WWII Draft Dodgers among Japanese Americans

Following the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, allowing the forced relocation of individuals deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast. This policy, fueled by widespread anti-Japanese sentiment, led to the internment of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans, including first-generation immigrants (Issei) and their U.S.-born children (Nisei), in remote camps across states such as California, Arizona, Wyoming, and Colorado.

Initially, Japanese Americans were barred from military service. However, by 1944, the United States involvement in the war created a demand for soldiers. Despite the injustice they faced, nearly 33,000 Japanese Americans enlisted, forming the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, one of the most decorated units in U.S. Army history. The stories of heroes like Daniel Inouye are well-known, but the experiences of those who resisted the draft are less recognized.

Several hundred Nisei, led by Frank Emi and Kiyoshi Okamoto at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming, refused to report for military service until their citizenship status was clarified. Initially, Emi and others accepted internment with the resignation expressed in the Japanese phrase Shikata ga nai (it cannot be helped). Yet years of harsh conditions and armed confinement fueled resentment. When draft notices arrived in 1944, Emi declared, We could either tuck our tails between our legs like a beaten dog or stand up like free men, imbued with American ideals, and fight for justice.

Emi and Okamoto organized the Fair Play Committee, advocating for the constitutional rights of interned Nisei. The group, numbering several hundred, refused military induction while their families remained confined in barracks and horse stables. Early government questionnaires asking about willingness to serve and allegiance to the U.S. angered Emi, who instructed others to respond cautiously, earning the label no-no boys. Overall, around 300 men across ten camps resisted, with roughly one in nine at Heart Mountain refusing the draft.

Emi and Okamoto cited constitutional protections, posting bulletins that quoted the Bill of Rights and Abraham Lincoln. Their statement emphasized civil disobedience in response to the denial of rights, concluding that drafting them from internment camps was unjust, unconstitutional, and a violation of fundamental principles. They formally refused to attend physical examinations or induction, challenging the legality of their treatment.

Only one journalist, James Omura of the Rocky Shimpo, covered the protests and arrests. On June 12, 1944, 63 Heart Mountain resisters were tried for draft evasion, with more following later. All were convicted and sentenced to three years in federal prison, without a Supreme Court hearing. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned the convictions of seven Fair Play Committee leaders, recognizing civil disobedience as a defense. Omura was also acquitted of charges related to counseling draft evasion, citing First Amendment protections.

Remaining prisoners were gradually released, with many freed by the Christmas of 1947 under President Trumans proclamation pardoning those convicted under the Selective Training and Service Act. Resistance, however, caused divisions within the Japanese American community, with some veterans viewing it as dishonorable. Despite criticism, Emi and his peers remained steadfast, committed to principle and justice.

Author: Harper Simmons