Japanese Translators Secretly Helped Win World War II | Full Documentary

Minnesota was home to a little-known Japanese codebreaker school during WWII that trained Japanese Americans, also known as Nisei, to be translators. Primarily recruited from concentration camps on the West Coast, these men and women served while many of their families remained imprisoned. For their efforts it is said that they “shortened the Pacific War by two years and saved possibly a million American lives.”
00:00 Thank you for watching Minnesota Experience!
00:30 Japanese codebreakers helped win World War II while their families were imprisoned in concentration camps in the United States
02:25 December 7th, 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor
07:40 The Nisei, a Japanese language school, and the forced relocation of Japanese-Americans
13:18 Japanese-Americans are needed on the frontlines and offer to fight for different reasons
17:20 The Japanese language school moves from San Francisco to Minnesota
24:07 The Nisei school begins to branch out beyond language
28:13 The Nisei begin to change the outcome of the war
31:12 Nisei soldiers save Merrill's Marauders
36:28 The first class of women at the language school
39:59 The war continues on and the Nisei continue their fight, even with their families in concentration camps
43:25 After the war, the work of the Nisei turns to the pacification of Japan
45:32 The devastation of the war on families and countries
48:48 January 1945: the Japanese leave the camps to find their homes and possessions gone
50:25 The racism experienced by the Japanese after leaving the camps
53:15 Petitioning the US government for reparations, redress, and an apology
Racism and xenophobia have shaped our history and continue to have devastating impacts on AAPI communities.
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#minnesotahistory #japaneseamerican #documentary #codebreakers

[@latebloomerabroad]

My mom was 11 when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and she always remembered one of her best girlfriends disappearing soon thereafter with her entire family. She never saw the family again, so we've always assumed they not only lost their house forever but also their farm. So sad and maddening.

[@ryanreedgibson]

Yes, it is really maddening. Which is why it's worth remembering! All of it!

[@Jonathan.D]

My comment that keeps being deleted follows your rules of challenging the argument and not the person and being respectful. So why delete it? Do you have something to hide? Do you not like the truth?

[@Jonathan.D]

It's saddening that such events caused our citizens to be treated in such an awful way. Each of us owes a debt of gratitude to those Japanese/Americans who willing made such a huge sacrifice for this country. To understand the reason why this decision was made by the US government we need to know the whole story. There has been an important part missing. Thankfully top secret files have been released that explain what happened that day in Hawaii.

[@Jonathan.D]

I have lived in Asian and South East Asian countries. Japan was one of my favorites and that had a lot to do with the people. They are some of the nicest and most kindhearted people you could ever meet. So it was a shock to me when I read about what happened on Chi Chi Jima Island. It taught me a very valuable lesson. Never judge someone because of the actions of a previous generation. Also, make sure to know the full truth about past mistakes so they can be avoided in the future.

[@latebloomerabroad]

@@Jonathan.D I don't understand what you're complaining about.You have lots of comments here, I don't think anyone is deleting them.

[@catherineprater1485]

I am so glad this information is getting out to people. The Japanese living here in our country dedicated to ts survival. I am truly honored they were willing to fight for a country that treated them so poorly. Thank ladies and gentlemen for your service and the lives you were willing to save.

[@MrDowntownLA]

My Dad, Jack Kiyoshi Nagano, Major, United States Army Reserves, Military Intelligence Service, retired, was one of few Japanese Americans to be promoted to Officer in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

[@stuart4860]

hahahaha, no one gives a fk fella

[@davefellhoelter1343]

R.I.P. "GREATEST!" Generation! all males old enough in my family served in the Pacific, some beyond into the Space Race and Cold War, some had generations serve after. We ARE BLESSED! we are also forgetful.

[@markneishi9348]

My father 0:27 in video was also promoted, he told me 3 months before Pearl Harbor he was recruited, at that time he was told when he completed MISLS he would be an officer, took them 4 yrs.

[@davidrussell4104]

The whole internment thing was unjust, yet many like your dad served in spite of it. Our thinking was entirely unjust and foolish in those days. Black troops were sidelined and segregated, yet served honorably. The Tuskegee Airmen excelled. Indians had long been 2nd class citizens yet gave us the Navajo code talkers and soldiers such as Ira Hayes. Those we ignored and feared helped us win the war.

[@f430ferrari5]

⁠@@davidrussell4104but there have been large production movies for both the Tuskegee airmen and also the Navajo code talkers. Not so for the Japanese Americans. Why.

[@barbaradace7952]

One of my Nisei uncles-in-law was assigned to debrief Japanese POWs in the Pacific, running through an interminable list of questions: "Paternal grandfather's name and place of birth? Maternal-wait a minute. *Where* did you say your grandfather was born?......I think we're cousins!" Many years later, the son of that cousin came to the US and opened a successful sushi restaurant

[@williamokuda8882]

My father was at Camp Savage. He part of the occupational force in Japan.

[@georgemcaulay6009]

These same chaps operated in Australia in WWII. Wow that's never been common knowledge These guys are legends

[@20chocsaday]

In WW1 the Royal family had to change its name. They chose Windsor. Battenburg became Mountbatten.

[@samanthafordyce5795]

I learned about the Navajo code talkers, and now I have learned that there were Japanese translators serving during WWII, but I didn't know about the school in Minnesota. I grew up there, although I was just a baby during the war. I'm glad to hear that they felt Minnesota treated them well. Gives me a modicum of pride in my home state (50+ years in California now).

