Infamy by Richard Reeves Page A
Authors: Richard Reeves
Tags: United States, History, World War II, Military, 20th Century, State & Local, West (AK; CA; CO; HI; ID; MT; NV; UT; WY)
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but when she began to follow him, the nurse in charge told her, “You can’t come in. You’re supposed to be in the prison camp.”
One of the saddest of many sad stories was told by Hiroshi Kashiwagi of Sacramento. His forty-year-old mother had dental problems, particularly a painful impacted tooth. Because of curfews it was difficult for her to see a dentist. When she did find a dentist, he told her there would be no dental care where she was going. He then proceeded to pull out all her teeth one by one.
* * *
On March 24, uniformed soldiers appeared along the coast, tacking “Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1” on the trees, telephone poles, and walls of Bainbridge Island off Seattle in Puget Sound. The posters read:
----
NOTICE
H EADQUARTERS: W ESTERN D EFENSE C OMMAND AND F OURTH A RMY
1. Pursuant to the provisions of Public Proclamations Nos. 1 and 2 … dated March 2, 1942, and March 16, 1942, respectively, it is hereby ordered that all persons of Japanese ancestry, including aliens and non-aliens, be excluded from that portion of Military Area No. 1, described as “Bainbridge Island,” in the State of Washington, on or before 12 o’clock noon, P.W.T., of the 30th day of March, 1942.
2. Such exclusion will be accomplished in the following manner:
(a) Such persons may, with permission, on or prior to March 29, 1942, proceed to any approved place of their choosing beyond the limits of Military Area No. 1.… On March 30, 1942, all such persons who have not removed themselves from Bainbridge Island in accordance with Paragraph I hereof, shall, in accordance with instructions of the Commanding General, Northwestern Sector, report to the Civil Control Office referred to above on Bainbridge Island for evacuation in such manner and to such place or places shall then be prescribed.
J.L. DeWITT
Lieutenant General, U.S.A.
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Booklets dropped on doorsteps listed what the evacuees must carry: “Blankets and linens for each member of the family; Toilet articles for each member of the family; Clothing for each member of the family; Sufficient knives, forks, spoons, plates, bowls, and cups for each member of the family.… All items carried will be securely packaged, tied and plainly marked in accordance with instructions received at the Civil Control Office.”
There were soldiers and chaos on the island, as there had been when Terminal Island had been cleared by the navy. The scavengers were on Bainbridge, too. Bill Hosokawa, who had just graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, described their trucks rolling through his neighborhood with drivers shouting, “Hey, you Japs! You’re going to get kicked out of here tomorrow. I’ll give you ten bucks for that refrigerator. I’ll give you fifteen bucks for your piano. I’ll give you two bucks and fifty cents for that washing machine.” Hiroshi Kamiya was forced to sell his family’s pickup truck, with a new battery and four new tires—the brand-new tires alone cost $125—for just $25.
“You trying to sell them?” a man said to Mary Takeuchi, pointing to the gold-ringed china, the family’s most treasured possession. He offered $17.50 for the set. Weeping uncontrollably Mrs. Takeuchi, like Mrs. Wakatsuki on Terminal Island, took the plates down one at a time and smashed them at the feet of the man.
So the 271 Japanese and Japanese Americans of Bainbridge Island, 91 aliens and 180 American citizens, mostly farmers and their families who produced three million pounds of strawberries a year, wearing their best clothes, marched to the ferry Kehloken , which would take them to Seattle and beyond. They had no idea where beyond was.
The Seattle Times reported rather romantically on the departure of the Islanders, editorializing, “If anything ever illustrated the repute of these United States as a melting pot of diverse races, it was the evacuation of Japanese residents, American and foreign-born, from the pleasant countryside of
One of the saddest of many sad stories was told by Hiroshi Kashiwagi of Sacramento. His forty-year-old mother had dental problems, particularly a painful impacted tooth. Because of curfews it was difficult for her to see a dentist. When she did find a dentist, he told her there would be no dental care where she was going. He then proceeded to pull out all her teeth one by one.
* * *
On March 24, uniformed soldiers appeared along the coast, tacking “Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1” on the trees, telephone poles, and walls of Bainbridge Island off Seattle in Puget Sound. The posters read:
----
NOTICE
H EADQUARTERS: W ESTERN D EFENSE C OMMAND AND F OURTH A RMY
1. Pursuant to the provisions of Public Proclamations Nos. 1 and 2 … dated March 2, 1942, and March 16, 1942, respectively, it is hereby ordered that all persons of Japanese ancestry, including aliens and non-aliens, be excluded from that portion of Military Area No. 1, described as “Bainbridge Island,” in the State of Washington, on or before 12 o’clock noon, P.W.T., of the 30th day of March, 1942.
2. Such exclusion will be accomplished in the following manner:
(a) Such persons may, with permission, on or prior to March 29, 1942, proceed to any approved place of their choosing beyond the limits of Military Area No. 1.… On March 30, 1942, all such persons who have not removed themselves from Bainbridge Island in accordance with Paragraph I hereof, shall, in accordance with instructions of the Commanding General, Northwestern Sector, report to the Civil Control Office referred to above on Bainbridge Island for evacuation in such manner and to such place or places shall then be prescribed.
J.L. DeWITT
Lieutenant General, U.S.A.
----
Booklets dropped on doorsteps listed what the evacuees must carry: “Blankets and linens for each member of the family; Toilet articles for each member of the family; Clothing for each member of the family; Sufficient knives, forks, spoons, plates, bowls, and cups for each member of the family.… All items carried will be securely packaged, tied and plainly marked in accordance with instructions received at the Civil Control Office.”
There were soldiers and chaos on the island, as there had been when Terminal Island had been cleared by the navy. The scavengers were on Bainbridge, too. Bill Hosokawa, who had just graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, described their trucks rolling through his neighborhood with drivers shouting, “Hey, you Japs! You’re going to get kicked out of here tomorrow. I’ll give you ten bucks for that refrigerator. I’ll give you fifteen bucks for your piano. I’ll give you two bucks and fifty cents for that washing machine.” Hiroshi Kamiya was forced to sell his family’s pickup truck, with a new battery and four new tires—the brand-new tires alone cost $125—for just $25.
“You trying to sell them?” a man said to Mary Takeuchi, pointing to the gold-ringed china, the family’s most treasured possession. He offered $17.50 for the set. Weeping uncontrollably Mrs. Takeuchi, like Mrs. Wakatsuki on Terminal Island, took the plates down one at a time and smashed them at the feet of the man.
So the 271 Japanese and Japanese Americans of Bainbridge Island, 91 aliens and 180 American citizens, mostly farmers and their families who produced three million pounds of strawberries a year, wearing their best clothes, marched to the ferry Kehloken , which would take them to Seattle and beyond. They had no idea where beyond was.
The Seattle Times reported rather romantically on the departure of the Islanders, editorializing, “If anything ever illustrated the repute of these United States as a melting pot of diverse races, it was the evacuation of Japanese residents, American and foreign-born, from the pleasant countryside of
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