He took away their freedom, then helped them go to college.
June 22, 1944: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, better known as the GI Bill.
February 19, 1942: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, leaving a permanent scar in American civil rights history.
Over 120,000 Japanese Americans, most of them U.S. citizens, were forced out of their homes and sent to concentration camps.
Many lost homes, businesses, jobs, farms, and educational opportunities.
Higher education was interrupted for many. The National Japanese American Student Relocation Council (NJASRC) helped place thousands of Japanese American students at colleges and universities during the latter half of the war. But with anti-Japanese racism widespread across the country, finding jobs and rebuilding careers was often difficult.
This included those brave Nisei soldiers returning from Europe and Japan.
Courtesy of U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
February 19, 1942 — Franklin Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, setting in motion the mass incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Many lost businesses, farms, jobs, savings, and educational opportunities. What took years or decades to build often disappeared in a matter of months.
Courtesy of UC Berkeley Bancroft Library
The National Japanese American Student Relocation Council was powered by a small staff with a big mission: helping Japanese American students get to college classrooms.
Courtesy of Bettmann Archive
Many young Japanese American men took the oath of military service while still incarcerated with their families in U.S. camps.
Courtesy of the National Veterans Network
The men of the 100th Infantry Battalion. The majority were Nisei from Hawaiʻi, who would become the foundation of the most decorated unit in U.S. military history.
Courtesy of U.S. Signal Corps
Soldiers of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team brought honor home, despite widespread suspicion of Japanese Americans during the war.
Courtesy of Ted Yenari
Graduating class of the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS), Fall 1944. Thousands served the country that imprisoned them.
Japanese American Veterans
For Japanese Americans from the mainland, thousands of young men volunteered or were drafted into military service while their families remained behind barbed wire.
For those from Hawaii, the numbers rose to tens of thousands who served, while their family members were living with severe restrictions under martial law, even though the majority avoided mass incarceration.
They served in units such as the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service, achieving honors while being credited for shortening the war by years.
But when the war ended, many returned home to find their lives disrupted and their communities scattered.
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act on June 22, 1944, the law would help transform postwar America.
Better known as the GI Bill, it was championed by the American Legion. One of its principal advocates was former Illinois Governor John H. Stelle, who helped build support for the legislation and later became known as the “Father of the GI Bill.”
The law provided a wide range of benefits, including low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business or farm, one year of unemployment compensation, and financial assistance for high school, college, and vocational education.
Millions of veterans would use the program to attend school, buy homes, start businesses, and build careers, making the GI Bill one of the most influential pieces of legislation in American history.
Courtesy of the FDR Library
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the GI Bill on June 22, 1944. It helped many Japanese American veterans pursue higher education, homeownership, and new careers.
John H. Stelle, former Governor of Illinois and Chairman of the American Legion’s Executive Committee, is often referred to as the “Father of the GI Bill.”
A poster announcing the GI Bill. For many Japanese American veterans, the GI Bill opened doors that had once seemed out of reach.
Daniel Inouye getting sworn in as the first Japanese American U.S. Senator, January 9, 1963. A war hero who lost his arm in battle, now raising his remaining hand to serve.
After serving in WWII and earning a law degree, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962, becoming one of Hawaii’s first congressional delegates.
Courtesy of Bettmann Archive
After serving in the Military Intelligence Service during World War II, George Ariyoshi went on to become the first Japanese American elected governor of a U.S. state.
Norman Mineta is sworn in as the first Japanese American Congressman, January 1975. Thirty years earlier, he was labeled an “enemy child.”
Reshaping The Community
The desire for social and economic advancement also led many veterans into public service and politics. Among them were Daniel Inouye, Spark Matsunaga, and George Ariyoshi.
Later, Norman Mineta would also use the GI Bill after serving in the Korean War.
The opportunities created by the GI Bill helped fuel a remarkable transformation.
In the decades after the war, Japanese Americans increasingly entered professions, higher education, business, and public service. The gains achieved by many Nisei veterans helped reshape both the Japanese American community and the broader American society around them.
A Bill That Offered A Path Forward
Through the GI Bill, many became the first in their families to attend college, with some even attending medical and law schools.
History is rarely simple.
The same administration that stripped Japanese Americans of their freedom also signed one of the most important pieces of legislation that helped many of them rebuild their lives.
For thousands of veterans, the GI Bill became a bridge between incarceration and opportunity.
It did not erase what had happened.
But it helped many move forward.
For veterans like Dr. James Okubo, the GI Bill helped turn wartime sacrifice into opportunity. A decorated medic with the 442nd, he later pursued a career in dentistry.
Courtesy of Nippu Jiji Photograph Collection
After serving with the Military Intelligence Service and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II, Masato Doi attended Columbia College and Law School.
Hero or villain? The same president who signed Executive Order 9066 also signed the GI Bill. History is rarely simple.