-
Attack of Pearl Harbor
"Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives: Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation. -
Executive Order 9066 Issued
"On February 19, 1942, a "day of infamy" as far as the Constitution is concerned, Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which was the instrument by which just over 120,000 persons, two-thirds of them American citizens, were confined in concentration camps on American soil, in some cases for nearly four years."Roger Daniels, Commentary by Roger Daniels. -
Period: to
Japanese Internment in Specific Relocation Camp
"Down in our hearts we cried and cursed this government every time when we showered with sand. We slept in the dust; we breathed the dust; we ate the dust." - Joseph Kurihara, Internee at the Manzanar camp.
"At Gila, there were 7,700 people crowded into space designed for 5,000. They were housed in mess halls, recreation halls, and even latrines. As many as 25 persons lived in a space intended for four.” - Anonymous Internee, Personal Justice Denied. -
Issued Public Proclamation No. 21
"Persons of Japanese ancestry against whom no specific individual exclusion orders have been issued may obtain, if they so desire, identification cards issued by the Western Defense Command indicating that they may travel and reside within the areas of the Western Defense Command heretofore prohibited to persons of Japanese ancestry." - Proclamation No. 21 -
Gerald R. Ford Officially Rescinds Executive Order 9066
"Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim that all the authority conferred by Executive Order No. 9066 terminated upon the issuance of Proclamation No. 2714, which formally proclaimed the cessation of the hostilities of World War II on December 31, 1946.
I call upon the American people to affirm with me this American Promise--that we have learned from the tragedy of that long-ago experience forever to treasure liberty and justice..." -
Civil Liberties Act of 1988
"The Congress recognizes that, as described in the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, a grave injustice was done to both citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry by the evacuation, relocation, and internment of civilians during World War II. As the Commission documents, these actions were carried out without adequate security reasons and without any acts of espionage or sabotage documented by the Commission, and were motivated largely by racial prejudice." -
Appropriation Bill for Japanese Internees signed by George Bush
“To establish a fact-finding Commission to extend the study of a prior Commission to investigate and determine facts and circumstances surrounding the relocation, internment, and deportation to Axis countries of Latin Americans of Japanese descent from December 1941 through February 1948, and the impact of those actions by the United States, and to recommend appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.” -
Bill Clinton Apology Letter
"A monetary sum and words alone cannot restore lost years or erase painful memories; neither can they fully convey our nation’s resolve to rectify injustice and to uphold the rights of individuals. We can never fully right the wrongs of the past. But we can take a clear stand for justice and recognize that serious injustices were done to Japanese-Americans during World War II."