[@johneyon5257]

good for Gov Stassen for his objectivity - like Gov Carr of Colorado who at the same time argued against the internments - both Republicans

[@johnemerson1363]

There is a book called "Yankee Samurai" that tells some of the story of the Neisi translators during WWII. I have a copy somewhere in the basement.

[@johnemerson1363]

Joseph D. Harrington is the author.

[@elaineburnett5230]

@@johnemerson1363 Thank you.

[@scotwkilgrow]

I was taught by a japnese engineer when i was 15 every summer for 3 years. His name was Sam. I called him,"Master Samwise". Because he was. Fought for the Marines, island hopping. I have and had the upmost respect for his courage. Formed a big part of who i am.

[@jtf267]

My father in law served in the Military Intelligence Service as an interpreter while his family members were locked up in the camps. They lost their home and businesses. He never talked about it. We didn’t know anything about what happened, and nothing was taught in school about what happened. We're very proud of his service under incredibly difficult circumstances.

[@sunahamanagai9039]

It's a shame this part of history about the Nisei translators is almost unknown. I don't think I was aware.

[@20chocsaday]

@Jens Nobel From Britain, thank for reminding us about them. About the Germans, they did you attack without warning. We told them, Get out of Poland by 11o'clock or it's war. They didn't.

[@williamrobinson827]

I knew about the Nisei who served in the ET, but had never heard about this. Thanks for the video!

[@deepgardening]

I've moved around a lot, and the best dentist I've had- Japanese American- grew up in N Dakota where her family was sent. Once I visited the Manzanar Camp, E.of the Sierras, in late November, preserved as a memorial, and I could see light coming thru the walls of the building that is still standing, the wind whistling thru. Really cold. A peaceful protest over conditions there by internees was ended by lethal violence. Nothing like this happened to my family: I had a great-grandfather from the Rhineland who was not harassed during WWI. There was a volunteer Nisei infantry unit in Italy that had a higher casualty rate than the other US units.

[@annedwyer797]

Thanks for this fascinating documentary. I'm a history nerd, and knew of the Choctaw and Navajo Code Talkers of WWl and WWll, but I knew nothing of the Nisei translators who were instrumental in defeating the Japanese.

[@jumpinjehoshaphat9075]

(And now Twin Cities public broadcasting cautions me how to reply- What crap) so far I'm 1/4 of the way through and all I've heard about is how Japanese were unjustly removed during World War II, NOTHING about code breaking.

[@josephsteffen2378]

There were many American military heroes of Japanese descent during WW2.

[@CBD7069..]

Never knew of the Nisei code breakers. Thank you for sharing.

[@susanschaffner4422]

Excellent, I knew some of the info in the documentary, but much I hadn't known. This program should be part of history classes in every school. Much to be learned that reflects today's society.

[@johntillotson4254]

Thank you for this great documentary

[@carolecarr5210]

The regiment that fought in Europe was the most highly decorated in the Army..

[@GeeBee909]

The 442nd. Their motto: "Go For Broke"

[@moldyoldie7888]

An introduction to Sgt. Bob Hoichi Kubo starts at 41:20. In general, an excellent video.

[@johnchoong1]

This would make a great movie

[@bill2066]

There was..'GO FOR BROKE" WITH Van Johnson

[@bill2066]

@Jens Nobel Yes, thought he was talking about the Asian American Translators where many of them came from, originally. Yes, would be cool if they had a movie too

[@johneyon5257]

a movie was made that was ostensibly about the navajo code talkers ("Windtalkers") - altho it really wasn't - it was mostly about the Cage character's psych issues - with the codetalkers shoved into the background - and the "suspenseful" climax - needed only a navajo to say something in english i'd rather not let hollywood tell the japanese translators story - it would be better to have a thorough documentary - providing more detail of their work than this one does - maybe following a translator or two the book MIDNIGHT IN BROAD DAYLIGHT by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto - has a potential candidate - born & raised near Seattle but spent some time in school in Hiroshima - before returning to the US - and joining the army to help translate & interrogate in the Pacific - he had family in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped

[@Katmando376]

A very dark chapter in American history which should not be forgotten.

[@jumpinjehoshaphat9075]

Sounds like things have improved. Let's not overdo it with self loathing today.

[@Katmando376]

@@jumpinjehoshaphat9075 No you still violate your citizens rights!

[@GeeBee909]

@@jumpinjehoshaphat9075 There's no "overdoing" ANYTHING. The U.S. Goverment WAS WRONG what it did in this matter, period. Tell me WHAT is written on the Statue Of Liberty? Nothing worst than HYPOCRISY and the U.S. displayed it in this matter, as they did with the black American soldier in WWII. "sounds like..." , read "your" history, KNOW "your" history then post

[@jumpinjehoshaphat9075]

@@GeeBee909 oh, I know my history, then and now. Throughly. Looks like I get the heat of a self righteous liberal Minnesota public TV watching ' fembot turned on me. Do your worst. Then go burn a minority owned business to the ground in the name of equity. Then congratulate each other. Then return and lecture me again about hypocrisy... talk about hypocrisy .... 😆

[@jumpinjehoshaphat9075]

@@Katmando376 hi Kat, it seems everyone has rights these days and few have responsibilities. Those who do prepare and excel are shackled and, at times, hindered and abused. I propose we insure everyone has the same opportunity now, we learn from the past, but we do not unjustly try to correct past injustices. Remember what Mom said. "Two wrongs don't make a right?" As far as this program, I was over 1/4 of the way through and had learned nothing about code breaking. Just repeated references to well known history of Japanese citizens being displaced. I know and have heard for over 40 years about how we shouldn't have done that. The Supreme Court decided we shouldn't have done that. I was here to learn about code breaking left my comment and went on my way. Have a nice day. I mean that, sincerely.

