The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, provoked an external reaction by the United States government against the Imperial Government of Japan and an internal response by American authorities against persons of Japanese ancestry, including Japanese American citizens.

The American declaration of war against Japan following Pearl Harbor was soon followed by a presidential declaration of exclusion against Japanese Americans residing on the country's west coast. These Americans were collectively declared a potential threat to national security during World War II (WWII), evacuated from the west coast, and sent to concentration camps. Despite being reviled and ostracized during this period in American history, Japanese Americans persevered and were eventually honored with a national memorial in Washington, DC, at the beginning of the 21st century. The Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During WWII is a unique, dual-purpose national memorial that tells the story of a grievously mistreated group of people but also of a nation attempting to acknowledge and make amends for the injustice perpetrated against its citizens. The Memorial also demonstrates the malleability of the American collective memory, evolving from a view of Japanese Americans as treacherous and untrustworthy to one now of a heroic and patriotic group that merited a national memorial. As such, the Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism highlights the power of monuments to honor and provide healing and be redemptive.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 effectively ended Chinese immigration resulting in a large influx of Japanese immigrants in the western portion of the United States. U.S. Census figures indicated an exponential increase from 2,039 Japanese arrivals in 1890 to 110,010 in 1920. This mass migration prompted a strong reaction from a West Coast American populace again taken aback by another large wave of Asian immigrants. As Japanese immigrants replaced the Chinese as cheap labor, they were racialized and vilified, with scholar Kristin Has stating the anti-Asian mood was best summed by San Francisco Mayor James Phelan, who said that "[Japanese immigrants] must be excluded because they are non-assimilable; they are a permanently foreign element…in time of trial they will not fight for Uncle Sam, but betray him to the enemy." This backlash led to a series of actions designed to limit immigration and the owning or leasing land for those already here.

These events helped set the stage for a confluence of events that would lead to the complete marginalization of Japanese Americans and the egregious violation of their civil rights by a federal government that cast aside constitutional norms following the surprise-attack bombing of Pearl Harbor. War hysteria and fears of domestic espionage or sabotage magnified anti-Japanese sentiment and prompted politicians to request federal action against a perceived domestic Japanese threat. Daniels notes that California Attorney General (and future Supreme Court Justice) Earl Warren warned that the Japanese situation in California was the "Achilles heel of the entire civilian defense effort." At the same time, the West Coast congressional delegation urged the removal of "all persons of Japanese lineage, aliens and citizens alike, from the strategic areas of California, Oregon and Washington." The political pressure urged President Roosevelt to sign Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which authorized the removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast.

The United States government ended up forcibly removing and incarcerating approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry in ten isolated internment camps scattered throughout the country. Individuals had to fire-sell or simply abandon their personal belongings, property, and businesses, with some families being separated and sent to different camps. Most were placed in minimal, shared living quarters, usually barracks, with no privacy. Internee Bill Hosokawa described the living arrangements as "rude, crowded, uncomfortable chicken coops that passed for residential quarters" and an "appalling experience of confinement behind barbed wire in a concentration camp."

Despite the U.S. government classifying Japanese individuals as enemy aliens, it did not preclude willing Japanese-Americans from fighting for the United States in the war. In 1943, the War Department authorized the formation of the all-Japanese 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), composed of Japanese American volunteers, which became the most decorated military unit, for its size and length of service, in American military history. Additionally, a select group of Japanese Americans formed to serve as translators for the Military Intelligence Service in the Asian theater, where they would monitor enemy communications, translate captured Imperial Japanese military documents and interrogate captured soldiers. The distinguished Japanese American military service during World War II would play an essential role in the eventual rehabilitation of the Japanese American community during the postwar years.

After the war, Japanese Americans worked to rebuild their shattered economic lives, pursue educational opportunities, and reintegrate themselves back into American society. In the late 1960s and 1970s, during the social turmoil generated by the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement, the next generation of Japanese Americans began to assert themselves. A key milestone in the redress came to fruition on July 31, 1980, when President Jimmy Carter signed the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) Act into law. The empowered Commission extensively reviewed government documents pertaining to the Japanese internment decision and heard the wrenching testimonies of many incarcerated Japanese Americans. In December 1982, the CWRIC released a 467-page report titled Personal Justice Denied. It concluded that "Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military necessity….The broad historical causes which shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership…A grave injustice was done to American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who….were excluded, removed and detained by the United States during World War II." Six months later, the CWRIC recommended that the United States Congress and President offer a national apology to the interned Japanese Americans and compensation of $20,000 to each surviving evacuee and internee. These recommendations were not official until President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The Act, and the subsequent appropriation authorizing redress payments, marked an important step in the rehabilitation and redemption of Japanese Americans within American society.

