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Originally Posted by odinthor
I had meant to post the following link when we were discussing Terminal Island and Brighton Beach before; and now it is relevant again, vis-a-vis the Japanese community.
This is a link to a transcript of interviews of Hancock Banning Jr., and includes much of interest, not only about Terminal Island but also about Catalina and so on.
The reminiscence of the Japanese presence on Terminal Island begins on the manuscript's page 114 (the online doc's pagination makes it the e-doc's page 123).
https://static.library.ucla.edu/oral...h-1-master.pdf |
What happened to Americans of Japanese ancestry during WW2 is a disgrace. Look at all the uprooted people and their communities, like this village on Terminal Island. It is especially to be noted that German Americans were untouched, even though some were Nazi sympathizers and member of the Bund. The internment was FDR's biggest mistake, made in the days early in the war when a Japanese attack on the mainland seemed possible.
In war, constitutional rights often get shredded. Even our most esteemed President, Lincoln, suspended some constitutional rights when he thought it necessary to preserve the union.
Of course many Japanese Americans, while outraged about the internment, were eager to prove their patriotism and served with distinction and bravery in Europe.