Who Are The Resisters of Conscience?
by Sus Satow With the commentary (March 1, 2002) by “JACL Resisters Ceremony Committee” co-chairs Andy Noguchi and Alan Teruya on the forthcoming May 11 ceremony honoring and apologizing to the Japanese American draft resisters of World War II, I felt compelled to respond, since many of the passages in the commentary appeared misleading or not telling the whole story. With no intent to be repetitious, my comments are designed to straighten the records on some of the issues. Through innovative writing or misinterpreting concepts as to exactly what transpired in the internment camps, the Resisters’ supporters in today’s writing convey the Resisters image in camp as one of benign innocence or principled in their action to “do the right thing.” They are called “Resisters of Conscience,” “Principled Americans,” “Patriotic Americans.” We seniors have witnessed and often learned otherwise. With the passage of time and forgotten by today’s generation, is how some Resisters intimidated, threate