Go For Broke National Veterans Association, a Japanese American WWII veterans' group, organized the effort to secure a national memorial on federal land following the passage of the Civil Liberties Act. They enlisted the help of Japanese American politicians, most notably WWII veteran Senator Daniel Inouye and former internee Congressman Norman Mineta, to honor the veterans that fought in the war. However, the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (NCMAC) discouraged the proposal to erect a strictly military monument, stating that future commemorative works should demonstrate the lasting national significance of the subject involved. To address the concerns of the NCMAC, the federal representatives revised their proposal from being a purely military celebration of service to being a cautionary tale, "a grave reminder of what we are capable of in times of crisis." NCMAC accepted the revised proposal that "shifted from a single military focus to one embracing the larger events surrounding the Japanese American people as a whole."

The Memorial, designed by architect Davis Buckley and dedicated on November 9, 2000, has a circular walkway bordered by walls containing the names of the incarceration camps and the number of people confined there. Next, visitors see a wall of honor that includes the names of the approximately 800 Japanese American soldiers who died during World War II. The centerpiece of the Memorial is a sculpture of two cranes entangled in barbed wire, symbolizing the plight of the incarcerated Japanese Americans. The space also contains a large reflecting pool containing five boulders, representing the number of generations of Japanese Americans alive at the time of signing of the Civil Liberties Act.

The Memorial serves the dual purpose of commemorating the sacrifice of incarcerated Japanese American citizens while also honoring the ultimate sacrifice of Japanese American soldiers who served despite the discriminatory actions of the American government. It highlights the fortitude and loyalty of the Japanese American citizenry by equating their sacrifices with heroism and patriotism. Moreover, the Memorial also recognizes a nation attempting to make amends for its unjust treatment of Japanese Americans during the war. Upon arriving, visitors read Ronald Reagan's inscribed words, spoken during the signing of the Civil Liberties Act, "Here we admit a wrong. Here we affirm our commitment to equal justice under the law." This admission of national guilt is also redemptive, for it demonstrates the nation's ability and willingness to recognize and atone for its sins and to reaffirm its commitment to constitutional ideals. Congressman and former internee Robert Matsui's inscription reinforces this point by stating, "Our actions are essential for giving credibility to our constitutional system and reinforcing our tradition of justice."

(Edited by Brad Poss and Laura Bailey)

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In 1993, the United States Congress passed legislation authorizing the American Battle Monuments Commission (AMBC) to design, construct, and raise the funds necessary for a national World War II Memorial in Washington DC. The National World War II Memorial has served as a beacon of remembrance for the World War II generation since its dedication but falls short in recognizing the contributions of individuals, especially minorities.

The site's dedication for the WWII Memorial by former President Bill Clinton and World War II veteran Roger Durbin occurred on November 11, 1995. By the summer of 1998, the AMBC raised more than $195 million for the construction of the monument with the help of a small group of high-profile individuals, including senator Bob Dole, actor Tom Hanks, and the founder and CEO of Federal Express, Fred Smith. Construction for the monument began in September 2001 following the approval of Austrian-American Architect Friedrich St. Florian's design. The monument's construction was completed in April 2004 and was dedicated one month later by President George W. Bush. Since its initial completion, it has not undergone any further construction or renovations.

The large size of the monument's plaza exudes a sense of significance with the off-white stonework similar to the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and the framing of the Reflecting Pool. Robert Uth notes that the similarity of the design of the National World War II Memorial with the other monuments at the National Mall contributes to its historical significance by placing it amongst the other "important chapters in the American experience."

