Exile in the U.S.
The day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dayton Chief of Police Rudolph F. Wurstner, in answer to several enquiry's, stated that there were very few Japanese in Dayton, and that the bus and train lines had been notified not to sell tickets for Japanese to leave Dayton.
On December 8, 1941 the U.S. Treasury Department closed the Oriental Trading Company store at 126 N. Main Street. Treasury agents said that plans were being considered to sell the store, with the funds to be placed in a government agency trust. Shaji and Mary Okino, American citizens of Japanese descent, owned the store. Neither he nor his wife was taken into custody. The store was one of three in Ohio closed as government agencies investigated the ownership of a nation-wide chain of Japanese curio shops. Four days later, however, the shop was allowed to reopen. Agents reported that the Okinos had complied with all the requirements of the Treasury Department.
On December 9, 1941 twenty men and thirteen women, subjects of Germany and Italy and technically classed as enemy aliens, were denied American citizenship papers by Federal Judge Mel G. Underwood, who administered the oath of citizenship to 80 other aliens in Dayton and Montgomery County.
The naturalization was the first in Southern Ohio since the war had begun, and Judge Underwood made a decision to withhold the papers until at least April 1942.
“It is understood,” Judge Underwood stated, “that this is no reflection upon the individual applicant.” He cited Title One of the nationality laws of 1940, which provided that the aliens denied citizenship under those circumstances would be given hearings for citizenship, which, in their case, would take place in April.
This regulation also covered the subject of travel by these same nationalities. They were literally forbidden to travel anywhere but where they lived, unless they obtained a special permit. Although travel about town itself was not restricted, anyone seeking to go outside the area had to file a notice a week in advance, give a written statement containing their name, nationality, alien registration number, purpose of the trip, destination of the trip, the date of departure, the date of return, the route to be followed and the type of vehicle that was to be used for travelling. Even then, travel could be restricted, if said travel was considered potentially dangerous to the public safety.
On January 2, 1942 it was ordered that anyone who was from Japan, Germany or Italy were to turn in any short wave radio sets, radio transmitters, cameras, firearms, ammunition, explosives or materials used in the manufacture of explosives. All items were to be turned over to the Dayton police. People turning in these items were given a receipt so that they could pick up the items after the war was over.
Daytonian Louis Baldasarro reported to the police station on January 3, 1942 and stated that he had a shotgun in his possession. Inspector Frank Krug had to inform him that the police hadn’t received instructions on how to proceed with taking in items yet, but that the government would forward a receipt to him acknowledging the surrender of any articles. A cabinet was to be erected at police headquarters in which to store the objects.
This was wishful thinking on the police department’s part. Within three days the auto recovery bureau room at the station was all but full. Console radios took up most of the space, although cameras and guns were also piling up. The police were telling owners of the radios that it was possible under the rules for them to retain their sets if they had the short-wave section of the radio taken out. However, the owners without exception said that they preferred to surrender them as they were, rather than risk a chance of violating the order or go to the expense of having a mechanical change made.
On February 9, 1942, “alien enemy” registration started in Dayton. Identification certificates were issued by the Dayton Post office. Those that had to register were all citizens or subjects of Germany, Japan and Italy 14 years of age or older. Japanese citizens who became citizens of another nation before December 7, 1941 and all German and Italian citizens who became citizens of another nation before Dec 8, 1941 did not have to register.
When registering, each person had to bring three full-face photographs without a hat which had been taken within the last 30 days. When issued, the certificate had to be carried at all times.
Americans grew increasingly worried that citizens of German, Italian and Japanese decent might try to somehow sabotage the country’s efforts to win the war. In response, President Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the evacuation of “any or all” persons from the West Coast. Under that order, about 5,000 German-Americans and Italian-Americans were rounded up for questioning. Within a year, most of the 5,000 had been released. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the 127,000 Japanese-Americans living in the United States at the time. Although about two-thirds of the Japanese-Americans were native-born citizens; this did not allay the suspicions that were directed toward them. Because of their race, they were easily recognized, and people equated them with the enemy pilots who had struck at Pearl Harbor and with the enemy troops who were killing American soldiers in the Pacific. All Japanese, both American and foreign-born, were removed from their homes along the coast and in defense areas and taken to relocation centers, where they were carefully examined by the FBI to determine their loyalty to the U.S. Forced to leave their homes and businesses behind, many Japanese-Americans were sent to camps where they were kept isolated for over ten years. The evacuation from the coast was done by the army, the first evacuation of a minority group in the history of the United States.
