Unparalleled Patriotism (You Tube)

This is some kind of symposium with a variety of speakers on the subject of the Nisei in World War II. There are five clips in this series.

The first veteran starts out by talking about the effects of the attack on Pearl Harbor on how the average American became mistrustful of Japanese Americans. He notes that the word 'Jap' is equivalent to the 'N' word in its nature. He notes that any Japanese Americans in the military were kicked out after Pearl Harbor. Then he goes on to talk about the formation of the 442nd and the use of Japanese Americans in the military once they were allowed back in. He notes some 33,000 Japanese Americans ended up serving in the armed forces. 800 of them were killed during the war.

The first question is how they dealt with the prejudice. The first guy to answer says he was in Poston when he volunteered for the 442nd. He says he said he wanted to prove he was a loyal American. He also wanted to prove that the internment program was wrong.

The next person to answer talks about Executive Order 9066. He talks about how the draft board classified Japanese Americans as 4-C, enemy aliens unfit for the draft. He also uses the term 'concentration camp' for the camps they were in. He volunteered because he wanted to prove his loyalty.

Another volunteer says he was faced with two wars. One, against the enemy from abroad, and the other against prejudice. The guy in the clip was in Merrill's Marauders.

Another member of the panel also says he joined the military to prove his loyalty. He talks about the 'Purple Heart Battalion' of Nisei in Italy. The podium speaker says only three Japanese Americans served in the Air Force, and none of them were pilots, and that this was also due to prejudice.

Another panel member was born in Manhattan, so he wasn't part of those put into the camps. He also uses the term 'concentration camps' when referring to the camps. He talks about the isolationist feeling in the U.S. regarding the war at the time before Pearl Harbor.

This speaker had already been in the military and had finished his basic training. He had only been on his first assignment for 45 days when he was told he was being discharged 'for the convenience of the government.' He returned to his family, and they were all shipped to the Poston camp. He talks some about life in the camp. He ended up fighting in Italy.

This man had been a medic, and he says the Germans respected the Red Cross flag he carried and did not shoot at him when he went to an injured soldier. This is the exact opposite of what happened in the Pacific Theater where the Japanese purposely tried to kill medical personnel.

The guy who fought in Merrill's Marauders says he and other Nisei were used to translate captured documents, and to interrogate Japanese prisoners.



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