Those Sent to Internment Camps Were Given a Loyalty Questionnaire
In 1943, War Relocation Authority officials wanted to determine if any of the Nisei (someone born in the U.S. to Japanese parents) men that they had interned would be suitable for military duty. The questionnaire was at first given only to men who qualified for military service but it was later revised and given to all interned adults. The questionnaire had two questions at the very end that were supposed to determine the loyalty and potential of someone to join the armed forces.
Question 27: Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?
Question 28: Will you swear unqualified allegiances to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any and all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, or other foreign government, power or organization?
The questions were simple enough but there were numerous interpretations of their implication. Most people answered yes to both questions, knowing that was the answer they were expected to give. But 17% of respondents and 20% of Nisei men gave negative responses. The reason for the negative responses was not a matter of lacking loyalty to the U.S. but fear and confusion over what a “yes” answer might mean.
Some assumed that answering “yes” to question 27 would be taken as an agreement to volunteer for military service. Others were offended at the idea that the country that had imprisoned them and their families was now asking them to risk their lives to fight for it. Question 28 also had its own problems even for those who held no loyalty or ties to any country other than the United States. Many of those in the camps believed that they were just waiting to be deported to Japan and if this was the case they did not want to cause problems for themselves by denouncing the Emperor of the country they would soon be living in. Whatever the reasons those who answered “no” were labeled “disloyal” and sent to the maximum-security Tule Lake Segregation Center.