Primary Sources: America in World War II

During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of whom lived on the Pacific Coast, in concentration camps in the western interior of the country. Approximately two-thirds of the internees were United States citizens. These actions were initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt via executive order shortly after Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

Of the 127,000 Japanese Americans who were living in the continental United States at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, 112,000 resided on the West Coast. About 80,000 were Nisei (literal translation: 'second generation'; American-born Japanese with U.S. citizenship) and Sansei ('third generation', the children of Nisei). The rest were Issei ('first generation') immigrants born in Japan who were ineligible for U.S. citizenship under U.S. law. No other citizen group that made up the Axis Allies was forced into internment camps like the Japanese American Citizens. Even with such violations of their rights, they stayed loyal to the United States of America, an estimated 33,000 Japanese Americans served in the U.S. military during World War II, of which 20,000 joined the Army. Approximately 800 were killed in action. Wikipedia

"When he was a child, George Takei and his family were forced into an internment camp for Japanese-Americans, as a “security" measure during World War II. 70 years later, Takei looks back at how the camp shaped his surprising, personal definition of patriotism and democracy."

http://www.ted.com/talks/george_takei_why_i_love_a_country_that_once_betrayed_me

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