A lecture was held in the Recital Hall on Sept. 25 about Shirley Castelnouvo and her research and goal to bring awareness to the Japanese American military resistors during the Second World War.
During World War II, the U.S. Government feared pro-imperial support and the chance of sabotage from its Japanese American citizens. It executed Executive Order 9066 Exclusion Act to exclude and round up the Japanese citizens and immigrants that were living in the country and imprisoned them in the internment camps, surrounded with barbed wire and soldiers with guns pointing towards the camp. Castelnouvo, who is also a former NEIU professor, introduced the core ideas of her book Soldiers of Conscience: Japanese American Military Resistors in WWII in her speech. She gave background on the subject, saying that the years 1941 and 1945 were years of shame and disappointment. The country, in fear with racism, turned its back on the Japanese Americans, many of them who regarded the U.S. as their home and country. She firmly stated, “Some [historians] still insist we call them internment camps… let’s call them what they are: concentration camps.”
Castelnuovo said that at that time in West Coast, California, the racial hatred and prejudice was so intense because of Pearl Harbor, many of its citizens were unable to differentiate between the vile acts of the Japanese Imperial military and the Japanese Americans and immigrants that came only to find life and opportunity in this country. To them, the Japanese aliens wore the face of the enemy. She also said that although the exclusion ended in 1945, the racism was still prevalent in the West Coast. Many Japanese felt it was too dangerous to go back, so many of the displaced people settled in Chicago or migrated to other cities. It was only until the 1980s the U.S. Government realized the wrongness of their mistakes and sent letter of apologies and monetary reparations to the Japanese American families that were affected by the Exclusion Act. However, it was not enough to mend the pain that they suffered because of racism during wartime.
Castelnuovo also gave awareness of the cynical irony of the actions of the U.S. Government. When Pearl Harbor happened, the only way to save face in the eyes of the American people was to go to war. When deciding how to determine the loyalty of the Japanese people in the country, they chose that they would draft the sons of an imprisoned people to die in combat. She stated “Blood will be the way that they will prove ‘we are loyal.'” Some Japanese Americans did in fact get drafted or volunteered for military service and served honorably. However, many of the people in the internment camps were outraged at the gall of the U.S. Government not only to exclude them, but to also draft their fathers, brothers, and sons to die for a country that regarded them as “dangerous.” There were camp resistors who opposed the draft; they were later referred to as the “No-No Boys” because they applied “no” to a Leave Clearance Application Form which gave them two unfair questions that should they reject would automatically place them as supporters of the Emperor of Japan. Many of these resistors were arrested and sent to federal prison.
Castelnuovo said that the story of her book was about the Japanese American military resistors. These Japanese-Americans were drafted or volunteered before Pearl Harbor happened. However, when the event erupted, many of the U.S. military commanders were unsure of how to deal with their Japanese recruits. Some of the commanders sent them home, only to confront the internment camps. Others decided that menial labor would fit as punishment to the Japanese American servicemen. The U.S. Military realized they could not get rid all of these servicemen, so they had their weapons taken and assigned them to medical units, engineering, or labor tasks. These military servicemen became aware that their families were being rounded up and placed into internment camps. They decided that if the government would not guarantee the safety of their families, they would not fight. These Japanese American soldiers were tried in a military court with very little defense, and were accused of supporting Imperial Japan despite the fact that they were willing to bear arms if they knew that their families were safe. Many of these military resistors left the military with a blue discharge, a step below an honorable discharge which meant they could not receive the benefits and compensation for their service. Castelnuovo also connected the experiences of these resistors to a recent experience that happened 2006, when Japanese American U.S. Army Lt. Ehren Watada refused to serve in Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war, resulting in him facing a court-martial. She was also shocked that the Japanese American community regarded these military resistors as traitors. Castelnuovo hoped that her book, Soldiers of Conscience would bring awareness to the community and to have them recognize these men as loyal Americans and activists who sacrificed their lives to fight for what they believed was right.
Sam Ozaki, an internment camp survivor and WWII military veteran, was also invited to speak as a guest in the lecture. He described his experiences during his time in the internment camps and his decision to sign up for the draft and fight for his country, aware that his family back home were living under harsh conditions under the watch of guardsmen protecting the country from “dangerous Japanese saboteurs.” Ozaki said that he was unaware of the military resistors until he read Castelnuovo’s book. He also stated that he was moved by the accounts of these servicemen and felt what they did was just.