leaving the camps
In February 1943, the government required all internees to complete the questionnaire entitled “Application for Leave Clearance.” This questionnaire’s intent was to provide a method whereby some internees, deemed loyal to the US, could leave the camps. Internees could either volunteer to resettle in the American East or Midwest or volunteering to serve in an all-Japanese American combat unit. Ironically, the US government asked the prisoners to risk their lives defending their country that had imprisoned them.