Discover Nikkei Logo

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/472/

Classified 4C - enemy alien

It was in January of ’42. I volunteered for the United States Air Force. And the requirements at that time were you had to have one year of college, which I just had. And had to pass a written examination and then the physical and so I was ready to be inducted and I went out to the air base and at that time, they rejected me because of my background, my ancestry. I appealed this rejection with my attorney – a fellow by the name of Paul Patterson, who was in Hillsboro and I’d known his because of our dealings in the past. Paul Patterson later became the governor of Oregon. He appealed for me, but it didn’t do any good. I was classified 4C the rest of the years.

I*: And 4C stands for?

Yeah.

I: What does 4C stand for?

Oh, it’s enemy alien.

* “I” indicates an interviewer (Akemi Kikumura Yano).


discrimination interpersonal relations racism United States Air Force

Date: December 6, 2005

Location: Oregon, US

Interviewer: Akemi Kikumura Yano

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.

Interviewee Bio

Toshio Inahara was born in Seattle, Washington, the first of four brothers. At age three, he moved with his family to Japan, returning after six months to Tacoma where his father established a successful Japanese confectionery, “Fugetsu.” Toshio’s father wanted his sons to grow up in the country, so the family moved to a farm 30 miles west of Portland, Oregon, in 1931.

In response to Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, West Coast Japanese Americans were ordered to evacuate to Assembly Centers, but the Inahara family obtained a travel permit to relocate inland to Ontario, near the Eastern Oregon border. Toshio volunteered for service in the US Air Force in 1942, but was rejected because of his Japanese ancestry.

After two years of family farming, Toshio was accepted at the University of Wisconsin, where he studied pre-med courses, eventually earning his M.D. in 1950 from the University of Oregon. Following internship and residency, he trained in vascular surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and then returned to Portland to establish a private practice and serve as a clinical instructor in surgery at the University of Oregon Medical School.

Dr. Inahara is one of the world’s foremost authorities on carotid endarterectomy and is co-inventor of the Pruitt-Inahara Carotid Shunt.(December 6, 2005)

Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
en
ja
es
pt
Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig

Positive experiences with Asian Americans for Action

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Francis Y. Sogi
en
ja
es
pt
Francis Y. Sogi

Being an American soldier and an "enemy alien"

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

en
ja
es
pt
Francis Y. Sogi
en
ja
es
pt
Francis Y. Sogi

Not relating to Japan Americans' experiences on the mainland

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

en
ja
es
pt
Bert A. Kobayashi
en
ja
es
pt
Bert A. Kobayashi

Postwar discrimination

(b.1944) Founder of Kobayashi Group, LLC

en
ja
es
pt
Gene Akutsu
en
ja
es
pt
Gene Akutsu

Living conditions in prison while serving time for resisting the draft

(b. 1925) Draft resister

en
ja
es
pt
Gene Akutsu
en
ja
es
pt
Gene Akutsu

Talking to children about decision to resist the draft during World War II

(b. 1925) Draft resister

en
ja
es
pt
Gene Akutsu
en
ja
es
pt
Gene Akutsu

Reflecting on Japanese Americans' response to incarceration

(b. 1925) Draft resister

en
ja
es
pt
Gene Akutsu
en
ja
es
pt
Gene Akutsu

Speak out for your beliefs

(b. 1925) Draft resister

en
ja
es
pt
Mako Nakagawa
en
ja
es
pt
Mako Nakagawa

Thoughts on relationship between Japanese Peruvians and Japanese Americans at Crystal City, Texas

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

en
ja
es
pt
Margaret Oda
en
ja
es
pt
Margaret Oda

Father interrogated by FBI, but not taken away

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

en
ja
es
pt
Roberto Hirose
en
ja
es
pt
Roberto Hirose

The political effects on Nikkei during the war (Spanish)

(b. 1950) Nisei Chilean, Businessman

en
ja
es
pt
Henry Shimizu
en
ja
es
pt
Henry Shimizu

Government sold Japanese Canadian properties for little money

(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.

en
ja
es
pt
Gordon Hirabayashi
en
ja
es
pt
Gordon Hirabayashi

Questioning Curfew

(1918-2012) Fought the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066.

en
ja
es
pt
William Marutani
en
ja
es
pt
William Marutani

Challenges of finding a summer job

Judge, only Japanese American to serve on CWRIC.

en
ja
es
pt
Young O. Kim
en
ja
es
pt
Young O. Kim

Basic Training

(1919 - 2006) World War II and Korean War veteran

en
ja
es
pt

Discover Nikkei Updates

SAVE THE DATE
Discover Nikkei Fest is on February 8! Join us for a community fair, workshops, a panel discussion, and much more. Sign up now for virtual or in-person tickets.
NIKKEI NAMES 2
The Editorial Committee and Nima-kai Community Favorites have been announced! Find out which stories are this year’s favorites 🏆
PROJECT UPDATES
New Site Design
See exciting new changes to Discover Nikkei. Find out what’s new and what’s coming soon!