Chapter 25
Even after all the casualties the Nisei soldiers suffered in World War II, it would take decades for Japanese Americans to fully win their rightful place in American society. Millions of employers still refused to hire them, and the jobs that were available to them were mostly low paying and menial. Racist slurs and insults still met them everywhere they went. They were still excluded from owning property in certain neighborhoods. At the end of the day, they were still “Japs” to many of their compatriots.
And all the medals and honors earned by their sons and brothers in the war did little to alleviate the trauma that thousands of mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers experienced in the camps—or when they tried to return home. Thieves had looted possessions left in storage. Vandals had shattered nursery greenhouses, destroyed merchandise, spray-painted threats on their property—Japs Keep Out! Squatters had occupied homes and refused to leave.
A tough road lay ahead for most Japanese Americans—civilians and veterans alike—before the country’s leadership formally recognized and addressed the wrong that was done to them.
But very slowly a start was made, particularly among those aware of what the Nisei soldiers had accomplished. President Harry Truman pushed for a restoration of property and civil rights for Japanese Americans, and he strove to gain greater public recognition for what the 442nd had done.
Lieutenant Colonel Pursall and President Truman reviewing the 442nd, Washington, DC, July 15, 1946.
In 1952, Japanese immigrants were finally allowed to apply for citizenship. Fred and his siblings coached Kisaburo and Tori, quizzing them on civics and American history for their citizenship exams.
When they both became American citizens, it was a moment of profound pride for Fred. He knew that he and the rest of the 442nd had paved the way to that place. Watching his parents raise their hands at their swearing-in ceremony, he thought to himself, By God, you had a piece of this.[71]
There were multiple efforts to persuade the government to formally apologize for the incarcerations and to pay compensation to the families who had been affected. In 1983, a federal commission recommended that Congress and the president issue an apology, establish a foundation to educate the American people on this hidden part of their history, and pay each surviving detainee twenty thousand dollars in compensation.
Rudy Tokiwa and dozens of 442nd veterans went to Washington, DC, to meet with senators and members of Congress, pressing them to enact the recommendations into law. Finally, in August 1988, after initially opposing the legislation, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, which declared that the incarcerations of Japanese Americans were “carried out without adequate security reasons and without any acts of espionage or sabotage, and were motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.”[72]
Gordon Hirabayashi was released from federal prison and reunited with Esther and their children shortly after the war ended. For the rest of his life, he continued to speak out in defense of civil rights for all Americans. He died early in 2012.
Later that year, President Barack Obama posthumously conferred on him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor an American can win. As he presented the medal at the White House, President Obama quoted Gordon’s own words, stating the one simple principle for which Gordon fought: “Unless citizens are willing to stand up for the Constitution, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on.”[73]