[@stevesworldisnumber1]

I really feel for these people. I have not known a lot of Japanese people in my life, just only a few. I remember Mr. Unitoni, who was a Janitor at Young Electric Sign Company and tried to teach me and my brother Judo at his studio. I tried and tried but just couldn't pick it up. Living here in Utah I have often wondered why that church of so-called Saints down in SLC didn't do more for these people back in that time. There were some of these fine people held here in Utah right where they could have been helped easily. But then I look at my own situation, and in a small way I can put myself almost in their shoes. You see I had a small Family Friendly Convenience store here in Ogden, Utah. And one day a church leader came by and became incensed that I was selling a book, among others, that was written by their own Prophet, Ezra Taft Benson. This church women's leader went back to her congregation and Told a Gigantic LIE about me and my nice store. She said that I was running an ANTI- Mormon book store. And church members all over the area were told Not to go to my store and buy anything! This Lie was spread all over the town and I lost not only my business, after a 12 year fight, but also my first and second families. I could not support my first family and my wife divorced me, and my second wife from the Philippines saw that I was not as rich as other Americans, and plotted to leave me as soon as she got her citizenship. My third wife from Canada is teetering on the edge right now because after 33 years now, I am still Not Allowed to make any descent income here, no matter what job I've done over the years to dig myself out of this Black Pit of economic slavery, that the So-called saints threw me into, just like the brothers of Joseph. My Grandmother worked as a cook at an Italian prisoner of war camp in Harrisville, Utah and was treated terribly by these So-called saints as well. Utah and especially Salt Lake City is fast becoming one of the Wickedest states in America! And in Fact, Salt Lake City itself has been Prophesied by leaders of the LDS Church in the past, to be The wickedest city on earth- in The Last Days. I remember back when President Reagan took on the challenge of setting things right for the Japanese Americans. I was Very Well Pleased with his work on that, while many across the Country hated him for it. His action was Not well received here in Utah. And now in 2023 as America is just about finished as an independent nation, there are many things that are left un-done, and I fear that it will have to be left to some future generation, Far in the future after much blood has been spilled, to finish the work of the founders, and bring peace to our torn land and eventually the world through just and fair righteous law. So that all mankind can someday live as Brothers! I won't live to see that day, but I try to live every day and to do my part to treat everyone as my Brother and Sister. I'm not trying to sound religious, that's just the way it is.

[@Dr.Pepper001]

My hat is off to the many Japanese American men who volunteered to help speed the end of WW2. I am glad that America has apologized for incarcerating those who considered themselves to be loyal Americans. They were justly compensated, but not soon enough.

[@madusmaxamus8670]

The internment of the Japanese during WWII was a very low point in the American history. The silence of what they did in their war efforts is even sadder. So many minorities served with distinction yet today so little is said about it. People of Japanese, African and Native Americans did so much and fought so bravely yet they are still not spoken of and their efforts are all but ignored. It is time for America to man up and let the rest of us know what they did and how brave they were.

[@real_asiandelicacy]

And then they liberated the jews from the nazis

[@williamhopkins4162]

Learned to speak NAVAJO, THAT TAKE SKILL!!

[@aresee8208]

In Westchester County, NY, during the 1970s, my mother and father worked with a Japanese-American woman who, at the time of WWII, was a young girl living in Hawaii. She told them that, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she absolutely despised the Japanese.

[@CSGATI]

The Navajo code talkers were worth their weight in gold.

[@mr.cookie7308]

You don't want to piss off a nice and gentle Japanese. And you certainly dont want to disrespect them bc they will fight tooth and nail to gain back that respect.

[@blanchjoe1481]

The history of America has always been about what it means to "Be" an American, and what the economic, social, and cultural future of America going to be. The process of growth in America constantly pushes at the acceptable boundaries of those who are unable to understand, or who are afraid. America can only become as wise, and as great as the people that make it up, so the history of America is the history of our own desires, needs, beliefs, and fears, a history full of both extraordinary vision, grace, heroism, and ignorance. This quintessentially American history includes everything from dominance of society by White Non-Catholic Christian Land Owners, Slavery, Anti-Asian Bigotry, Anti-Immigrant Fears, Economic Exclusion, Political Rejection, and Religious Intolerance, to social change, cultural understanding, individual recognition, personal expansion, and wisdom that can be rare in other parts of the world, and this process of endless change, education, both personal and cultural growth continues to create re-active Ignorance and Fear in other Americans, and it is a story as old as America itself.

[@lyndamchugh249]

Excellent program

[@lecoqjeannot3358]

Great documentary

[@craig9146]

While the mass treatment of Japanese-Americans was clearly unjustified, it did not happen without some substance. A Japanese pilot from the second wave of the attack on Pearl Harbor crash-landed on the Hawaiian island of Ni'ihau. Two Japanese-American couples sheltered and attempted to assist the pilot in escaping. It doesn't justify the knee-jerk reaction of the American government, but it muddies the accepted, clear-cut narrative that most of us are familiar with.

[@SoloPilot6]

Yes, because a Japanese Naval Pilot crashed on Ni'ihau, it was necessary to send orphan children to prison. I'm sure that makes sense to SOMEONE.

