MID 291.2 Japanese

25

14 J anue.ry 1944

MO UM J'OR MAJOR TAR

Subj ct: atimate of thods of Handling the Appropriate Review Branch Funetiona within th Japanea Section.

I

The Japane S ction proposes to perform the appropriate Review ranch function a follows:

l. The matter of establishing Counterintell1 enc policies for handl1n Japaneae- erican personnel and the disposition of potentially subversive personnel will of neces tty be decided only after (a) a review of a aries of inveatigation, sabot e, eepionag, subver ion, etc., (b) study and coordination of pending information received from the Office of Naval Intelli once, ederal Bur au of Investi ation. ar Relocation uthor1ty, Office of Provost .arthal General, and oth rag no1ea with which tho Military Intelli nee ivision has liai on, (c) analysia of ata­tistical reports from the ar Reloc tion uthority, Sel ctive Service, Federal Bur au of Inve ti~Ation. Office of aval Intelli nee, and Office of the Provoat arahal General, (d) field studi a at ectal Or ani tiona, inter­views with personnel stationed at those or aniz tiona and other inform tion received from direct contact with the probl ms incident to handling of eitiz na of J p neee an­cestry.

2. o exact method of eetablitbin th se new polieiea can b arrived at in advance due to unpredictable nature of the probl ma which will nocea arily arise and require special tudy and tr tment. D oi ion and recom endations concerning these ttera will be decided by the Chief of the Section.

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II

Recommendations for transfer of d&ngeroualy die­loyal personnel to War Department Special Organizations will be ade by the Chief of he Japane e Section after a review and study of all avail ble infor tion in the Military Intelligence Division record section, result of checks with Office of Naval Intelligenc , ed ral Bureau of Investigation, and files of the Office of Provost Marshal General, including files of Japanese-American Joint Board.

III

Liaison with the Federal Bureau of Investi ation, Secret Service, Office of avnl Intelligence, War Belocation uthority and Offic of the Provost ar hal General has

b en maintained through usual channel as well as through we kly meetings of the Japanese- erican Joint Board, which member of these agencies att nd and who are by authority of l tter dated 20 January 1943 made m mber of the Board. ilea of the Japanese- er1can Joint Board contain more

information concerning Japane e-American citizens of the eat Coast than any other simil r bureau with the possible

exception of Civil Affairs Divi ion in the W stern Defense Command. Th letter above mentioned which establishes the Board ia AG 291.2 (l-19-43)0B-S- - , Subject: Loyalty Investigation of American Citizens of Ja aneae Ancestry in War Relocation Centers.

Close contact and liaison with th J paneee-erican Section of the Office of the Provost Marshal

General i requir d and maintained by this Section. Thie Section is requested to make photostatic copi a of D S iorm 304A on Japanese- rican citi1ena who hav r sided in ar Relocation Centers but who had been released prior to February, 1943, and Japanese-American volunteer who never resided in War Relocation nthority C ps but who hav families or relative that reside there. These photostatic copies r furnished the Office of the Provost Ha.rehal General 118 custodian of th J ;pa.neae- erican Joint Board files. Th1 wa requested by the Japan e- rtcan Joint Board nd th Japanese- erican Section of the Office of the Provost rshal General in order to co l te the family file of the individuals ov r whom the Joint Board has jur1adiot1on.

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In other instancea where the tlitary Intelli enoe Diviaion has derogatory infor ation on Japanese individu la but do not have 304& forme. thi infor tion 1 secured fro our record aection and is upnlied to the Offio of the Provost r.hal Gener&l either by ummary of information or photo tatic copies.

IV

Although no official method for liaieon between ational Headquartera, Selective Service d the Department

of Justice h~a been approv d, unofficial eont ot ha been maintained by the Chief of the JapBne eetion with Lt. Colonel Glenn Parker nd M jor Mike London of Sel etive Servie • These eont eta have been nart1aularly helpful in the preliminariea to the reinstitution of Selective S rvice for citizena of J paneee Bncestry. Some light cont et has been made with the Department of Justice in instances where the p r nts of military per~onnel hav been int~rned by that bure n. There have been e veral instances where the Intelligence Officer for the 442nd Combat m am h s reported that the interning of the fathers nd mothers of these eoldiera haa affected the orale of otherwia loyal and valuable soldiers. This problem has not be n e pres in in the past aa it will be ft r the reinatitution of Sel ctive Service and it 1 b lieved that some definite policy should be work d out by the Japan ae eot1on and the ppropriate office& of Immigr tion and N turaliz tion Service of th Department of J at1ce hereby eo consideration ~v be given to the alien internee parents whose eons have been and re eervi honorably in the armed forces of the United States.

