Entrevistas

1. Loyalty questionnaire

2. Fair Play Committee

3. Speaking out in camp

4. Wanting to take a stand

5. Ostracized by the camp newspapers

6. On trial for draft evasion

7. Draft resisters sent to jail

8. Fair Play Committee charged with conspiracy

9. Prison

10. Meeting other Americans in jail

11. Would do the same again

12. Arrested in camp for trying to leave

13. Becoming involved with the NCRR and redress

14. Apologies from the JACL

15. Different feelings from veterans about the draft resisters

16. “No more shikataganai”

Emi,Frank

(1916-2010) Recluta disidente, ayudó a formar el Comité Heart Mountain Fair Play

Meeting other Americans in jail

After that, there was this group of Japanese Kibei uh, U.S. Army soldiers in there. So uh, I joined them on the what they call the uh, oh what they call it, the uh, did a lot of manual work. Unloading coal and things like that. Well, these boys, there’s seven of them. They were interested in things that, they were in the army and uh when war broke out, they were made to do latrine duty, all their military equipment was taken away, latrine duty, so finally they got fed up and they said “Treat us like soldiers or release us!” And after repeated their request nothing happened so they finally went on a strike, hunger strike, they wrote out a petition where they request, all signed with blood from their fingers, and uh, that got them court-martialed. And their original sentence was to be executed. Which was later changed to thirty years. Then it was later changed to fifteen years. And I understand that after the war, they were released.

Then there was another group of American soldiers. Of German descent, and they were American Bund members. And because they were Bund members and German descent their guns were taken away and they were just made to patrol around the outer perimeters of the prisoner of war camp, you know the soldiers that they captured in Europe and brought over here. They were made to patrol around there. And while doing that, they helped some of them escape. And that’s why they were court-martialed and they were also uh, originally sent to be executed, which was later reduced to thirty years.

fuerzas armadas derechos civiles militares

Fecha: May 9, 2006

Zona: California, US

Entrevista: Lisa Itagaki

País: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Entrevista

Frank Emi nació el 23 de septiembre de 1916 en Los Ángeles, California. Se dedicó a administrar los negocios de la producción familiar hasta que sus vidas fueron interrumpidas por la guerra. Emi fue enviado a Heart Mountain, Wyoming, junto con su joven esposa y su dos hijos.

Emi, junto con tantos otros, cuestionó abiertamente la constitucionalidad de la encarcelación de los japoneses-americanos. Ayudó en la formación del Comité de Justicia de Heart Mountain, y protestó contra la acción del gobierno organizando un movimiento de resistencia contra la obligatoriedad de prestar servicio militar, aún cuando Emi no podía ser convocado a sumarse a las fuerzas por el hecho de ser padre.

El Comité de Justicia argumentó que ellos estaban dispuestos a sumarse a las fuerzas, pero no hasta que sus derechos como ciudadanos americanos fuesen restituídos y sus familias liberadas de los campos de concentración. El gobierno condenó a Emi y a otras seis personas por liderar una conspiración para la evasión del servicio militar; cumplió 18 meses en prisión. Otras 86 personas de Heart Mountain fueron procesadas y encarceladas por resistirse a la obligatoriedad del servicio militar.

Luego de la guerra, Emi y otros oponentes al llamado militar fueron marginados por líderes y veteranos japoneses-americanos. No fue sino hasta la lucha por la Reparación, unos cuarenta años más tarde, que el Comité de Justicia fue reivindicado por su postura contra la injusticia.

Falleció el diciembre de 2010, a la edad de 94 años. (Diciembre de 2010)