[@johneyon5257]

agreed - tho i wonder what would have happened if the japanese living there who helped him had seen photos or news reels of the attack first - the incident has an incredible hero - a native hawaiian who finally stood up to the japanese helping the pilot - he wound up injured iirc - but victorious

[@danielt6689]

The actions of 2 individuals out of 280,000 Japanese Americans (120,000 US mainland, 160,000 territory of Hawaii) is hardly substance. On the contrary, while Hawaii was the most likely site of a Japanese invasion, mass removal of Japanese Americans who comprised 30% of the island population did not happen. Only 1875 of the 160,000 Japanese Americans in Hawaii were interned. In addition, while the Office of Naval Intelligence had the Japanese American communities under surveillance since the 1930's. In their report to the U.S. Army, the ONI found little danger of espionage or sabotage and found no reason for mass removal. This report was ignored by General DeWitt in his arguments for mass internment and suppressed by the Department of Justice as evidence to the Supreme Court in hearings challenging the constitutionality of the internment.

[@johneyon5257]

@@danielt6689 - while i agree that no one should generalize from the behavior of a few people - this story had a huge impact on me as a japanese-american - tribalism is very strong in japanese culture - but i thought that it could be overcome by immersion in a more free-thinking culture - apparently not always - - one thing to consider is how it would have been if the japanese americans had turned in the japanese pilot - instead of aiding him - a little gesture that would have meant a lot

[@1buddahead]

@@johneyon5257 To clarify, of the 3 people of Japanese ancestry involved, 2 were issei (Japan born) and 1 was nisei (American born). The nisei took his own life when the pilot was killed.

[@nancydelu4061]

I remember hearing about "katok" and how my dad scrambled on the roof to watch smoke coming over the horizon. In Nu'uanu over the valley to PearlHarbor. My dad with haoli face and haoli name but raised by nisei . .

[@michaelward9880]

You just got to love these Monday morning quarterback historians. To say the German and Italian citizens weren't treated the same is a half truth. I think the relocation were not necessary and implemented in the heat of anger. It was the Imperial Japanese Navy that attacked Pearl Harbor, not the local Niesi barber down the street. It should have never been done but it was. If the German and Italian navies had bombed Norfolk Naval Base, I'm sure the anger level would have been just as high and the scrutiny would have been high and deportations would be high. The Neisi soldiers who served deserve the highest praise. I know if I were in the same situation, I would probably be a no- no boy.

[@jan_phd]

The Democrat Party have been evil traitors since 1828 when they put all the natives onto reservations. When they owned all the black slaves, When they formed the KKK. When they instituted the Jim Crow Laws, then they built the Japanese interment camps, then they energized the Social Marxists, when they destroyed black families... and on and on and on...

[@theloniousm4337]

Not sure about WW2 but in WW1 German Americans and German Canadians WERE persecuted and interred. Lots of riots and mobs burning German businesses and houses. Germans were/are the largest ethnic minority in the US. Many German people and towns were forced to change their names to anglicized names after the war.

[@Bren39]

And you think the nuclear weapons were dropped on civilians 2x to shorten the war right? Whatever makes you feel less guilty.

[@tabo01]

@@Bren39 Yes, the Japanese were innocents. See Rape of Nanking

[@johneyon5257]

the anger level was high - but some people didn't fall prey to it - Gov Carr of Colorado and Gov Stassen of Minnesota - prove that - but the leadership of the nation was FDR - an acknowledged racist - and he wouldn't attempt to quell the hatred against a whole ethnicity - including thousands of american residents not involved in the attack - Reagan rightly pointed to a "failure of leadership" in his speech

[@jackperson3626]

Thanks!

[@TwinCitiesPBS]

Thank you so much!

[@250txc]

Very informative to say the least ...

[@TwinCitiesPBS]

Glad you liked it!

[@prestonbacchus4204]

That was wonderful. Thank you.^^^

[@massoud999]

Respect - 尊敬する 👏

[@robertdelacruz2951]

This is a great, important, and largely-ignored documentary. I concede that easily. But I wish they had taken the pains to learn that many German-American and Italian-American persons had been interned also during World War II.

[@MWCG]

To all the Japanese WW2 veterans I thank you for your service and I'm sorry my country treated you so horribly

[@paulazemeckis7835]

Makes me feel not guilty for buying Japanese cars. My experience with Japanese people was positive growing up. They were really nice, disciplined, and braniacs. I was born in 1959.

[@kidmohair8151]

I am surprised that many are saying that they were unaware of either these events, or the participation of Nisei in the armed forces. I was aware of the interment camps, but didn't know a lot. I first ran across the story of the 442nd combat group in the 1970s. That piqued my interest, so I went out of my way to find out what I could within the limits of those times. The internet has vastly improved my access to the story of this abnegation of the rights of US citizens. Just because they weren't white. That's a familiar story in the US. . there is a lot of whataboutism, vitriol and racism in some of the comments below...and a lot of chips on shoulders.

[@andybreglia9431]

I have a question about the title of this presentation. What you are showing is TRANSLATION, not codebreaking.

[@TwinCitiesPBS]

Thank you so much! We’ll take that into consideration

[@SoloPilot6]

Codes were broken so that the messages could be translated.

[@baldbollocks]

As we have seen recently our Constitution can easily be circumnavigated. So how can we protect it ?

[@Legitpenguins99]

Can you give the example your speaking of?

[@knitwit7082]

A very dark and disgraceful part of our history. I feel sorry for the Japanese citizens who were here visiting, and then couldn't get home too! If you have ever seen one of the "Camps", you would know just how horribly they were treated. There were 3 camps near where I grew up. Just unheated shacks on desolate wasteland. At wars' end, they were just told to leave, but given no money to get home. Some were elderly or had small children. Truman shut off the electricity and water to force them out faster.

