On the west coast a sort of hysteria began with inflammatory journalism published in the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as smaller area newspapers. Pressure groups, politicians, and the U.S. Army all expressed fear of the treachery of the Fifth Column: the enemy within. Earl Warren, attorney general of California (and later chief justice of the most liberal Supreme Court of the twentieth century), and Walter Lippmann, the national syndicated columnist, were among those making such claims. This profound suspicion of the Japanese and Japanese-Americans quickly led to cries for their expulsion.

In response, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. His order called for the eviction and internment of all "persons of Japanese ancestry." Five years later historian Henry Steel Commager wrote that "it is sobering to recall that though the Japanese relocation program, carried through at such incalculable cost in misery and tragedy, was justified on the ground that the Japanese were potentially disloyal, the record does not disclose a single case of Japanese disloyalty or sabotage during the whole war...."

Role Two - Nisei (Japanese American).  In 1942 you were a senior in high school  Before Pearl Harbor ( December 1941), you had planned to work in your family's business, a fleet of fishing ships operating out of San Pedro, California.  But these plans ended when the federal government required that you, an American citizen, and your family had to relocate to an internment camp.  While at the camp, you had learned more about the government's rationale for internment.  You remained in that camp until 1945, and once you returned home, you discovered that your family lost their home and their business.  You have decided to write your thoughts on this historical time so that your children and grandchildren can better understand the war years and your experiences.