Friday - 2008-0404-2300 - Rain -Jerome Relocation Center - 03/12/1943; WWII Japanese American Internment; Fever; Camille; Stormy Weather

Rain - Jerome Relocation Center - 03/12/1943 Larger Image

I'd come across this very special rain photo recently and thought it worth posting for a number of reasons. This photo is Umbrellas / School children / Rain / Japanese-Americans / Japanese-American relocation / Relocation camps - Gallery of the Open Frontier.

Many Americans are not aware that Japanese and Japanese-Americans were relocated from the west coast to ten isolated relocation centers during World War II. This photo was taken at the Jerome Relocation Center in Arkansas on March 12, 1943 by Tom Parker as part of Department of the Interior. War Relocation Authority.

The War Relocation Camps of World War II: When Fear was Stronger than Justice provides a history of the events.

"To panicked people after the attack on Pearl Harbor, every Japanese could be a potential spy, ready and willing to assist in an invasion that was expected at any moment. Many political leaders, army officers, newspaper reporters, and ordinary people came to believe that everyone of Japanese ancestry, including American citizens born in the United States, needed to be removed from the West Coast.

In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order that moved nearly 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans into 10 isolated relocation centers in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming."

The U.S. Constitution: Sixth Amendment states that:

" In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."

Frequently this is called Habeas corpus. Alas, it has not always been applied to all persons with equal tutelage. And in this case President Roosevelt chose to ignore it. It has been much in the news for the last several years in reference to those incarcerated because of the Iraq conflict.

Simply stated, it was one of the greatest miscarriages of justice perpetrated in American history. It should be noted that no similar action was taken against German or German-American citizens.

I spent most of the day contending with bouts of fever. I'd hoped I'd be further along the path to recovery, but such is not the case. I really have to watch what I do. I vacuumed the bedroom this morning and soon realized the exertion may have been a mistake.

Two or three times during the day, I was overcome with intense fatigue and had to go to bed. At present I'm feeling better, but I'm not sure what that means. What will tomorrow bring?

Camille is still staying in seclusion. She will at least come toward me to be petted. And she definitely enjoys that. But the other kitties are not sure what to think, so that has influenced her decision to hide

She is a very affectionate, beautiful kitty. But I want her to be at ease, so I'm not pushing her.

On the way back from lunch, I heard the tornado sirens go off. My personal view on this is that the weather service over-reacts. In fact, when I got home and clicked on the weather, the severe weather was ten or fifteen miles to the northwest. However, tornados did touch down in several places.

Here there was a stiff wind followed by driving rain that drifted into a long period of sporadic showers. I just looked out my bedroom window, and I can see raindrops flickering across the puddles. And if I put my ear against the glass, I can hear the low sound of drizzling rain.

(In Friday - 2008-0404-2300 / Out - 2008-0405-0030) This entry was written in a single setting.

Pax! Erin go braugh! Je accuse...