[@kazkazimierz1742]

Japanese were interned in Canada as well even though neither the military nor the RCMP deemed them a threat. The pressure for internment came largely from British Columbia business interests.

[@jmccallion2394]

I would have thought that Dr. Mark Felton would have got this truffle first, must be slipping up, Dr!!!

[@alex_zetsu]

The fact that these Japanese Americans were loyal to America and not some spies like many people accused them of cannot be doubted. But they were not critical for WW2. People often depict the pacific War as between one of equals where the balance dependent on certain key battles. It was not. Japan started a war against a state that would only lose if the voters did not want the war and did so in a way that pissed the Americans so much that they'd be willing to take any fiscal expense to win.

[@GeeBee909]

WHY then, did the war go on for YEARS then? They WERE critical for WWII. Perhaps you missed certain key parts of the documentary? It was stated that they shorten the war by 2 years. Further, there is ample evidence that Japan was goated into the war in the first place by the U.S. cutting off the oil and materials supplies to Japan, basically giving them no choice but to fight

[@alex_zetsu]

@@GeeBee909 The title was clearly clickbait. To say they helped would be saying the war hung in the balance when... it totally wasn't. it doesn't matter what their contribution was or that America probably goaded them into an unwise war. If the title said how they secretly contributed or how they helped save lives or how they helped shorten the war, that would be acceptable, but saying they were critical for winning WW2 is simply false clickbait. I don't care if you qualify your statement in the video with something nuanced, if you make a title it better damn be accurate or I'm downvoting it... not that it matters since downvotes do nothing.

[@GeeBee909]

@@alex_zetsu First, I accept your "down vote" with pride, because sadly you are confused. Read the title again. It CLEARLY says Japanese Translators Secretly HELPED win World War II. That title is DEAD-ON ACCURATE, and NOT "click-bate" AT ALL. Further, to say they "helped" would NOT BE SAYING THE WAR HUNG IN THE BALANCE. It clearly says and means the following: THEY HELPED WIN THE WAR, PERIOD. You know what....THEY DID. My dad fought in Italy in WWII, he too helped win the war, as did countless others. I don't know the "real reason" why you want to attempt to NOT acknowledge what they CLEARLY DID DO, but FACT IS FACT, and I don't care if YOU want to deny this. But hey, it's a free country and the Japanese Translators HELPED MAKE SO. So believe what YOU want to believe, THEY helped give you that right (whether you choose to believe it or not)

[@willboudreau1187]

Anybody notice the cc captions do not in any way match up with the narrator? WTF?

[@TwinCitiesPBS]

Uuuggghhh!!! We will check that out!

[@TwinCitiesPBS]

Please check now and let us know if it's better!

[@shencheanglow3726]

No one told the US authority that the so called Japanese interns many are actually not Japanese but Ryukyu people. These people's homeland was taken over by force just 50 years ago and Ryukyu people were forced to assimilate through various type of cultural genocide.

[@jaymacpherson8167]

Domo Arigato PBS.

[@arthurmosel808]

Not to take away from this injustice, the removals were from the West Coast not other parts of the US. additionally, at least some Germa. Americans and Italian Americans among other Europeans considered Axis Allies were also interned. Some them were sent back to Germany including their children who had been born here and never been in Germany or knew the culture and language. During WWI, German Americans in the Midwest were even lynched. So, while the Japanese internment from t he West Coast was particularly bad just from the numbers, they weren't alone at the time or past from that kind of mistreatment. By the way, at least one source indicates the use of Japanese American as part of intelligence intercept work had started as early as 1940. The source did not say whether ARMY or Navy, though from this, probably the Navy.

[@sonnydacuse7622]

GO FOR BROKE 💪

[@Ulmerkotten1]

The text is totally out of sync.

[@TwinCitiesPBS]

We are working to fix this!

[@TwinCitiesPBS]

Please check now and let us know if it's better!

[@richardthornhill4630]

Governments that can give you everything can take everything.

[@carolecarr5210]

Americans, non- Japanese were shocked and didn't know who to trust - that was the mentality difficult.

[@nickdanger3802]

Per capita Canada interned about twice as many Japanese Canadians as the US interned Japanese Americans and under worse conditions. To the best of my knowledge Japanese Canadians did not serve in the military.

[@johneyon5257]

i didn't recall that - i remember a story by S I Hayakawa - a japanese-canadian - who moved to the US - he wasn't interned tho - maybe cuz he was living in the midwest - he describes an awkward moment during the war - with a white couple waiting for a train - they exchanged a few pleasantries - avoiding sensitive topics - and separated - - Hayakawa would become famous for his writings in semantics - and served later as a US senator from california

[@nickdanger3802]

@@johneyon5257 On 24 February 1942, Cabinet ordered Japanese Canadians to move 100 miles inland from the Pacific Coast. The order led to the expulsion of some 21,000 Japanese Canadians from their homes. Sixty per cent were Canadian born and 77 per cent were Canadian citizens. They were divided by sex, and housed together on cots in a former women’s building and in livestock barns on the grounds of the Pacific National Exhibition. ( See Japanese Canadians Held at Hastings Park.) Jews In the summer of 1940, more than 3,000 refugees - among them 2,300 German and Austrian Jews aged 16 to 60 - were sent to Canada. They were interned in guarded camps in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. The Jews in the group came to be known as the “accidental immigrants.” They were initially interned in prisoner of war (POW) camps alongside actual POWs, including Nazi Germans. (See Canada and the Holocaust.) Canadian Encyclopedia Internment

[@johneyon5257]

@@nickdanger3802 - i'd never heard of those incidents - i guess we're gonna have to rethink the ranking of canadians on the goodness scale

[@nickdanger3802]

@@johneyon5257 Regarding your first reply, before internment was ordered Japanese Americans in west coast states were "advised'" to move to the interior. A few did and those who did not were interned. Concerning Canadian "goodness" in WWII, on a per capita basis Canada spent about half as much as the USA, however Canada was the only nation other than the USA to provide free aid to Britain. 3 billion CD (2.7 billion USD) in material and services.

