A mistake we must never make again -- Column of Dec. 10, 2015

By MARSHA MERCER

Donald J. Trump defended his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the country by citing President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“This is a president highly respected by all; he did the same thing,” Trump said Tuesday on ABC.

I needed a refresher on FDR. What I found was dismaying – and instructive.

Within weeks of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt issued three presidential proclamations declaring Japanese, German and Italian immigrants who were not naturalized citizens “enemy aliens.” The proclamations ordered these residents to turn in their guns, ammunition, cameras, short-wave radios and other items and imposed other restrictions.  

Soon after, in February 1942, FDR then issued Executive Order 9066. It gave the military the power to ban any citizen from a swath of Washington state, California and southern Arizona and led to the relocation -- without any charges or trials -- of 120,000 Japanese Americans.

Many who were herded onto trains bound for 10 internment camps in remote parts of the West and South were American citizens.

Trump insists that he’s not proposing internment camps, but, as we see from FDR’s experience, letting fear dictate policy is a slippery slope. While many Republicans have rightly condemned Trump’s proposal, his fans – even some in elective office -- approve.    

“What he’s saying is no different than the situation during World War II, when we put the Japanese in camps,” New Hampshire state Rep. Al Baldasaro, co-chairman of Trump’s state veterans coalition, told a Manchester TV station.

Instead of likening himself to FDR, Trump should have cited Ronald Reagan, who apologized for the terrible injustice perpetrated in World War II.

“Here we admit a wrong,” President Reagan said when he signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, in which the federal government provided restitution to Japanese Americans who were interned. The government gave $20,000 each to about 60,000 survivors, a pittance for lost years, homes and careers.

You can read Reagan’s quotation at the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism in World War II just north of the U.S. Capitol. The memorial commemorates not only a shameful chapter in American history but also the loyalty and bravery of Japanese Americans who served the country in war even as their families were being held in camps.

Few tourists find their way to the memorial, in what amounts to a traffic island at the intersection of Louisiana and New Jersey avenues and D Street NW. Few read the 800 names inscribed on stone panels of Japanese American troops who were killed in action.

The Army’s 442^nd Regimental Combat Team was a segregated unit composed entirely of Nisei, first-generation Japanese American citizens. The 442nd fought in eight major campaigns in Europe and became the most highly decorated unit for its size and length of service.

At the center of the memorial, two bronze cranes entangled in barbed wire rise 14 feet. In Japan, the crane is an icon of longevity and good luck. Here, they symbolize the struggle over cruel circumstances. The memorial is intended to tell not only the story of Japanese Americans but of all Americans’ patriotism and perseverance.

Trump justifies his ban on Muslims’ entering the country because we are at war, although there are Muslims serving in our armed forces in the fight against terrorism. 

Some of these heroes rest in Arlington National Cemetery.  

Reagan said in 1988 about the mistreatment of Japanese Americans: “Yes, the nation was then at war, struggling for its survival and it’s not for us today to pass judgment upon those who may have made mistakes while engaged in that great struggle. Yet we must recognize that the internment of Japanese Americans was just that: a mistake.”

The Japanese Americans memorial group raised $13 million to build the memorial, which was dedicated in 2000 and now is part of the National Park Service.

The memorial does not just look back in history. It also offers a way forward, thanks to a quotation from the late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D- Hawaii. The son of Japanese immigrants, Inouye enlisted in the Army when the 442^nd was created and lost his right arm fighting in Europe.

“The lessons learned must remain as a grave reminder of what we must not allow to happen again to any group,” Inouye said. Amen.

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Restoring the meaning of Memorial Day -- May 22, 2014 column

By MARSHA MERCER

For many of us, Memorial Day is a long weekend of backyard barbecues and beach trips, the unofficial start of summer fun.

But it wasn’t always so. Memorial Day began as a spontaneous outpouring of grief after the ravages of the Civil War.

At least 620,000 soldiers – about 2.5 percent of the population – perished in that war. Recent estimates put the toll far higher – closer to 20 percent of the population. Nearly every family lost someone. To cope with their sorrow, groups of women began visiting their loved ones’ graves and decorating them with spring flowers.

The ritual, known as Decoration Day, sprang up in the North and South. One of the first was in Columbus, Ga., in April 1866, when women visited a cemetery to put flowers on the graves of Confederate soldiers who had died in the bloody battle of Shiloh four years earlier. Seeing the neglected graves of Union soldiers, the women also placed flowers there.    

In 1868, Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, who led an organization of Union veterans, declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30 with ceremonies and strewn flowers. It’s thought he chose the date because flowers would be in bloom all over the country, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs history.

By the end of the 19^th century, nearly every community dedicated May 30 to remember their Civil War dead. After World War I, the commemoration was extended to honor all who died in American wars.

How, you ask, did we go from solemnly strewing flower petals to buying mattresses, appliances and big screen TVs?

Thank -- or blame – the 1960s, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson. LBJ signed the Uniform Holiday bill in 1968, and, since 1971, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Washington’s birthday (now Presidents Day) have been commemorated on Mondays.

“This will mean a great deal to our families and our children,” LBJ said in a signing statement. “It will enable families who live some distance apart to spend more time together. Americans will be able to travel farther and see more of this beautiful land of ours. They will be able to participate in a wide range of recreational and cultural activities.”

He didn’t predict that the true meaning of the holidays might get lost in traffic jams.  

For years, the late Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii tried to restore the dignity of Memorial Day. Inouye, a veteran who lost his right arm in combat in World War II, introduced a bill in every Congress to move Memorial Day back to May 30.

“In our effort to accommodate many Americans by making the last Monday in May Memorial Day, we have lost sight of the significance of this day to our nation,” Inouye said in a speech on the Senate floor in 1999. “Instead of using Memorial Day as a time to honor and reflect on the sacrifices made by Americans in combat, many Americans use the day as a celebration of the beginning of summer,” he said.

Inouye continued his valiant effort until his death in 2012. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii has taken up the quest, introducing the bill last year. 

We don’t have to wait on Washington to honor the fallen on Memorial Day. Many of the 131 national cemeteries as well as state veterans cemeteries have ceremonies on or around Memorial Day. To find one near you, check out the list on the VA's National Cemetery Administration page.

  

At a time when the VA is suffering from a health care scandal, here’s some good news. Veterans’ survivors rank employees at the national cemeteries tops in customer service among all federal agencies and major national corporations.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index surveys people about their dealings with government agencies and companies. Every three years, the survey asks about national cemeteries. In each of the last five surveys – 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010 and 2013 – the cemeteries have received the top rating for customer service in the public and private sectors.  

National cemeteries are quiet, green spaces that invite solemn reflection. Make time for a walk in history. Read the names and dates on the white markers. Thank those who gave their all for us and our freedom. Happy Memorial Day.

© 2014 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.

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