Star Trek’s George Takei Recalls World War II Internment

Actor George Takei, who played the role of helm officer Sulu in the original television series, Star Trek. (AP)

Three months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which led to the forced evacuation of some 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans from the West Coast.

Though the majority of them were American citizens, they were forced to leave most of their possessions behind and sent first to hastily assembled centers at places like the Santa Anita Race Track, and eventually to internment camps, where they lived in barracks behind barbed wire, guarded by armed sentries.

One of those who was sent there with his family was five-year-old George Takei, now known for his role as Hikaru Sulu of the television and film series “Star Trek.”

Takei remembers being forced to board a bus and leave his childhood home, and watching his neighbors wait around until his family was gone to loot their belongings. They spent three months at a temporary camp, and then they were moved to a camp in Arkansas.

“My father told me that we were going on a long vacation to a place called Arkansas, and that sounded exotic to me. But when we were put on a train with other Japanese Americans, it was a grueling, long long trip,” Takei told Here & Now‘s Robin Young.

Takei said that once his family got to the internment camp, he got used to the way of life there.

“I remember the barbed wire fence that we were told not to go near. And I remember the sentry towers that had machine guns pointed at us. And I remember the search light that followed me when I made the night runs from our barrack to the latrine,” he said. “But a child is an amazingly adaptable person. All that became normality for me.”

Takei said he feels it’s important to continue to remind not only Japanese-Americans but all Americans of what happened during World War II, a time when “the government assumed just because we are of Japanese ancestry, there’s an inborn loyalty to the Emperor” of Japan.

Archive Of American Television: George Takei Extended Video Interview
Here & Now: World War II Archaeology
Slate: Slideshow Of Internment Camps

Guest:

George Takei, Star Trek actor

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

Anonymous

Which was worse, the internment or working with William Shatner?
Anonymous

Oh myy. I’m looking forward to seeing Allegiance on Broadway.
http://twitter.com/Dave_Eger Dave Eger

But without that loyalty oath, Joseph Heller wouldn’t have had as much material for Catch-22.
Tom

Yet another discussion of internment camps that makes no mention of Japanese atrocities. This consistent omission gives the public no sense of perspective and is a veiled example of American Exceptionalism.

The underlying assumption that is made: Americans somehow “know better” and should be held to a higher standard. To continue flagellating ourselves for comparatively mild, even negligible human rights abuse (don’t get me wrong, it is a human rights abuse) contributes to public ignorance of the whole story. Most people have no knowledge of baton death marches and the forgotten holocausts in Asia.
- Tom
  
  *Bataan death march – yes it is true that I never actually knew that “Bataan” was a place. Embarrassing, but it kind of proves my point.
  - JJF
    
    Why mention Japanese atrocities when the majority of those interned were American citizens, some for many generations? That is quite different from the Japanese death camps because of who the victims were, innocent civilians presumed guilty by reason of race by their own government.
    
    Robert Clary, the actor who portrayed Cpl. LeBeau in Hogan’s Heros, was asked why he willingly played a role as a prisoner of war when he was the only member of his family to survive the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps during WWII. He stated, quite clearly, that prisoner of war camps and death camps were worlds apart, run by different organizations (Luftwaffe vs. the SS) and different sets of rules. What you suggest is the same apples & oranges issue. The land of the free and the home of the brave should have known better than to intern its own citizens, not because of our so-called exceptionalism, but because we have a constitution that clearly states through the 5th, 6th and 14th amendments that the presumption of innocence until guilt is proven is paramount. This is called the rule of law, something the Japanese war government of the 1930s & 1940s clearly did not have.
Anne Shiraishi

Really enjoyed his talk on the Japanese-American experience during WWII… this topic has not been explored nearly enough in our common rhetoric.
http://www.facebook.com/jimhfoster Jim Foster

Surely the internment of loyal Japanese Americans during World War II has to rank as one of the most sordid events in our history, perhaps just behind slavery. Those in our day who castigate all Muslims as terrorists should remember this horrible episode.
Jatennant1

I spent the majority of my life being prejudiced against the Japeneese because of Pearl Harbor until my youngest daughter filled me in on more history than I had learned in school. I really admire my Japeneese friends now.
Harrykarmun

i am an eskimo living in north pole alaska.my parents told me that the japanese americans living in deering alaska,just south of kotzebue,were sent to idaho during ww2.their descendants are intermarried with eskimos in northwest alaska
Ejparent

Many Japanese in California held dual citizenship in Japan and also the U.S. in fact many
went back to Japan to fight on there side. The big fear was there loyalty to Japan and there spying on military facilities in the California and Hawaii area. The hatred for Japanese also had to do with there interment for there own protection!
- Littlestripes
  
  their/there/they’re — please learn them.
  
  Also, their own protection? Really? That’s like when people rationalize slavery. Awful.
- Littlestripes
  
  Oh, and sources. Do you have any to back up your claims?
- Anonymous
  
  You actually just repeated exactly what George Takei said – the assumption that people of certain ancestry will share a deep-seeded loyalty to the country of their ethnic origin. It’s a racist and xenophobic assumption, loaded with a ton of misinformation. How many people are “many Japanese” that held dual citizenship? How many are “many that returned to fight on there (sic) side”? If you’re going to cite racist assumptions, I’d suggest having some data on your side.
  
  Finally, the internment for their own protection is maybe the most inane suggestion I have ever heard. Protection from what, exactly? Equal education? Freedom of movement and assembly? Basic human rights? The rights guaranteed to them as citizens, permanent residents, and resident aliens in the United States? Protecting them from having the property and materials that they purchase, paid for, and took care of?
  
