26 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 21-27, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com Most readers were outraged— expressed in the polite words of the time—and some criticized the Herald for running the ad. Among them was Edward Weston of Carmel, who denounced the decision to run the ad “with every ounce of decency in me.” Ed Ricketts, for his part, wrote a lengthy letter that sarcastically praised the ad because it “re-emphasizes the essential success of Hitler as a teacher.” On May 1, Mollie Sumida, an American citizen and Monterey High grad, wrote in to the Herald from a relocation camp in Poston, Arizona. “I want to thank the people of Monterey who wrote to the Herald to defend us,” Sumida wrote. “I know as long as there are people like that left in this country, all the Nisei boys did not die in vain, and what they fought for will live on.” Upon reading Sumida’s letter, Jackson was inspired to write a petition. She quoted the War Department’s own words, praising bravery of the Japanese American men who fought in the war, that their relatives returning home from camps should be treated like loyal and law-abiding citizens. The petition ends with, “We, the undersigned, then believe that it is the privilege and responsibility of this community to cooperate with the national government by insuring the democratic way of life to all members of the community.” On May 11, 1945, the petition ran in a full-page ad in the Herald, with a bold headline up top: “The Democratic Way of Life For All.” Below the petition were more than 440 names. Among them were Robinson and Una Jeffers, and John Steinbeck. Yamada, in his 1995 book, writes it was “one beacon of light…worth mentioning.” He continues, “To this day, members of the local Japanese community reflect on this ad and say, ‘It was a wonderful thing for the people here to do.’” In 2013, Thomas was rifling through a file cabinet at JACL Hall when he came upon a rolledup legal envelope dated May 9, 1945. Inside were all the petitions, signed. One, which Thomas says was signed in Ed Ricketts’ lab, has the signatures of both Ricketts and Steinbeck. “It’s the only document that exists that has their two signatures together,” Thomas says. The discovery was thrilling. There was only one surviving signatory left to celebrate it, Nancy Costello. In 2013, then 95, she told writer Geoffrey Dunn that when her husband Jimmy, a reporter for the Herald, had to report on Japanese Americans getting rounded up, “It was the worst assignment of his life. These were good people, loyal citizens. Jimmy was mortified by it. He knew it was wrong.” The discovery of the petitions, and the story they tell, became the subject of a 2022 documentary sponsored by the Monterey Peninsula JACL titled, Enduring Democracy: The Monterey Petition that aired on PBS in June 2025. Dunn was among those participating in the production, and at one part says, “Japanese American internment has been swept under the rug of history ever since it happened.” He then adds that it was important for American kids to learn about: “If they don’t know about it, then they can’t understand how it can happen again.” Larry Oda was born in 1945 in an internment camp in Crystal City, Texas. He wasn’t able to return to his family’s home in Monterey until 1946. Oda currently serves as board president of the national JACL, and formerly served as president of the Monterey Peninsula chapter for seven years. Sitting upstairs in the JACL Hall in July, Oda says that at the time of the convention, there were 120 JACL chapters nationwide, and it’s now down to about 100. One reason, he says, is that when JACL was formed in 1930, it was to help Japanese immigrants navigate the legal process, and then after war, help them seek redress from the government for their unlawful incarceration. The latter fight took more than 40 years, until then-President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which paid out $20,000 each to surviving internees and, among other things, was to “discourage the occurrence of similar injustices and violations of civil liberties in the future.” Perhaps some members fell off after Oda says, but what’s surely happening is that members are passing away, and their ranks are not being replenished by younger generations. “Early on, we had to fight for what we had,” Oda says. “Nowadays, with Japanese food, sushi, manga—it’s more accepted in the community.” He says there was a bump in engagement after 9/11, when JACL got involved to caution people not to blame Middle Easterners like Japanese Americans were blamed by some for Pearl Harbor. Now, Oda says, “They’re not worried about people banging on their door and taking them away.” Then Oda stops himself. “Now, it seems like that’s happening. It’s similar to what was going on in Germany in the ’30s.” Oda hopes today’s political atmosphere inspires a renewed interest in JACL, and potentially be a way to recruit new members. (JACL is open to everyone, not just people of Japanese descent.) “They can see there’s some relevance in their lives, they can see the opportunity to make an influence, to help the cause,” Oda says of college students in particular. “We have an opportunity to give them some training, so they can make their voices heard…so they can attend any meeting and be a contributor, and take a leadership position.” The national JACL has a projected budget deficit of about $500,000 for the current fiscal year, which Oda says it could make up for by recruiting 7,000 new members—doubling the current size of its membership—or by doubling the dues. Either way, he concedes, “We need to put some thought into whether we want to sink or swim.” Who knows what the country will look like come November, when JACL hosts a commemorative picnic at Point Lobos, or next May, when the JACL Hall building celebrates its centennial. But when the sun does rise—as it always does—what kind of country America will be will in many ways be defined by the acts of courage and grace that stand against the darkness. And when historians write about this moment years from now, the story they write will be ours. Japanese American Citizens League Heritage Museum is in the JACL Hall at 424 Adams St., Monterey. Tours are free, by appointment only. Contact Tim Thomas at (831) 521-3304 or timsardine@yahoo.com. A copy of the petition to bring Japanese Americans home after internment is on display at the JACL Hall in Monterey. The original is kept in a special collection at CSU Monterey Bay.
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