THE GRACE OF LOYALTY TREATED WITH THE DISGRACE OF SOCIETY.
Post internment
The famous Japanese activist Michi Weglyn, former internee states, "throughout the course of World War II, not a single incident of espionage or treason was found to be committed by Japanese Americans. The difficulty of committing treason while incarcerated cannot alone explain this absence of wrongdoing; Japanese Americans living in Hawaii were spared relocation because of the logistical difficulty of transporting a third of the state's population to the mainland. With their numbers exceeding the entire Japanese population on the mainland, Japanese Americans in Hawaii proved an essential part of the state's labor force and defense." (Weglyn 1)
"Almost 50 years later, through the efforts of leaders and advocates of the Japanese American community, Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Popularly known as the Japanese American Redress Bill, this act acknowledged that "a grave injustice was done" and mandated Congress to pay each victim of internment $20,000 in reparations. "(Weglyn 1)
"The reparations were sent with a signed apology from the President of the United States on behalf of the American people. The period for reparations ended in August of 1998. Despite this redress, the mental and physical health impacts of the trauma of the internment experience continue to affect tens of thousands of Japanese Americans. Health studies have shown a two times greater incidence of heart disease and premature death among former internees, compared to non-interned Japanese Americans." (Weglyn 2) After the internment many Japanese internees suffered many illnesses, both mental and physical degeneration.