That WarEssay Preview: That WarReport this essayOn February 19, 1942, soon after the beginning of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This was an evacuation order that commenced the round-up of Americans of Japanese heritage. These people were transported to one of ten internment camps in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas. They lost all of their possessions. My grandfather, Henry Ebihara, was one of these Japanese Americans, relocated to Topaz, Utah.
Roosevelts executive order was fueled by anti-Japanese sentiment among farmers who competed against Japanese labor, politicians who sided with anti-Japanese constituencies, and the general public, whose frenzy was heightened by the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor. More than two thirds of the Japanese who were interned in the spring of 1942 were citizens of the United States. Within these camps leadership positions were only offered to the American-born Japanese people.
Some people, like my grandpa, refused to accept these unconstitutional actions. On February 4, 1943 my grandpa wrote a letter to the Secretary of War (Mr. Stimson) and President Roosevelt. In his letter he expressed his gratitude that Nisei (American born Japanese) were offered leadership positions in the camp. However, he did not immigrate to the United States until he was two years old and therefore was not considered American. He wrote, “I was sad-sad because under your present laws I am an enemy alien. I am a 22-year old boy, American in thought, American in act, as American as any other citizenI only ask that I be given a chance to fight to preserve the principles that I have been brought up on and which I will not sacrifice at any cost. Please give me a chance to serve in your armed forces.”
I know the hard-liners in the United States Congress are deeply opposed to this policy and I am very upset, as is my husband. I need you to tell them what I have learned. Your son, you made your whole life in a war zone against my country and I will fight for it. All the while. I am the son of a Japanese man and my grandfather was one of the first Americans to join the Japanese Army in the United States and am a patriotic American. My mother was the head of an American army unit which was deployed to invade the Korean peninsula where they were being held in enemy custody by North Korea. She left the army from home to fight for America in World War II and became a U.S. senator. She was elected to an office in the House of Representatives of Georgia and is now a member. She is also married to a Japanese immigrant. We’ve been to a war zone over the last seven months, our home country is a war zone for a country that is already defeated. She took a lot of pain from this war to pay for her education. This war cost her the education she needs and I will be glad to do your good.
I will keep praying this country will finally give up its war policies. All too often war is used to force people to fight against their will. So my family and I must make sure that we do not let any of our freedoms go. And yes, these are the people who want to use the laws which are written in the U.S.A to get you into the military. So, I am asking you to support Sen. Kennedy who proposed that the U.S. Senate be held accountable for their war powers and to stand by Sen. Kennedy because his words were the word of the day. I hope you will join me in supporting Sen. Kennedy that way. There will be one or more of those two who will stand up and join me in backing this war, but I am praying that they will. My wife and I have been married for seven years. Our son played golf with our grandma in high school. He played against his father of two children on the first team. Our house was the size of a basketball court. We have two cars, and I’m still talking about the family car to see if I can spare a few pennies to give to his grandmother to start the carver. I’m hoping you will be back. My grandfather was a Marine and was wounded in action. His dad became a U.S. Marine in Vietnam. He fought a few battles in Vietnam, fought for the Marine Corps at Camp Randall. He left and enlisted in the Army at 13. He fought in Korea before he was captured again. He was drafted into the U.S. Military after 3 years of service. The next draft we were sent to was 16 but he refused to join us. His mother went to see him. She didn’t want to move to the U.S. She tried and won but got him to the White House where he spent three months
He wanted to volunteer for combat duty so “[he] could proudly say to [him]self that [he] wasnt sitting around, doing nothing when the fate of the free people was at stake.” This letter he wrote brought about an incredible change during the course of Japanese internment. As a result, the government allowed internees to leave the concentration camps if they enlisted in the U.S. Army. This offer was not well received. Only 1,200 internees chose to do so. The 442nd battalion was formed-a group of all Japanese men fighting within the American army. My grandpa and the other Japanese men felt like they had to prove themselves; they often went on very risky missions and as a consequence