What were your responsibilities as an officer?
I couldn’t fight but I made sure that I was useful. My first couple of tasks varied from repairing rifles and other artillery to conducting grueling experiments in the laboratories. Personally, I was a bit of a busy body, doing mechanical repairs, sorting mail, operating teletype machines, basically doing anything I could to contribute.
Do you feel your work was appreciated?
Fighting and killing isn’t the only thing you can do to win a war. Someone has to feed, clothe, and supply the soldiers too. Shame that I wasn’t honored but I knew that I did something and that’s enough for me.
Not only did women like Elizabeth Heartly overcome discrimination but they took society one step towards equal rights.
Americans Are Not Forgiven
October 15, 1945
By Lorax T.T. Suess
Yori Sake Honda, a 23 year old male faced the challenges of living in an internment camp during the 1940’s. He is finally speaking out on his experiments experience as a confined Japanese-American citizen after two months after his release.
In the wake of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, I was forced to live in an internment camp along with 100,000 other Japanese-Americans. People avoided us like the bubonic plague and they questioned our loyalty. May of 1942, my sister and I were permanently moved to an assembly center under General DeWitt’s order. My 7 year-old sister was too young to understand what was happening. But I fully understood the discrimination and racism. There was no way to concretely prove our loyalty to the United States but after the internment, the country proved their disloyalty to American citizens.
I will not forget that I we were herded like cattle. Hundreds of the internees lived in simple barracks that were poorly constructed. We were only allotted 40 cents a day for food. Over all, our living conditions were appalling.
America is not the land of the free. Even though Hirayabashi and Korematsu had what seemed like ‘fair trials’ that does not justify the fact that innocent citizens were forced to liquidate their homes and move to an internment camp. We were all charged with the crime of being Japanese. The people interned were hard working Americans who paid their taxes and contributed to the welfare of the United States. We cannot forget the personal humiliation that we have endured. They can seek forgiveness from us but we cannot be compensated for our dignity and integrity.
Role of African and Native Americans
People of color, now have an elevated status in the war
October 15, 1945
By Cruella T.N. Deville
Last week the Native American Code Speakers were able to successfully communicate with the military intelligence on the latest Japanese attack. This allowed the general to order the Tuskegee 332nd Fighter group to launch an attack on the unsuspecting Japanese. The 332nd Fighter group is the first all African American group to fight in the war. The successful bombing by the group caused the Japanese to retreat from their fort in Okinawa. This caused a large deciding victory for the Americans after constant battle for two months.
This victory gave Americans much needed supplies at the fort and gave Americans renewed hope. This news of the victory caused the Tuskegee training center to see an increase in recruits and the Native American Code Speakers also received a higher regard. The Native Americans, such as the Navajos, used secret codes based on their native language to relay messages on the radio. This is a sure way that the enemy will not be able to decode our messages. This is a break through for other people of color and the possibilities that they could have.