The military did little to help curb the growing racism against Germans, Italians and Japanese living in the United States. On October 22, 1942 Lt. Col. Francis S. M. Miller, chief of the public relations department at Wright Field, gave a speech at the Miami Hotel in front of the Dayton Advertising club. In his talk, titled “Face to face with the Axis in Dayton”, Colonel Miller spoke of how Axis agents had been picked up in Dayton over the last several months. Although he did not reveal the spies’ names, or the circumstances of their arrest, he did warn that there were still saboteurs in the city.
“They are here in Dayton...right now...tonight. “ Miller claimed. “ Wright and Patterson Field are sources rich in vital information. Dayton’s hundred’s of ammunition plants are rich in vital armament information.
“To put it bluntly, there is too much loose talk. We, in the army, are very much worried about the ease with which axis agents can get valuable information... In my job, I have to know some things of a confidential nature, to put it mildly. And I have no doubt that if I let slip just one of those things tonight, the information would be in Berlin or Tokyo, or both, tomorrow morning.”
Colonel Miller went on to talk about a spy ring that was broken in New York. He spoke of how one of the members had been trailed to “the very gates of Wright Field.” Luckily, the spy didn’t gain entrance to the field, but the point was made. He had been in Dayton, and possibly had learned something while here.
“Believe me, gentlemen,” the Colonel concluded, “this is war, total war... a war against every man, woman and child in Dayton. And espionage and sabotage, made possible by loose talk, can bring disaster on this city. In this respect, and it is a very real and dangerous respect, we are today face to face with the axis right here in Dayton.”
Eventually, Japanese-Americans who satisfied the authorities of their loyalty were permitted to leave the camps, on the condition that they had jobs. Many were first relocated to Dayton in the early fall of 1943 through the War Relocation Authority (WRA) in Cincinnati under the direction of G. Raymond Booth. The Nisei (second generation Japanese-Americans) were well received.
Booth requested the assistance of the Church of Federation in securing homes for these citizens and help in determining how they would be accepted in the city. The Journal Herald summed up the feelings of the city when it reported on the hardships the Nisei, “...American-born citizens whose only crime is their racial visibility”, had to endure.
“In moving eastward, many of the evacuees have left behind farms and business properties laboriously built up on the Pacific slope over a period of years. The younger relocators have had their schooling interrupted and adults have been cut off from familiar surroundings of many years.”
When McCall Corporation was asked to employ Americans of Japanese descent in their shop, the management responded with enthusiasm. When the idea was brought before the labor union of the company, the members voted unanimously to have the Nisei work with them.
Most of the original Japanese-Americans to arrive in Dayton were employed at the Red-Bar Battery Company, McCall and the Federal Housing Authority. Many also accepted farm work, where their knowledge of gardening on small acreage was said to have “proved a boon to agricultural communities” in the Dayton area.
Fred Stroop, president of the Stroop Agricultural company, hired the Nisei to assist on farms managed by the company.
“They have proven highly efficient and very acceptable- really, God sent!” claimed Stroop.
It was decided that, rather than open a WRA in the Dayton area, a voluntary committee should be formed. Robert Y. Kodama was asked to head the committee, which he accepted. Born in Los Angeles, California, Kodama was manager of a wholesale produce firm prior to his evacuation. With help from the Dayton War Housing Board, Kodama was able to iron out housing and economic problems caused by the relocation.
A number of Japanese-Americans who were relocated to Dayton eventually served in the armed forces. By 1944 this included Joe Morishige, Sam Kinoshita, Tets Sumida, Steve Goya, George Shinmoto, Masato Hokoda and Frank Yoshimura.
Eventually, over 11,000 Japanese-Americans would be enlisted into the U.S. armed forces during the war, many proving to be great defenders of a nation that was treating their people with dishonor. During the war not one Japanese-American was ever brought to trial on charges of espionage or sabotage in the United States. It has been estimated that during their interment, the Japanese-Americans lost almost half a billion dollars in property and assets. Two decades later the federal government made recompensation to some of the families, but it totaled only about ten percent of the total loss.
Return to "Home Sweet Home Front" Home Page