[@johneyon5257]

@@nickdanger3802 - i had a coworker who's nisei wife drove to new orleans (i think) to move in with friends and avoid internment - - but that advice was of course totally impractical for most japanese americans - - worse - totally unnecessary re aid to britain - canada's goodness scale ranking sinks further - they were still part of the commonwealth - the king was their king - and britain was in dire straits

[@billclisham8668]

Granted, looking back from decades later it was a terrible situation but if you are going to be honest it made sense at the time. We had been attacked on our own soil and the government felt it had the best interest of the country in mind.

[@GeeBee909]

No it did NOT "make sense". Tell me, if it "made sense" WHY didn't they do the same thing to German-Americans or italian-Americans citizens then? They "looked like the enemy" too, didn't they? The U.S. fought against both in WWII. WHY did they single Japanese-Americans out ONLY? If "you are going to be honest" YOU will admit that it was WRONG and should not have been done. What does it say on the Statue Of Liberty? The government went against it's own words, that's called HYPOCRISY

[@OldGriz708]

@GeeBee909 Did Germany attack us on American soil? Nope. Did Italy attack us on American soil? Nope. Did Japan attack us on American soil? Yes, they did.. That is the one and only reason they felt the need to do what they did. If Ireland attacked America, I would understand why they would look at my pale skin and red hair (well, when I had hair) and feel the need to keep an eye on me. There was nothing racist about what they did.

[@GeeBee909]

@@OldGriz708 You are SO wrong. Let me set you straight. First, Hawaii was NOT "American soil" in 1941. In fact Hawaii did not become a state until 1959 (I'll save the discussion for another day on how the U.S. pushed their way onto the islands and gave Queen Lili'uokalani NO choice but to give in to their demands). Second, for you to say "that is the only reason they felt the need to do what they did" is both ludicious and ridiculous. Many of those Japanese-American citizens that they put in internment camps THEY WERE BORN IN AMERICA. I say again, THEY WERE BORN IN AMERICA. They spoke English just as well as ANYONE in this country (and most likely better than most !!!). For you to sit there and state that "that is the only reason they felt the need to do what they did CLEARLY SHOWS THAT YOU ARE IGNORANT OF THE FACTS. So, did Japanese-AMERICANS attack "us"? NO THEY DID NOT. They were AMERICAN CITIZENS just like everybody else, yet they are singled out, WHY? (as if I don't already know). It is really sad when people like you (apparently in order to claim your guilty conscious try to rewite history to their own liking) HOWEVER, this history MUST NOT be "rewritten" and the truth must be told. Further, judging from your totally ignorant statement "there was nothing racist about what they did" CLEARLY SHOWS YOU HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO. First, you must be "deprogramned" of the lies you hold as the truth. Until you are, I hope you stop spreading lies on the internet. Some young person might believe them.

[@katr8756]

Yes, it was truly tragic what happened to Japanese Americans during that time.. But hindsight is always 20/20!! Why wouldn't the government think that some of the Japanese were more loyal to Japan than to America? After all, as the saying goes, blood is thicker than water. Ethnicity is often stronger than familiarity. Germans were also suspected, and often arrested and interned. None of this is good. Not at all! But it is understandable from the perspective of the time. And to equate these internment camps with "concentration camps" is to diminish the horrific, monstrous nature of "true" concentration camps run by the Nazis. That needs to be stopped! Let's hope and pray such things never happen again.

[@SoloPilot6]

Well, their first hint was that both the FBI and Office of Naval Intelligence had done extensive investigations long before December 7, and found that such fears were completely groundless . . .

[@katr8756]

@@SoloPilot6 Please cite a credible link for me. And even if they did, how accurate were the investigations? Did they know every movement of a person in the Japanese community? I think not! So they could not be sure. What I find more egregious about the whole tragedy is, the families being made to sell their property for pennies!! If they could have held onto their property till they were released, they would not have have had such a difficult time starting over. As I said, hind sight is always 20/20. And all no country is perfect, and never makes mistakes.

[@SoloPilot6]

@@katr8756 Go look it up. By the stupid questions you're asking, it's obvious that trying to educate you would be a waste of time.

[@texasblueboy1508]

A friend of mine's dad was a line man for a large power company in Texas. They were German Americans and the government were always watching him. So they did watch others of different decent.

[@SoloPilot6]

@@texasblueboy1508 . . .which is in no way related to rounding up every person with a single drop of Japanese blood, no matter their age -- including orphan infants -- and sending them to concentration camps.

[@robharris5467]

I would have made the same decision. 20:20 hindsight isn't great as a history marker.

[@jamesthornton9399]

Some Americans could learn a Thing Or TWO.

[@kenlodge3399]

I gotta tell ya I've heard or read about so many injustices committed by my country, America. But this one, this has to be the most insidious, the most horrendous. Beyond all the massacres and corrupt backroom deals by sick politicians and/or generals or community leaders, no, what makes this one so bad is due to it having been the result of so few, one or two people preying on the vulnerability of so many closet bigots and cross cultural latent racists. All of America's problems due to racial paranoia were exposed because of this one action... if anyone cares to look!?!

