A WWII view of internment camps
REGARDING “A French Village’s Unexpected Heroes” [Her World, Sept. 4], Susan Spano wanders off track as a travel writer to a political critic when she refers to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 as “infamous.” The attack on Pearl Harbor was infamous.
It is so easy to be an armchair historian by hindsight. Roosevelt passed this law mandating internment camps after being counseled by many members of Congress and his Cabinet. There was a definite clear and present danger due to mass hysteria of American citizens on our entire West Coast. Instances of mob anger toward Japanese Americans was growing daily.
In today’s light, this order was definitely wrong and even unconstitutional.
Travel journalists should stick to what they do best — and Spano is one of the best — and that is writing about travel and related history in an objective and unbiased manner.
CHARLES JONES
Calabasas
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