  What, exactly, were we protecting Japanese and Japanese-Americans FROM?
- Angelzenith
  
  Your comment is an example of the ignorance that led to the interment in the first place. get your facts straight.
- JJF
  
  Actually, US immigration law in the 1940s explicitly forbade holding dual citizenship. Also, there is not one recorded, evidence-supported instance of any Japanese-American surrendering their citizenship and joining the Japanese military.
McMomAnnon

Has anyone seen the Japanese miniseries from TBS-TV called “Japanese Americans”, sponsored by Toyota & Panasonic? Part of it was filmed near my home in eastern Washington State. See http://www.tbs.co.jp/japanese-americans/ It is internment from the internee viewpoint … very interesting!!!
- McMomAnnon
  
  Sorry, full title is “99-nen no Ai~Japanese Americans” (99-years of love~Japanese Americans) miniseries was shown on 5 consecutive nights in Japan during Nov. 2010 by TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System). Begins with young man leaving Japan during a time of famine and goes through his family experiences during WW2 in U.S.A. and Japan and ends in 2010. I see some episode postings on youtube and other online sources. Some are subtitled in English.
Kreino

As a Sansei (third-generation Japanese-American), I echo what was mentioned during your program; that when I was a kid, it was inspiring to see individuals such as Mr. Takei portray a character that wasn’t the typical archetype of asian roles up to that point.

My father’s family was interned at Tule Lake, as was, I think, the Takei Family. Unfortunately, my dad didn’t speak about his experience. However, after he died in the 1980s, we were given a series of letters that he wrote his family in 1942 after he was released from Tule Lake and allowed to attend a Quaker college in Pennsylvania after being sponsored by the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council. In one of these letters dated December, 1942, he recounts the events surrounding internment and conveys his thoughts about its meaning and potential longer-term ramifications for the Japanese-American community. In another letter, he expressed how he hoped that future generations of Japanese-Americans would not become embittered by the experience and continue to work towards making a better country. When I teach our daughter about internment, I tell her to adhere to this message as well. I have also implored her not forget about the sacrifices that earlier generations: the isseis (first generation) who came to the U.S. seeking a better life, who, at a time when they thought they had achieved some semblance of socioeconomic stability, lost nearly everything as a result of internment; the all-Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team who, in too many cases, made the ultimate sacrifice to demonstrate the loyalty of the entire Japanese-American community.
Patty Taylor Dutcher

One of my earliest memories was when my father took me out to Santa Anita racetrack and pointed out where the Japanese Americans were living. There were children of all ages (I was not quite 3) walking around with their parents behind barbed wire. He also said to never tell anyone in the family about our visit because they would get mad since our country was in a war with Japan. All I knew about war was that my mother’s cousins all wore uniforms and were far away.�
I remember a little girl named Haruko who lived near my grandparents and she had to go away to a camp, too. Years later I asked her about it and she said that her family didn’t talk about it.�
My (first) father in law told me about how there were many Japanese farmers in the Willamette Valley whose land was lost because they were taken away and couldn’t pay the taxes. And like Mr. Takei said, homes were looted as the Japanese families could only take what they could carry in their arms.
We have many family members whose skin is a different shade and whose eyes are shapped differently, too. All those years ago, we were all as WASP as could be — It’s getting better now.
Thank you for your program.
Marla Edwards

Several years ago, I was fortunate to be a volunteer at the “Camp Connections” reunion of those Japanese Americans interned in Arkansas, coordinated by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Being a part of this impotant conference and reunion was a defining moment in my life, as it was the reason I chose to become a history major.

During my time volunteering, I was able to listen to personal accounts of life behind the fences, sadly, lives very far removed from my own. I felt most priveledged, however, when I was the quiet witness to the reunion of two young friends after sixty years. Two women, now in their seventies, found themselves, in one moment, remembering the gift of childhood friendship against the backdrop of imprisonment. It was a hauntingly beautiful scene which I will never forget.

Marla Edwards, North Little Rock, Arkansas
Pat Olsen

I felt such sadness listening to George Takai. My father worked for Dept.of Agric. in Albuquerque when Pearl Harbor happened. He was sent to Arizona soon afterward to help set up “relocation centers” for Japanese/Americans. He probably had no idea what that was, and our family moved to Arizona. My father suffered a brain tumor and returned to New Mexico and died a few months later. I was 4 1/2, but to this day I feel guilt and remorse at what he asked to do. I’ve never told anyone this story, but my heart hurts for the people whose dignity and lives were taken away from them.
Guest

I learned of the internments in the early 80′s in college American History. It wasn’t a topic in high school. Several years ago, while visiting the Museum of the Pacific War my wife and I saw an exhibit dedicated to the internment. I made a comment about the shame of our country for doing such an act. My wife had no idea of what I was talking about. I explained what had happened and her first comment was “our government wouldn’t do a thing like that.”

Now, when taking to people about small vs. large government, the slippery slope of some policies being put into place, and looking at scenarios of people being locked up for having the wrong ideas or culture, and when someone says “our government would not do something like that”, my wife replies “they have before”.
RossHopkins2000

We are all conditioned with some prejudices in our lives. I was in my 20s before my parents allowed me to see their own prejudices against Asians. Both of them were children of the Great Depression and of WWII. Upon their revelations to me of distrusts for Asian people, they asked me for understanding and forgiveness. They confessed their government played an enormous roll in teaching them and their parents to despise the Japanese. Both my parents were aware of how wrong they were and despite their inability to change their minds completely, they tried their best not to encumber my own beliefs. They were successful.

I believe the goal in discussing the injustices of the past, is to illuminate our current paths more clearly. Codifying hatred and denying human rights through law are among the most shameful acts of a paranoid society and should be avoided even in the angry face of fearful opposition.