Signal Tribune Newspaper

Sgt. Gene Kumagai in the streets of Nagoya, Japan in November, 1945, several months after the city had been bombed. His notation on the back indicates that he was attached to “HQ Co., I Corps.” He was also attached to the 2nd Marine Division in Nagasaki for a while.

My father never spoke of the humiliation of having his own government label him, a citizen, as an ‘enemy alien’ following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He never decried the injustice of his family being forced to abandon their farm in Auburn, Washington, after being allowed a week to dispose of everything that wouldn’t fit in a suitcase. He never described the shame of being sent to live behind barbed wire, beneath machine gun towers. He never complained about later being drafted to fight in the Pacific. He had never explained the medal I later found in his effects.

–David Kumagai

By Rachael Rifkin
Personal Historian

Gene Kumagai, David’s father, was a senior in high school when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He and the other Japanese kids graduated in May– a month early– so they could be evacuated out to internment camps. Gene and his family were sent to Pinedale, an assembly center in Fresno, then to Tully Lake, and finally Heart Mountain, Wyoming.
“Tully Lake was a camp for the troublemakers– the people who didn’t answer loyalty questions with a quick yes, yes– and my dad’s family said yes, yes. So they were sent to a camp in Heart Mountain, Wyoming,” said David.
Gene had wanted to serve in the war, but, by the time they were put in camps, their draft statuses had been changed from citizens to enemy aliens, not eligible for service. So he served the only way he could. He helped fill the jobs left vacant by men serving in the war. He and some friends were released from the camp to go remove tops of sugar beets in Montana and Idaho.
In 1944, their draft statuses changed again. They were reinstated as citizens so they could serve. “My dad was drafted and sent to the Pacific. I think he was in the 25th Infantry Division. After Japan surrendered, the 25th infantry was chosen to occupy Japan,” said David. “I say I think he was in the 25th infantry division because I don’t know for sure. There are these gaps in information because he didn’t talk about the war. There was never any mention of war time because it was such a horrifying thing that happened to them.”
After the war, a war buddy introduced Gene to his sister Kikuko. Gene and Kikuko married and went on to have three kids– Sandra, David and Stacey. They eventually settled in Hermosa Beach, which is only a few miles from El Segundo, Kikuko’s home town and the last place where she and her family had lived before they were displaced.
It wasn’t until Gene passed away in 1992 that David learned more about his father’s time in the war.
“We found a baggy with a scrap of tissue paper. It has such a smoky smell; it’s like opening up a pack of cigarettes. I have no idea why he kept this. We also found a medal with no name on it and a bronze star,” said David. “In the last five years, I’ve done a lot of research, so I know some medals have the recipients’ names on the back, and some were never presented to people. I think most veterans received a bronze star, but his bronze star has a ‘V’ attachment that goes with a ribbon. From what my research indicates, ‘V’ stands for valor, and it’s a battlefield decoration. But I have no way of knowing why, or if it’s his.”
In light of the lack of information David has, he’s come to realize just how ephemeral family history is, how quickly it’s gone. Veteran celebrations give him the chance to honor his father but also remind him how little people know– how little he knows– about the other side of the story.
“I remember back in junior high, my social studies teacher was talking about the internment camps, and he asked me if my parents had been placed there. I said yes, and he told me that because of the terror of the times, it was probably the safest thing for them. And I agreed with him. Now, I realize what a ridiculous statement that is. In retrospect, I’m really appalled that I just agreed,” said David. “The things that happened in my parents’ generation outrage me. I’m a fully assimilated American citizen, just like they were, except they had their rights taken away from them. So my outrage is tempered by the knowledge that the reason I can be outraged is because my parents’ generation just did what they were supposed to and didn’t cause a lot of problems.”