Beginning in March 1942, three months following the Japanese attack
at Pearl Harbor, and lasting until as many as 16 months following
the end of World War II, slightly more than 120,000 persons of
Japanese ancestry were excluded, detained, and held in “relocation
centers” by the United States government, ostensibly because they
were considered a threat to national security. Nearly 70% were
American citizens by birth; the rest were Japanese nationals who
were legally barred from naturalization because of the de
jure racist policies of the time (Daniels, Taylor, and
Kitano 1991). Despite this treatment, over
1,200 individuals volunteered to serve in the U.S. armed forces
while several thousand others were drafted from the relocation
centers. Most served in a segregated unit in the European Theater,
while others served as interpreters in the Pacific Theater, all
while their families remained behind barbed wire in relocation
centers. These individuals served with great distinction within some
of the most highly decorated units of the U.S. Army (Crost 1994).