WWII Primary Source Exploration

Prepare to use your critical thinking skills! Extract meaningful information from the provided sources
(who, what, when, where, why), and apply what you know about each topic. Consider all of the
information and answer the corresponding questions.

A. George Takei Describes his Experience in a Japanese Internment Camp

February 28, 2014

1. What does Mr. Takei say he and his family were and are?

2. Without charges and due process, what happened to Japanese Americans during WWII?

3. Why does George Takei believe Attorney General Earl Warren violated the Constitution despite
knowing it well?

4. What happened to the Takeis home, possessions, and lifestyle when they were allowed to leave
the camp?

5. Why is this source valid? What are its limitations? (Hint: Consider dates!)

B. Dr. Roscoe Brown a Real-Life Tuskegee, Tells His Red Tails Story
January 18, 2012

Everything was black or white. They wouldnt let black officers in the white officers club. Someone
tried to enforce segregation on the base when we moved to Walterboro, South Carolina, for our combat
training. We went to the movie theater and they had a sign up that said blacks in the back. We
wouldnt tolerate that, so we went and sat up in the front of the white section. An MP came by and said,
Well court-martial you if you dont move. We said, The government has spent $75,000 training us, so I
dont think theyd appreciate us being court-martialed for standing up for our citizens rights. The next
day, the signs were down.

1. What is Dr. Brown describing in this passage?

2. Why did the military police threaten to court-martial or arrest Brown and his men?

3. Their act of defiance was successful in this passage. Do you think African Americans serving in
the U.S. armed forces would help them gain civil rights and change society? Why or why not?

C. An African American male upon receiving a draft notice.

Just carve on my tombstone, Here lies a black man killed fighting a yellow man for the protection
of a white man.

1. What is this man describing?

2. Consider what you know so far and this passage. What is the mans attitude towards being
drafted? Do you think he is justified?

D. Message from the Commanding General to the U.S. Marine Corps

San Diego, CA. March 6, 1942
1. What is this document describing?

2. Why does the writer say that the Navajo dialect is more favorable than other Native American
dialects in this situation?