By Rebecca Drew
STUNNING images have been revealed showing what life was like for Japanese-American combat soldiers whose families were forced into US internment camps during WW2.
Americans of German descent were not treated in this way, despite Germany declaring war against America, and on the side of Japan, immediately after the Japanese attack on the US base, Pearl Harbour, which brought the US into the war on the side of Great Britain.
The series of incredible shots show soldiers of the 442nd Combat Team at a dance and saluting the American flag at Camp Shelby, Mississippi where Japanese-Americans trained in preparation for WW2.
Other black and white pictures show Private Sam Oka handing Private Henry Oshiro gifts of candy and cigarettes sent to them by a pineapple company and learning how to shoot a tank
Some colour images show women standing outside a barber shop and men working in fields at the Tule Lake Relocation Centre, California.
Other photos show Japanese people registering at the Santa Anita Assembly Centre, eating a meal in large halls and the accommodation families had to stay in after being forced to relocate to internment camps by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour.
Despite fighting patriotically for America in opposition to their previous homeland, Japan, the families of Japanese-American combat troops were declared “enemy aliens” and interred in camps.
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team that comprised almost entirely of Japanese American and fought in Italy, France and Germany during WW2.
Between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were moved to the camps.
