You'll never believe what I found last night!!!

[fooj]

FYI- I'm married to a 6'1'' Asian. You should see the looks we get when we fly into Dallas/Ft. Worth! LOL!!! His family lost everything after Pearl Harbor. Everything.

My husband brought home a book of his deceased uncle (from his mom's house) and inside it had "Evacuee Instructions" dated June 1944 for the Japanese Internment Camp in Poston, Colorado. It is in PERFECT condition...issued by the US Govt. UNFRICKINGBELIEVABLE. I've already contacted a woman I know who preserves these types of documents in a local museum and she was stoked to hear that we'd like to donate it and have it preserved. I told her that I felt it was an important piece of history and it should be saved so generations to come have a first-hand look of WHAT DID AND COULD happen in this country. What a trip. I'm just blown away right now. I'm telling you....it was creepy to read! Especially with things going the way they are right now.

Mostly, I felt shame and sadness. We can't go back to this. We just can't.

Thanks for letting me share.

:grouphug:

Peace.

[Nickster]

1. Any chance you could transcribe some of the more interesting pieces here?

I'd be curious what they said.

[mattclearing]

3. Seconded. n/t

[Midlodemocrat]

6. That would be awesome!

Maybe scan them in and post them?

That is a great discovery, fooj!

[fooj]

21. I'll type some of what is on the doc...I don't have a scanner.

I'm sure that I can find someone to help me out, though. I have other obligations today, however, as soon as I can---I'll get them scanned and up here.

Peace.

[Midlodemocrat]

22. Thank you so much! That is so nice of you to do.

[Nickster]

26. Seconded n/t

[fooj]

29. here's a snippet...

Because all trains are crowded, it is advisable to carry only a small bag and one other package of necessities with you in the car. You may have to walk some distance in changing trains or at destination....-Colorado River War Relocation Project (June,1944)

Peace.

[qanda]

32. Oh, that brings tears to my eyes

How very, very sad.

[Progressive4Life]

57. May we never forget...

and never allow history to repeat itself.

[helderheid]

5. take a lookie here!

http://www.nps.gov/manz/hrs/hrs14c.htm

Tiniest of snippits:

Whereas the registration program in the relocation centers had been implemented hastily amid confusion and turmoil, planning for the segregation program "was complete and practical." A "Manual of Evacuee Transfer Operations" was prepared by the WRA Solicitor's Office which set forth "a uniform conception of objectives and procedures, outlining a flexible plan of organization of the work entailed at the projects and providing the means of uniformity in essential detail while allowing latitude in project organization to accommodate special circumstances." The procedures "recognized the need of a well-informed staff and a well-informed resident population."

[laylah]

2. Oh Fooj!

What a wonderful gesture...to donate it for historys' sake! :hug:

What a horrible time in the history of our country. May it never happen again. But then, ANYTHING is possible with the facist pigs from hell that have taken over our country.

Jenn

[zanne]

4. Wow. That's a real piece of history you have there.

I love things like that. Did you know his uncle?

[fooj]

11. yes. He was a wonderfully articulate man. My hubby's favorite uncle.

Peace.

[Coexist]

40. that is awesome, fooj

It is a shameful time in our history (one of many).

Why do we never learn from our mistakes?!

[Straight Shooter]

7. Ann Coulter would like to purchase it as a how-to manual, I'm sure.

I can't for the life of me comprehend what goes through the mind of people who are willing to incarcerate ordinary people who have been their friends and neighbors. This is why when people scoff, "It can't happen here," I can look at them and scoff back, "It has happened here."

Thanks for sharing this. We must never forget how low Americans are capable of stooping, especially in today's atmosphere.

[eggman67]

20. I think we also should remember

WHO it was that did it and recognize that even the best among us can go horribly wrong.

[fooj]

24. Amen.

Peace.

[Straight Shooter]

45. "Even the best among us can go horribly wrong."

So it's not okay for me to fantasize about interment camps for fweepers? Damn. The food would be good, just like at Gitmo. Besides, their hero and savior would be there with them. ;)

[fooj]

53. Treasonous behavior can result in incarceration...

Keep fantasizing. ;-)

Peace.

[Maru Kitteh]

63. Good food, tropical climate - it's better than the media would make it

sound. (I don't know if this is really, technically sarcasm - you decide) You know a lot of those freepers never had a tropical climate and fruits and vegetables before. It'll be good for them.

[leftofthedial]

8. liberal internment camps coming soon

to a fascist state near you

[CornField]

9. fooj, please ask your historian friend if you (or she) could scan it

I've read some text from those type booklets, but I'd really like to see it. (I don't know why but I do like to see things in their original context and layout -- it somehow means more than just the reproduced text.)