v

The Japanes Seetion will continue to function as advisor to the Secretary of War and e recommendations concerning the dispoaition of recom ndations for discharge within the War Department. The Chief of th Section, on receipt of the inv tigation through channels fro the Commanding Genern.la in th S rvice Command in which the uspected person ie located, will review the files and recom­

mendations and will add by indorsement the recommendations of the ilitary Intelli ence Divieion ~orv rding the ame to th Office of the Secretary of War, after informal contact nd discussion of the e with Mr. 5yv raon of that office. { uthority ia AG 230 (3-12-43)08-S-B-M, 29 arch 1943)

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VI

ith the exception of a short period of ti e prior to the outbreak of war, only volunteer were accepted for the Army. rhe total number processed by this Section, under th volunte r system, w a 1,312, although Office of the Adjutant General Machine Record indicate only about 600 were inducted. With the proposed rein titution of Sel ctive ervice, it has been estimated that as many s 23,000 men

will n ed be proce sed by thiR Section. ome 16,000 have already been processed by thi Section through the uae of the file of the Japanese- American Joint Bo rd. The procedure for handling the remaining 6,500 men, believed to be avail-ble outside the War Relocation Campa, i et forth in AG

letter, 13 Dece ber 1943, AG 327.02 {13 ovemb r 1943)PB-l, Subject: Induction of Jap~nese- ericans, which reada as follows:

l. ffective l January 1944 the induction of United t a citizen of J panese xtraction or parentage ~ill be rein tituted under the following procedure:

a. lor auch indivi uala who were not in ar Reloc tion Center on l lebruary 1943, completed

D5 30 A Forms with the necessary approval of ar Department, ilitary lnt lli nee Service, will be included with the re iatrant' induction records when reporting to the Armed Forces Induction Statione.

b. For eucb individuals who were in r Relocation Centers on 1 ebruary 1943 and who are subsequently ordered to report for induction, th re will be included with their induction r corda a form letter properly uthenticated by ar Department, ilitary Intelligence Service, howin that the

individual named and deecrib d therein ia, if other­wise qualified, acceptable for tr ining and service in the Army of the United States.

The method of handling the c sea in the Japane e Section 11 as follows: Selectiv ervice will forward to the Review Branch DSS Forme 304 in quadruplicate; small c rd i

d bowing the receipt of ame and work aheeta re aent to ederal Bure n of Investigation and Offic of Naval Intelli­

gence for a check of their filea; Military Intelligence Divieion r cord section ia checked t this time. upon return of all record checks, the case ia reviewed by an officer of this Section and if the subject is found acceptable one copy {the

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original), of the DSS orm 304A ia stamped in the upper right hand corner 11Acc ptable, WD I 11 and initialed by the officer reviewing. hie form is then forw rded by letter to ational eadquartera, Selective ervice ystem. The results of the check• d the action taken is c rd d. 0 e copy of he form similarly st ed, ns abo e, and initialed by th officer an the re ults of the ederal Bureau of Inveeti ation, Office of aval Intelli~ence, and tilitary Intelli ence !vision record cheeks are noted on the top of thi copy, which is ret ined for cord ection. The a e procedure 1a follo d if an individual 18 ·found to be 11 not acceptabl 11 • unless the subJect i~J living in War Roloc tion Center, in which case n additional copy ia si ilarly ttampod and forwarded to the J p neae- rican eotion, Office of the Provost arah&l n ral, for inf~rma-

tion and action, if any, bY the J pane erican Joint oard.

