AUTHOR OF 'SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE' TO SPEAK AT MUSEUM ON NOVEMBER 1

Dr. Shirley Castelnuovo will discuss her book, Soldiers of Conscience: Japanese American Military Resisters in World War II, in a public program set for the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, on Saturday, November 1, beginning at 2 p.m.

During World War II, the U.S. government unconstitutionally forced over 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry from their homes, mostly on the West Coast and parts of Hawai`i, into domestic concentration camps, without charge and without trial. When the War Department began drafting young Japanese American Nisei (second generation), many chose to serve in segregated units in Europe or as part of the Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific. But, a group of approximately 200 chose to resist the draft until the rights of their families were restored and they were released from the camps located in some of the most desolate parts of the Western United States.

Dr. Castelnuovo’s book focuses on those individuals who resisted the draft as a matter of conscience and what happened to them after they did so. Not only did the government transfer many of them to the War Department Special Organizations, many of them were tried and sentenced by military courts to long prison terms. On top of that, members of their own families and of the greater Japanese American community tried to get the resisters to not follow this form of protest, leading to long-standing disagreements that exist to this day.

Soldiers of Conscience follows the stories of these individuals from the tumultuous years of World War II to the present day. Attitudes towards the Japanese American resisters have turned more positive in the last 20 years, especially after President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 into law, providing an official apology and reparations to thousands of eligible Japanese Americans for their forced removal from their homes. Many younger Japanese Americans have embraced the resisters for their choices.

Also set to participate in the program are resister Tow Hori and veteran of the 1800th Engineer Service Battalion Cedrick Shimo, who wrote the forward to Soldiers of Conscience. Shimo believes that he wound up in the 1800th because he protested the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans (eventually, he served in the Military Intelligence Service). He noted that "One of the tragic consequences of this episode was the extremely divisive breakup within the JA community which continues to this very day. One of the issues facing our community is not to glory a few and discredit others, but to honor all those who bravely endured those agonizing years. Each, in his own way fought for the very principles upon which this nation was founded – human rights, dignity, freedom, liberty and equal justice for all."

This program will also include individuals who have resisted military service for the Iraq war and parallels between both situations.

This program is free to National Museum members or with general admission. To make reservations, call the Japanese American National Museum at (213) 625-0414.