelt. After a decade of pressurefrom various Japanese American groups for mon-etary reparation, Congress passed an act in 1980creating a Commission on Wartime Relocation andInternment of Civilians. President Carter signedthe act that same year. The Commission found thatthere was no military necessity justifying the evacua-tion and internment of Japanese Americans fromthe West Coast. The Commission further con-cluded that the evacuation and internment was theresult of “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failureof political leadership.” These findings became thebasis for redress bills introduced in both houses of

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SOURCES USEDChuman, Frank F. The Bamboo People: The Law and JapaneseAmericans. Del Mar, CA: Publishers Inc., 1976.

Ina, Satsuki. Children of the Camps [videorecording]. SanFrancisco: National Asian American TelecommunicationsAssociation [distributor], 1999.

Japanese American Citizens League, National EducationCommittee. A Lesson in American History : the Japanese AmericanExperience: Curriculum and Resource Guide. [San Francisco,Calif.?]: JACL, 1996.

Maeda, Wayne. Changing Dreams and Treasured Memories: A Storyof Japanese Americans in the Sacramento Region. Sacramento:Sacramento Japanese American Citizens League, 2000.

[Maeda, Wayne.] Continuing Traditions: Japanese Americans, Storyof a People 1869-1992. Sacramento: Sacramento HistoryMuseum, 1992.

Weglyn, Michi Nishiura. With an introduction by James A.Michener. Years of Infamy : The Untold Story of America’sConcentration Camps. Seattle: University of Washington Press,1996.

Congress. On September 17, 1987, as a result of theefforts of many Japanese American organizations,the House of Representatives passed HR442, theCivil Liberties Act, by a vote of 243 to 141. TheSenate passed a similar measure. President Reagansigned HR442 into law on August 10, 1988, autho-rizing payment and an apology letter to each surviv-ing internee. On October 9, 1991, the United Statesgovernment began issuing a letter of formal apologyand a check of $20,000 to each internment survivor,almost 50 years after incarceration.

Photos from CSU Special Collections & University Archives unlessotherwise noted. Cover: Mariko & Reiko Nagumo prepared forinternment (background: Constitution Wall at the Golden StateMuseum). Table of Contents: Tule Lake, California. Pg 2: Misao &Asataro Nakano in Hawaii, ca. 1904; Unidentified Japanese picturebride (National Archives). Pg 3: Mary [Dakuzaku] Tsukamoto andsiblings, ca. 1930; Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Pg 4: Civilian Exclusion No.92; ID tag worn by Masami Iwasa during relocation. Pg 5: DepartureDay (California State Archives). Pg 6: Nisei troops. Pg 7: IsseiCitizenship group, 1954. Pg 8: Florin School (segregated) graduatingclass, 1931. Pg 9: Letter of apology signed by President George Bush.Pg 10: calligraphy translation “Time of Remembrance.” Pg 11:Amache Relocation Center. Pg 12: Departure Day (California StateArchives). Pg 13: Fresno Assembly Center baseball champions, 1942;Mariko & Reiko Nagumo prepared for internment. Pg 14: PostonRelocation Center. Pg 15: Misa Kashiwagi. Pg 16: Internees with flagat Amache Relocation Center.

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1908 The Secretary of State and the Foreign Ministerfrom Japan formalize the Gentleman’s Agreement.Japan stops issuing passports for Japanese laborersto the U.S. In return, President Theodore Rooseveltpersuades the San Francisco School Board to permitschool integration.

1912 Japanese Americans own 12,726 acres of farmlandin California.

1913 Alien Land Law passes that denies “all aliensineligible for citizenship,” including all Asians exceptFilipinos the right to own land in California. Leasingland was limited to 3 years.

1918 California’s Alien Land Law closes loopholes andforbids Issei to buy land in the names of their Niseichildren.

1920 California’s Alien Land Law prohibits the leasing ofland to “aliens ineligible for citizenship.”

1921 Under pressure from the U.S., Japan ceases issuingpassports to picture brides, who had been immigrat-ing to the U.S. from around 1910 to join husbandsmarried by proxy.