[@joyriggs]

I get that being moved into the camps was bad... everything happening during the war was bad. However it's really annoying to keep hearing them called concentration camps when they were not that in any way. The goal was not to work them to death or exterminate them at any point. They are named internment camps for a reason its totally different and it's so disrespectful to compare them at all to the actual concentration camps of that war. It's ridiculous.

[@petergregory5286]

We, the British imprisoned the Germans and Italians at the beginning of WW2. What’s the problem?

[@edwardtasi2905]

You are fucked

[@klasv7174]

Our people and Government suck for the way this was done to the Japanese Americans, they did not do the Germans that way.

[@emmgeevideo]

Sigh... One more proof point that honor, courage, skills, intelligence have no relationship to race, gender, color, or national origin. As I type, tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day. "Content of their character" is the only reasonable way to assess another human being.

[@lmkw8117]

`

[@Katmando376]

The illegal internment of American citizens is one of America's shameful episodes. The US has a habit of persecuting it's people like the Native people and African Americans. America will you never learn?

[@JoeValva]

what about Germany or Italy what camps did they get sent to you didn't send them to camps Mr. Franklin D. Roosevelt????

[@johneyon5257]

there were germans and italians sent to camps - but in smaller numbers - they were judged individually - not rounded up as a group

[@steveandon63]

how about German ss living in us having a good life we should send all ss to camp

[@onlythewise1]

the world attacked Germany , like a thousand against two

[@bholmes5490]

Keep this in mind when anyone says "Mexican" "Muslim" or singles out any group. Two California Governors were always denouncing Mexicans when talking about Californians.

[@SoloPilot6]

Yet it was that great "Progressive" FDR who sent 85,000 American-born citizens and their aging parents to concentration camps, solely because of their ancestry.

[@mynamedoesntmatter8652]

@@SoloPilot6 In all fairness and in my own honest opinion, I beg to differ. I don’t trust Islam because I know what it is and what they’ve done by calculated degrees to European countries and Britain. That’s their plan for the whole world. Our schools, from college level down through first grade, hammer on unquestioned acceptance of Islam and, even make students live as a Muslim for a week, some longer, as part of “homework assignments” (at least they mostly all used to). Islam has broken down our constitution in every way it can, if you will look into that. They want our constitution to completely bend to Islam’s will so that Americanism will simply disappear. The Japanese, the Mexicans, even the indigenous native tribes never ask for that. They assimilate even when they keep their personal beliefs. Islam is completely different. And no, they’re not all hardcore Shia’a Muslims; but they are Muslim first, Islam first, their mullah’s teachings first, and they do NOT allow assimilation in any way (except to deceive) as our rights to American citizenship require, and the mullahs want that statute changed to suit their Islam. I have kept up with this, read, studied this since the eighties. I found it frightening because of the liberal Americans who are so weak patriotically as to believe in changing and adapting to the whims of a completely opposite culture. That is not American. Our nation actually was founded on Christian principles and values as Gods Word first, from the Bible. Islam does not allow anything except the Qur’an, and that is rewritten, altered, changed to suit the mullahs. Their holy book is Islam’s government, and it can’t be anymore anti American. Their teachings are not “peace,” it’s killing the “Great Satan.” News flash - you are Satan to them. The not-so-religious Muslims here would change their minds in a heartbeat if they were threatened with going against their holy book. Those “nice ME family” at the end of your street would kill you if they were told that ‘Allah’ requires them to do it. Don’t take my word for it; do your homework on it. Read, seriously read, and look into past events. There are good people in every sect, but Islam is the enemy of the world. It’s the fastest growing religion in the world. Tread carefully. The Japanese Americans were horribly mistreated and that’s a permanent blight on our country. But they are not Islam. Nothing else is Islam. Tread carefully on those statutes you believe in. Be careful who and what you will accept. I may trust individual people but I know not to trust the religion that is Islam. The Japanese Americans were against their ancestral homeland during WWII. War against Islam - and it is coming - will not see Muslims as radicals to their faith. They put Islam first, and only Islam. Not every one would go against a friend that doesn’t believe in their god (and that is a false god) but if they fear losing their idea what they’re told their heaven is supposed to be they wouldn’t roll the dice against it (even though it does not, cannot exist).

[@alfredopampanga9356]

Before we issue a lot of mea culpas ,let it be known that Japanese American citizens on a Hawaiian island helped a downed Japanese pilot to escape Well documented

[@johneyon5257]

cuz one japanese family did it (without seeing the carnage the pilot helped bring about) - then all japanese immigrants and citizens should be blamed or distrusted?

[@alfredopampanga9356]

@@johneyon5257 Wrong, next morning the Hawaiians heard the radio broadcast of Pearl Harbour. The Japanese family was fully informed on the second day

[@johneyon5257]

​@@alfredopampanga9356 - they had been "fully" informed by the pilot first thing - but i'm talking about the effect of the images - i'm not trying to let the japanese-hawaiians off the hook - but i'm wondering about the effect of a young japanese man begging for help - as opposed to being a pilot who was involved with the carnage of the bombing

[@alfredopampanga9356]

@@johneyon5257 ok. A young Japanese man…..asking for help with a gun My point is that the US government response to the outbreak of hostilities was not utterly absurd and without any earthly justification which is the main thrust of the video

[@johneyon5257]

@@alfredopampanga9356 - the emotional response of americans included the germans and itaians - but they weren't the subject of racism - in the end they were not blamed as a group - but individually tried and sentenced - the response to the japanese americans was pure racism - your defense of that response says a lot about you and your emotional state and your biases - i will never agree with you - nor will most of the younger generation as for the Government response - it should have been tempered by a rational outlook - especially when governed by a constitution that prohibits the actions that it took - that's why the concept of due process is so important - it's there to prevent emotions from becoming the rule the only beneficial outcome of that racism is that now your type of attitude is now widely deplored - and unlikely ever to take sway again

[@peterkavanagh64]

Ende

[@user-wo7fj8cz6q]

I'd been in Monterey Ca. for a couple of years in the early 80's, the "Defense Language Institute" was still there. Also, there was this Naval Postgraduate School.

