Two Firsts

Two foreign-born Japanese made news in the U.S. last week:

P: Kamematsu Osada, 68, became the first to return to a California defense area since the evacuation of early 1942. He turned up in Sacramento with his proudest possession, a canary named Dick, that can whistle America. Osada was allowed to come home when his wife, a white U.S. citizen who had remained behind, fell ill. Reaction to Osada's return varied. Said one neighbor: "It isn't nice to see them loose on the streets. . . ." Said another: "One Japanese free won't be so bad." Said Osada: "I would go to war any time for this country, even if I am an old man."

P: Tokyo-born Henry Ebihara, 24, became the first to jump at a brand-new War Department ruling permitting alien Japanese to enlist in the U.S. Army. Ebihara, whose younger brothers & sisters are all citizens, was brought to the U.S. at the age of two. A Cleveland war-plant worker, he had asked both Franklin Roosevelt and War Secretary Stimson for a chance to fight. Said he: "My people are Americans, even though I was born in Japan and can't be a citizen because my skin is yellow. This war isn't one race against another--it is a war of ideas and principles. I want to fight the Japanese fascists."

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