1922 In Ozawa vs. the U.S., the Supreme Court reaffirmsthat Asian immigrants are not eligible for naturaliza-tion.

1924 Congress passes Immigration Exclusion Act,barring all immigration from Japan.

1937 Japan invades China.U.S. breaks off commercial relations with Japan.

1939 Germany invades Poland.Britain and France declare war on Germany, mark-ing the beginning of World War II.

1940 Japan seizes military bases in Indochina.

1941July: U.S. government imposes oil embargo on Japan

and freezes Japanese assets in the U.S.November 7: Curtis Munson reports to the President,

State Department, and Secretary of War that theJapanese Americans possess an extraordinary degreeof loyalty, corroborated by years of surveillance bythe FBI and Naval Intelligence.

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1869 First group of Japanese immigrants arrives in theU.S. and establishes a community at Gold Hill(Coloma) in California.

1882 Congress passes Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibit-ing further Chinese immigration and barringChinese from citizenship. Enforced from 1882-1892, this act created a labor demand and is consid-ered a major reason for increased immigration ofJapanese to the Pacific Coast.

1898 The U.S. annexes Hawaii, enabling about 60,000Japanese residing in Hawaii to proceed to themainland without passports.

1890 Under pressure from the U.S., the Japanese govern-ment stops issuing passports to laborers desiring toenter the U.S. Since the territory of Hawaii is notmentioned, Japanese continue to immigrate toHawaii.

1905 San Francisco labor leaders form the AsiaticExclusion League, demanding the halt of Japaneseimmigration. The San Francisco Chronicle runs anti-Japanese series for a year and a half. Californialegislators urge Congress to limit Japanese immigra-tion.

1906 San Francisco School Board passes a resolution tosend all Chinese, Japanese and Koreans to segre-gated schools.

1907 Congress passes an immigration bill forbiddingJapanese laborers from entering the U.S. via Hawaii,Mexico, and Canada.President Theodore Roosevelt orders the SanFrancisco School Board to rescind the segregationorder. Strong feelings against Japanese persist andanti-Japanese riots break out in San Francisco.

December 7: Japan bombs the U.S. military base andfleet at Pearl Harbor.

December 8: U.S. Congress declares war on Japan.Within hours, the FBI begins arresting hundreds ofJapanese community leaders in Hawaii and themainland as potential security risks.

December 11: U.S. declares war on Germany and Italy.Arrests continue of over 2,000 Issei, includingpriests, teachers, newspaper editors, and otherprominent leaders in the Japanese community.

1942February 19: President Roosevelt signs Executive Order

9066, giving the Secretary of War authority toexclude certain people from designated “militaryareas.”

March 24: General DeWitt issues the first of a series ofexclusion orders, which would force the removal ofall persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast.

June 5: The evacuation of all persons of Japaneseancestry from designated military areas is complete.

October 30: The U.S. army completes the transfer of alldetained Japanese Americans to ten permanent WarRelocation Authority (WRA) detention camps.

1943January 28: The War Department announces plans to

organize an all-Japanese American combat unit.February 8: The U.S. government administers a loyalty

questionnaire to men and women over the age ofseventeen in the ten internment camps.

April: The U.S. War Department activates the 442nd

Regimental Combat Team.July 15: Tule Lake, California, is designated as a segre-

gated camp for those who responded unacceptablyto authorities on the loyalty questionnaire.

1944January 20: The U.S. reinstates the draft of Japanese

Americans.October 30: The 100th/442nd all-Japanese American

combat teams rescue the Texas “lost battalion” afterfive days of intense battle. They incur 800 casualtiesto rescue 211 Texans.

1945August 6: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima.August 9: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki.September 2: Japan officially surrenders.September 4: Western Defense Command revokes all

West Coast exclusion orders against persons ofJapanese ancestry.

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1976 President Gerald Ford signs the proclamationrescinding Executive Order 9066.

1980 President Jimmy Carter signs a bill to create theCommission on Wartime Relocation and Intern-ment of Civilians (CWRIC) to determine whetherany wrongs had been committed in the internmentof 120,000 Japanese Americans.

1983 The CWRIC issues its report concluding that theexclusion, expulsion and incarceration of JapaneseAmericans was not justified by “military necessity.”The action was based on “race prejudice, warhysteria and failure of political leadership.”

1984 California State Legislature proclaims February 19of each year as “A Day of Remembrance.” (Presi-dent Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 onFebruary 19, 1942.)

1988 On August 10, President Ronald Reagan signs theCivil Liberties Act of 1988, requiring payment of$20,000 and a letter of apology to an estimated60,000 survivors of internment.

1990 President George Bush signs the first letters ofapology presented to the oldest internee survivors ata Department of Justice ceremony.