ETA -- Excellent find! Congratulations & thanks for donating it to the historical society.

[fleabert]

10. please share more of what is in the book, I have a lot of interest

in that event in our history as well. My husbands family lived in Crystal City TX during the sixties and the schools were segregated. The white kids went to classes in a lovely brick building, fully equipped with all the modern conveniences of the times, and the brown kids went to class in the buildings that had formerly housed the Japanese during their internment during WWII.

There were other ties as well, the immigrant workers who lived there during the fall and winter travelled to Oregon in the spring and summer and worked on farms owned by the Japanese, some of whom had that land siezed, only to have the local farmers buy it from the government cheap and GAVE it back when they were released. Amazing stories really. Some of the immigrant farm workers also brought food and other things to the Japanese farmers while they were held in the camps. Really amazing how these two disparate groups came together from so far away.

[proud patriot]

12. Thanks for donating to the community

I hope it is not forgotten

[Sequoia]

13. What were some of the instructions? What a great find.

[fooj]

25. I'm hoping to have it scanned and up by the end of the weekend.

I'll repost this thread when I can get it all together.

peace.

[radio4progressives]

48. THANK YOU!!!

:applause:

[Pachamama]

67. Fooj - please do scan it and make it available...I think this is impt

reading for all...Most of us know these types of manuals from our US Govt' existed, but never have had the opportunity to actually see them or read them....

[Horse with no Name]

14. Please allow me to be cynical for a minute fooj

I think it is wonderful you want to donate it.
However, America is going to hit some hard times in the next months and years.
I would hang on to this important piece of history so that you make sure it will be preserved and not sanitized.
These criminals must go first.
I don't trust them with my government and I most assuredly don't trust them with historical proof of the atrocities of our government.
You know--we were supposed to learn from past mistakes. Obviously we didn't.

[druidity33]

54. yes...

good thing she's going to digitize the document. Archive and reproduce, repeat. Archive and reproduce.

[preciousdove]

62. Pubs have been trying to gut Historical Societies for years

Starting with Reagan. Give a thank you to the genealogists who were responsible of many stopped purges of history in many, many places since then. They even went to a land fill in one community to save what the new 'pub historical head had thrown out.

This was deliberate. The purges were done without the knowledge of even some staff often at night. Makes you really wonder about some Americans.

[Thtwudbeme]

15. And can you believe that Right Wing weirdo woman

For the life of God, I can't remember her name---she is crazier than Anne Coulter---wants that crap to come back?

My God---what an ugly thing-

Good for you for the museum donation!

[liberalhistorian]

28. Could you be referring to

Michelle Malkin? She's certainly as crazy as, if not even more foaming-at-the-mouth crazy, than Ann the Man Coulter. And what's really sad is that she, herself, is Asian.

[fooj]

31. You know what? I've always wondered what was up with that!

Peace.

[liberalhistorian]

35. Me, too! And I've never

been able to come up with a satisfactory answer. Except that she wants to "fit in" so badly that she renounces her heritage and becomes a "good old boy?"

[RazzleDazzle]

69. In a nutshell, yes

Whenever members of any minority or repressed group (e.g., women) side with the patriarchy, it's because:

* they have internalized the oppression of the dominant culture and joined in, in a bout of self-hatred

* they are "protecting" themselves against the type of oppression they witness around them (or so they think); they are terrified (and for good reason, trouble is they've chosen a strategy that is a losing one. Their complicity will never make them truly safe.)

* they have authoritarian tendencies to start with -- and want strong (VERY strong) "leaders" to follow, they DON'T want to think for themselves but want to be told what to think and what to do (think fundamentalist churches), and some want to be authoritarians themselves in the service of those strong leaders, in the proper place in the hierarchy. Not nice people; fascist-leaning by nature.

I don't know which or these or what combination may apply, or even if there are also other explanations, but these are some typical psychological components.

Oh, I forgot one: SOCIOPATHS. They're sociopaths/psychopaths. Nothing bothers thems except when THEY don't get exactly what they want. No conscience, no compassion, no genuine feelings for others. Narcissism to a nasty extreme. For a kinder, gentler version, think Newt Gingrich. For a more muscular fascist sort of version, think Tom DeLay. Or George W. Bush, of course.

[applegrove]

16. Yes. This is all so important. We are not taught enough about the

horrible way American (Canadians) of Asian descent have been treated. And what diversity and freedom mean to them - now that they have had it in the latter half of the twentieth century.