~he bove outlined procedure i the method of ae.ndling the Japanese- erican citizens who were not in ar lieloeation Center in ebru ry, 1943. Those individuals

who v r in relocation camps t this tim were requir d to fill out D~' 30 forma primarily for the Ja neae- erican Joint »oard, to saiat it in deciding whether or not such individuals should be released from the center. This action haa a ready prep red individual letter for e ch of military e who w re in ar Relocation uthority c pa in February, 1943, and they have already been deliver d to 1ational H a quarters, - lective ~ervice Syate •

en the actual drafting is started th re may be m ~ men who will not wait to be called but ttempt to volunteer. It i proposed that upon tne r coi~t of informa­tion that pa.rt cular individual has requested voluntary induction the Japanese action will consult t r cord section to ee if an acceptable letter hat already been prepar d and erelv forward an dditional copy of t t letter to Sel ctive ~ervioe or if not prepared, a letter on the facta of the caae will be prepared and forwarded to ~ational H adquartere, Selective Service yetem.

he 16,000 caaea already process d by n e saity haTe been done hurriedly and cieiona were bated primarily on th action of the Joint oard in decidi the pAr ona loy lty when up for rele a fro the cent ra. rhie does not me n th t thia

action bas adopted the Joint arda decision in all eaee , in fact, this ection hae r fUsed anyone who 1• not gr nted leave by the J neae- rican Joint Board and has not accepted all the en who received approval before the Board. Due to the

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peculiar reasoning of an~ of these J p&nese- ricane, it is believed there will be considerable correspondence and pres ure ~rought to bear on G-2 in an effort to aour reversal of dooiaions made and p rm1t many Japanese to be dr fted who were hereto for deem ,d 'not ace ptable". Undoubtedly thar may be manv inetanc s in hich theea e rlier deci ions s ould be reviewed and reversed, ther fore, it is ropoaed to doaignate one individual in the Japanese action, who will be charged with th responsibility of

receiving r que t for r consideration and reviewing all information avail hle in tho Of ice of the Provost shal GenerAl p rsonnel fold r and calling it to the ttention of the Chief, Japan se Seetion, if th f eta indicate that uch a e a should be r ver ed. rom th difficulty experienced in the handling of 1,31; volunteers, it is belt ved thAt the m jority of the work of tho Japanese S etion in tha future will be the processi , reviewin • and answering correspondence relating to questions raised by the reinatitution o Sel ettve Servic for this claoe of people.

VII

.he Japanese- erican Joint Board, established pursuant to par raph ~-h of War D partmont letter G 291.2 (l-19-43)0B-S- - • dated 20 Januar,t 1943, Subject: Loyalt~ lnv tigation of eriean Citizens of J p nese nceat~ in

elocation Centers, h s had as its primar.y function 1ng upon

a. The desirability from a aeeurity point of view th releaae of meriean citizens of Japanese d sc nt from relocation centers, and

b. h ir eligibility for e lo ent in plante and facilities important to the war effort.

er onnel of this board is composed of representa­tives of the FederAl reau of Inv eti ation, Office of ~aval Intelligence, ar Relocation uthortty, Asaiatant Chief of Staff, G-2, and Office of the Provost ar hal General. Sinee ita creation the Chief, view Branch, Counterintelli­gence Group, ha b en the nominal member with th Chief nd Assi Rtant Chief of th JapM ae Section rving s altern t •· In th past, the bo r has met t ice a we k for a period of three hours each week. rhe Board decide question of polio overning the rele ee of eitizena of Japane e- eriean

ancestry from the War Relocation Campa and asses on individual

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ho re t1onala of co-belliger nt d friendly tiona . ctuall7 , ho~ v r , the Jur1ad1ction of th Ja neee S ctio

1a 11 ited by let r 1 October 19 2, PX 014 . 311 ( -23-42) 1- , in which th rea onaib111ty for dec1d1n the

aoc pt bility of len tor a rv1c in the Ar of the Onited ta •• 1 placed with th Co di r la of the v rioua erv1ce Oo nda tor tionala of Xorea, churl , d

alan • here ore , it ap ears that onl7 1ena of Chi d lnd1 , who are a plicanta for co ae1ons , would b check d

by the ilitar.y Intelli~ nee v1aion.

XIII

1tted aa no a pl1cable to t Ja neae 5 otio •

I

1rect liaiaon with the Orient ee of the Office ot val Intell1 ence 1 int ned through the ot!ic of

val Int lligence r r aent tiv a on the J rican Joint oard, 1 describe a ove .

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