[@fiddleronthecube7835]

I thought the title referred to Japanese in Japan instead of Japanese-Americans. There is always a need to correct ignorant people working for PBS.

[@billotto602]

While I'm GREATLY saddened about what my country did to these people, they WERE NOT PUT INTO "CONCENTRATION" CAMPS. JUST ASK JEWISH SURVIVORS !

[@johneyon5257]

both peoples were concentrated in camps - that all "concentration camps" means - but only one country's were "death camps"

[@tzazarizona2676]

BS video giving them much more credit for Japans defeat then reality shows. Every group is rewriting history from what is true to what they like. By the way FDR interred these citizens.

[@o2wow]

You need to expand your understanding of history. Read the history of WWII, especially about the 442 in Italy/France/Germany.

[@johneyon5257]

there's a book called HOW THE IRISH SAVE CIVILIZATION - there's one called THE FABRIC OF CIVILIATION: HOW TEXTILES MADE THE WORLD which supposedly "tells the story of the world's most influential commodity" - it seems that writers can't help themselves from engaging into a little puffery regarding their central topic - same here like the american indian codebreakers - the japanese translaters helped in shaping the battles - but its impossible to measure the effect - and its easy to note that carnage in the Pacific was horrible enuf with their help - so we shouldn't inflate their contribution - and we shouldn't belittle it either

[@MiddletonJeff]

Thank you for uploading that. Made me sad, proud and scared with what's going on the US now with women's body rights. LGBTQI+ rights. Hellz the way they still treat people of colour. Watching in Australia. Brisbane. Didn't even know we had that massive intelligence op here.... Very informative.

[@69Applekrate]

More than 15 minutes into the video- still almost NOTHING about the title subject matter. Just beating up American policy at the time. this is more liberal politics than code breaking.

[@johneyon5257]

"American policy at the time" was FDR politics - a liberal icon - who stood four-square with the incarceration

[@michaelpcooksey5096]

It is this student's observation that Equal Justice is the OBJECTIVE of the USA's democracy. In practice it proves very difficult. 1. The people have human identity recognition problems when a different appearing 'race' is next door. It also extends to belief systems when people of that system 'isolate' common activities from their neighbors like some European Jewish villages. 2. Equality is also an 'objective', but we now have Islamics in the US and the so called 'religion' of Islam teaches the complete destruction of all Jewish persons and the state of Israel is necessary for their 'resurrection event'. They also are taught and will practice lying as a religious duty in certain circumstances. Not so the Judeo-Christian orientation. 3. The current American is oriented by left wing power dealers [anti-American Christian values] to please the crowd and anyone in power, however Democracy requires individuals to have true values based in our Loving God and to stand against the opposite when necessary. 4. Democracy is not nor has ever been heaven on earth. We prove our right to heaven by the choices and actions we perform while alive. 5. Am so glad there is a LOT of evidence of this positive action in our USA history. All cultures have periods of truly bad history. We have some amazing examples of the opposite revealed in this video and in the Navaho Code Talkers. ... [They also had guards assigned to them on the front lines ... but I remember learning it was also the job of those guards to kill the code talker if he thought they would be overrun and taken prisoner.] I am fairly certain the Niesi guards would not have had that extra set of orders.

[@earlgreco8636]

They were American citizens. Damn unfair.

[@FairwayJack]

Just putting this out there ... Two Japanese pilots, who were part of the attack on Pearl Harbor crash, landed their damaged plane in Hawaii ... they were sheltered and hidden by Japanese-Americans who agreed to help them escape ... these pilots were ultimately found (with the help of native Hawaiians) despite the attempts of the "Nisei" to assist their rescue by the IJN. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incident

[@edwardtasi2905]

You are insane

[@terrysan8260]

You cant always believe what you hear ..

[@deetalashoma3514]

Ok, so what about the "World Saving Nava jos". You at PBS SHOULD KNOW, that the Navajo weren't the ONLY Native American Tribes that were CODE TALKERS. I am HOPI, yes there were other tribes besides the Japanese, Navajo and Hopi. For shame for shame on PBS if you don't know this FACT. 💥

[@johneyon5257]

more people know about the american indian code-talkers than know about the japanese-american interpreters - while both had been kept secret for years after the war - the cap had been lifted decades ago - - you're the one that doesn't seem to know - you see one documentary - and assume that it is the only one - documentaries on the american indian code-talkers are around - just search for them

[@madusmaxamus8670]

It is sad that so many people that have made this country what it is are yet today ignored and all but forgotten. Things need to change and we need to work to restore the American pride for ALL Americans of all races. I am almost 80 and knew nothing of the Japanese code workers or the Native Americans that were so instrumental in our winning WWII

[@stanpolchinski8956]

read'I Was There pearl harbor, midway... c1964? Edwin ret adm

[@jackperson3626]

Thanks!

[@TwinCitiesPBS]

Thank you so much! You are awesome!