FYI

In Canada, Neocons used the issue of federal compensation to those interred to make gains in the Chinese neighbourhoods & churches.

We need to be supportive and acknowledge the histories of us all - and not put anything on the back burner.

[DenaliDemocrat]

17. Camp Amache

Down by Grenada in southeastern Colorado. There is some interesting history there, but very little of it is left.

[fed-up]

18. Suggest the museum write up a press release for the document

To sort of give a history/background to their readers of what really happened during WWII.

I grew up near Tanforan Shopping Center (formerly Tanforan Race Track), San Bruno, CA which was an internment camp during the war. Of course this was NEVER taught or mentioned at school. My mother is the one that told us about it.

Here is a link to the SF Museum website for those that want to learn more, there are links to a ton of newspaper articles from that time period:

http://www.sfmuseum.org/war/evactxt.html

[wryter2000]

19. Wow

What a find. I hope it gets saved properly and made available to regular people so they can see the reality of it.

[aquart]

23. There's an opposite to that which I owned once.

It won't make what happened here any less awful, but might give you more hope for what we are. After my father died, I came across a guide book put out by the army for our soldiers who were occupying Japan. It was so careful to remind our guys that the Japanese people had no say in their government, that the people who did have a say were being put on trial, and then it gave cultural information and instructions on how to behave with respect to the people of the conquered nation. It also stated plainly that we were there ONLY to get a democratic government up and running and then outta there.

This was after the war, after the atrocities and the endless graves. I was so proud of us when I read that. Sure, we were disgusting in the fear and panic after Pearl, but we were amazing in victory. THAT's the legacy we grew up with, which Bush is trashing now. We don't feel like winners anymore and we are bad losers.

But we have it in us, as well, to be the people who wrote that guide book and followed it.

I've always been sorry I let that guide go in the books we sold.

[Gregorian]

27. Wow. Thanks for sharing that.

Like a little ray of light. Every bit helps. And it puts perspective on things.

[fooj]

30. Thanks for sharing that.

Peace.

[EFerrari]

33. Where did you find a 6'1" Asian?

:silly:

Dear fooj, what an amazing find! And what a cascade of emotion that must be.

You are one amazing lady.

:hug:

[fooj]

36. My secret. LOL!

:hi:

[EFerrari]

37. Darn!

:rofl:

[sellitman]

34. Here is an interesting link about Poston's camp

http://www.postonproject.org/default.htm

[Generic Other]

38. I would like to make Michelle Malkin eat it

Sorry, fooj, but that booklet gave me a chill of horror. Even though I wasn't alive when the evacuations happened, I am Japanese American, and am much more sensitive about those days than my mom's generation--the Nisei.

That book reminds me of the reaction I had when some one once brought me some chunks of pavement from Manzanar. Anger.

And once when I was going through newspaper reels at the library I found a full page ad with the names of every Japanese business in town printed the Christmas after Pearl Harbor. It had a flag and a declaration of loyalty. By February, they would be giving the FBI all their radios, cameras, guns, Japanese books, samurai swords, binoculars, etc. In Washington state where I live, the whole Japanese community went to Camp Harmony a makeshift jail in the pig barn at the county fairgrounds, and then were sent on to a Camp Minidoka, in Idaho. Some of their non-Japanese friends and neighbors came to say goodbye standing outside the chain link fences. It was unspeakably wrong.

I am always surprised at how emotional I feel about it. I always wonder what I would have done in their shoes. Would I have meekly accepted or what? Gotten myself killed? It's good not to forget. But thinking about it always leaves me a little anxious. Too many hard questions.

I hope you are able to scan the booklet.

[fooj]

41. Actually...it's not a booklet. They are papers that I found

tucked away in a book.

I've always been amazed at the fact that my in laws show no outward anomosity about this injustice. It's very rarely even brought up.

I'm Italian American and you know what? I experienced that same "chill of horror"...
I think that it's important to document historical injustices. You and I can only hope that the grievous mistakes of the past are not made ever again!

Take care. :hug:

peace.

[Generic Other]

50. I assume every family got the instructions

like a badge of shame. It's so important to preserve such official records, witness to the ease in which our freedoms can be lost. We really need to make sure that something equally as frightening doesn't happen to all of us under a * executive order.

[fooj]

55. Exactly.

Peace.

[druidity33]

56. maybe no need to scan...

If you have a digital camera (3MP or more) and a tripod. You can just photograph the document (natural light is best) and crop as needed. Use the self timer so the camera doesn't shake when you press the shutter button. It's the cheapo scan, but i've used it successfully on documents before... nikons and canons often have a "copy" mode that is meant for this. Good luck... hopefully these papers only describe the past... not our future.