In the words of John S. D. Eisenhower, the National World War II Memorial design was to preserve "the broadest significance of the war experience to all Americans." The circular shape of the plaza signifies the eternal memory of the men and women that died during the war. The vertical pillars of the fifty states and territories of the United States provide a sense of victory as they tower over those that are standing in the central plaza. The staggering number of stars in the Commemorative Area (western wall), representing the 405,399 fallen soldiers, brings forth the scale of the American lives lost during the war. The 24 bas reliefs on the eastern end of the memorial grounds depict various moments during the war that contributed to the overall success of the Allied powers. Finally, as noted by Grooms, the monument's grounds contain dirt from the fourteen overseas American World War II burial grounds operated by the AMBC.

World War II veterans commonly mention how there is not a day that passes in which they do not think of their friends and comrades from the war. An opportunity to share in that remembrance is what the monument provides to the collective memory of the war. While this monument is a generally positive contribution to the collective memory of the World War II generation, its overall design fails to differentiate the soldiers and their individual experiences and journeys fully. For example, many minorities joined the American war effort as a means of social progression and to escape racial discrimination. But the contents of the memorial do not address this historical discourse. Instead, the memories of these groups cluster together, to only be remembered by their deaths.

Of the 24 bas-relief panels along either side of the ceremonial entrance, only two panels refer to a specific minority group of soldiers: women. Both the "Women in Military" and "Rosie the Riveter/ Aircraft Construction" panels are on the north side of the ceremonial entrance. The panels are an artistic representation of the contribution of women, both domestically and abroad, without descriptions or explanations. There is no mention of the social restrictions that drove women to join the war effort. In an interview for the "Voices of WWII," Elizabeth McIntosh recalls gratefully accepting a job as an OSS Officer for the Army, stating that "They [U.S. officials] asked me if I would go overseas. That was my idea of heaven because I didn't want to stick around watching [the war]."

According to the official United States Army website, "The selfless sacrifice of these brave women ushered in new economic and social changes that would forever alter the role of women in American society." One of the monument's two bas reliefs depicts Rosie the Riveter but does not expand on how important she was as a cultural figure. There is no explanation for how she was a beacon for women to join the workforce in factories and mills during a time when it was unheard of for women to have such jobs. There is no mention of women's importance in picking up the slack while men were overseas fighting the war.

In addition to institutionalized sexism, the Second World War occurred during racism in American society and policy-making, such as Jim Crow laws. During the war, minority soldiers served in segregated units. Battling racism at home by fighting abroad was a common tactic for those that sought social progression. In African-American communities, for example, this was referred to as the "Double V Campaign." The progress toward racial equality was slow, difficult, and sometimes tragic. When the war ended and the soldiers returned home, most minority soldiers did not receive the same warm welcome from the general public and were often mistreated or worse. In 1946, Army Sergeant Isaac Woodard Jr. was beaten and permanently blinded by a South Carolina Sheriff while exiting a bus. As noted by Waxman, Woodard returned home in his Army uniform from fighting overseas.

In an interview with the Friends of the National World War II Memorial, World War II veteran, Japanese-American Army Technician Terry Shima of the 442nd regiment, a fighting unit composed of American soldiers of Japanese descent, recalled Japanese-American soldiers not "being accepted as Americans" by the American public. Although Shima considered himself lucky to be from Hawai'i, where his family did not experience the Japanese internment camps, he shared that the United States government disowned the 442nd, changing their draft classification from 1A, which meant the unit was fit for military duty to 4C, meaning "Alien, unfit for military duty" even though every member of his regiment was a legal U.S. citizen. "We had a mission," he said, "to go into combat and prove our loyalty."

Friedrich St. Florian designed the National World War II Memorial to "tell the world there was a generation of Americans, who through their gallantry and courage and conviction truly changed the course of world history, and that we must remember them." Stories like Isaac Woodard's, Terry Shima's, Elizabeth McIntosh's, and the thousands of other soldiers looking for social progression are not visible throughout this monument. It eliminates their individuality and marks them in history as soldiers, not as people. And while the memorial does an excellent job of capturing the importance and scale of this moment in American history while creating a positive image of those that served, it fails to recognize the contributions of minority soldiers that expanded beyond the battlefield. While highlighting and celebrating the sacrifices of American World War II veterans, the National World War II Memorial falls short in recognizing the individuality of these soldiers as people. It disregards the history of discrimination that minority servicemen and women faced during and following the Second World War.

(edited by Brad Poss and Laura Bailey)

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