[PA Democrat]

39. Oh fooj, I also would be grateful if you could share some of the contents

As a high school student, I did a research paper on the Supreme Court case, Korematsu V. United States, which was the result of a lawsuit initiated by Fred Korematsu, an American citizen who was interred during World War II. It was my first eye opening look at the horrible things that can happen when we are not vigilant in defending the civil rights of all Americans.

[fooj]

42. I'll do my best. Anything to help out a high school student...

that's my job! I'm a high school teacher!

Peace.

[PA Democrat]

51. Sorry, I shouldn't mislead you about my age

I wrote that paper 30 years ago, and it was a great history teacher who suggested the topic. The research I did left a lasting impression on me.

[fooj]

52. It's cool. I'll STILL see what I can do.

Peace.

[fooj]

43. Another snippet...

Prohibited articles referred to include such articles as ammunition, barrels, boxes (except containing personal apparrel), chinaware, cradles and cribs (except those that are collapsible), crates, dangerous articles, firearms, foodstuff, fragile articles contained in baggage, fragile recepticles marked fragile, matches, money, valuable papers, perishable articles, phonograph records. Books and radios cannot be checked.

In summary, be sure that you

1. Utilize your checkable baggage privileges
2. Properly pack each piece of baggage
3. Do not send prohibited articles
4. Fill out all baggage applications before leaving.

*************************************************************

Peace.

[eppur_se_muova]

44. Sounds like a real find, kudos for recognizing its historical value.

I doubt many of the people on this thread don't know about it, but I'd like to mention Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's autobiographical "Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment". Her husband, James D. Houston, is coauthor.

This may have been related to a documentary on PBS some years ago, IIRC.

[radio4progressives]

46. can you digitize some of it and convert to pdf file upload so we can read

and see the what it looks like? then post link here?

I'd love to just see images of it, and read some of the text ..

[mikelewis]

47. Can you scan it and post it online?

Nice find btw

[fooj]

49. I'm going to scan the documents this weekend and post them here.

Peace.

[mom cat]

59. Thanks fooj. This is something that we all need to remember.

[hootinholler]

58. Please don't scan it, photgraph it...

Please don't handle it with bare skin, use cotton gloves.

Especially if it's in pristine condition.

Great find! I commend you for placing it in a museum rather than selling it. Have it appraised for tax purposes.

-Hoot

[Maru Kitteh]

64. Unless it is in very fragile condition scanning is not likely to damage it

by any noteworthy degree. The cotton glove recommendation is very good advice though, so is the appraisal for the tax deduction.

To the OP:
Do also know that you can LOAN the museum this document, even indefinitely. There are advantages and reasons why people do this. If the museum changes direction and decides it doesn't want to display your documents anymore you can get them back instead of them sitting in a box somewhere in the basement. You can pass them on to your children/relatives as they were passed to you and let them decide their legacy. I have heard of gifts treated somewhat poorly by institutions before in displays for the sake of drama or interest.

[Art_from_Ark]

65. I agree-- See about LOANING the document to the museum

I've donated things to museums only to find that after a certain length of time, the items were removed and sent to God-knows-where, never to return to the public eye. I would suggest that you loan your document to the museum, but stipulate that once the item goes off display, it is returned to you or your family.

[Wordie]

60. Thanks for this fooj, and for the great idea of donating it, to share it

with others and later generations. I remember, in high school also, reading a book about the camps, and the tremendous hardships the Japanese suffered. It affected me deeply, and so I'm glad this precious record will be preserved.

I'm looking forward to seeing those scans...

[JohnnyRingo]

61. If it's only one page, maybe you can scan it and upload to Photobucket

That'd be real cool to see on DU.
If you can, please make a new post with it.

It's wonderful of you to share your artifact, I believe we record and review history to avoid pitfalls of the past.

[smoogatz]

66. It may be happening again.

http://www.halliburton.com/default/main/halliburton/eng/news/source_files/news.jsp?newsurl=/default/main/halliburton/eng/news/source_files/press_release/2006/kbrnws_012406.html


Halliburton subsidiary KBR awarded $385 million contract to build "Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilties" (prison camps) by DHS, to be used in the event of an "emergency."

[Mika]

68. Here's an internment instruction poster

[Wordie]

70. Any luck on getting the docs scanned, fooj? Will you post to this thread,

or a separate one?

And just FYI (for everyone), did you see this LBN thread, posted just a few hours after this one?
NYT: KBR -$385 million for building temporary US detention centers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2085433

It could happen again. :(