>>>
>>> ON
>>> ON SEPTEMBER 2nd 1945, UNITED STATES SIGNED THE
OFFICIAL TREATY ENDING THE
WORLD WAR II.
IT WAS A WAR THAT WOULD LEAVE A
LASTING IMPACT ON THE WHOLE
COUNTRY, BUT POSITIVELY AND
NEGATIVELY.
NEGATIVELY. ON THIS 75th ANNIVERSARY, THAT
WE WOULD LOOK BACK AT THE ROLE
OUR STATE PLAYED IN THE WAR,
WITH HISTORIAN FELIX.
>> THE WAR CHANGED SEATTLE,
KING COUNTY, MORE THAN ANY EVENT
IN THE 20th CENTURY.
DOZENS OF PEOPLE LIVED HERE FOR
WARTIME JOBS, BECAUSE WE ARE ON
THE PACIFIC COAST THERE WAS THE
FEAR THAT, RIGHT AWAY, RIGHT
AFTER PEARL HARBOR IN DECEMBER
OF 41, THERE WAS FEAR WE WOULD
BE ATTACKED.
BE ATTACKED. THERE WERE AIR RAID DRILLS,
BLACKOUTS, IN FACT, EVEN BEFORE
PEARL HARBOR SIENA WAS FAMOUS
BECAUSE WE WERE THE FIRST BIG
CITY IN THE COUNTRY TO PRACTICE
AN AIR RAID DRILL. ALTHOUGH
LIGHTS WENT OFF, THERE ARE
FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHS IN LIFE
MAGAZINE.
MAGAZINE.
MAGAZINE. PRETTY MUCH OVERNIGHT THE CITY
WAS ON A WAR FOOTING.
AS OF DECEMBER 1941, AND THAT
THESE WERE RATIONED, LIKE SUGAR
AND GASOLINE.
AND GASOLINE. THERE WERE HAPPY DAYS, TOO.
THERE WERE WARD BOND RALLIES IN
PLACES CALLED VICTORY SQUARE
WHERE THERE WAS A TEMPORARY
MONUMENT SET UP AT FOURTH
AVENUE AND UNIVERSITY.
WHERE THE FAIRMONT HOTEL IS
NOW.
NOW.
NOW. THERE WAS A BIG PYLON LIKE A
TALL MONOLITH WHERE THEY PUT
THE NAMES OF WAR CASUALTIES,
WITH FAMOUS HOLLYWOOD
CELEBRITIES, FAMOUS SOLDIERS
AND SAILORS, AIRMEN, GAVE
PRESENTATIONS ON WEEKENDS AND WE
DAYS.
DAYS.
DAYS. THE
DAYS. THE WAR WAS A HUGE ECONOMIC
BOOST AFTER 10 YEARS OF THE
GREAT DEPRESSION.
GREAT DEPRESSION. IT WAS PRETTY MUCH FULL
EMPLOYMENT, SHIPYARDS WERE
BUILDING SHIPS OF COURSE,
FAMOUSLY BUILDING THE B-52
BOMBER, WHICH HELPED WIN THE
WAR.
WAR.
WAR. BUT
WAR. BUT VERY FAMOUSLY, THEY PUT A
FAKE TOWN ON THE ROOF, SO THAT
IF ANYBODY EVER FLEW OVER, BUT
IF THEY HAD, THEY WOULD HAVE
SEEN THIS LITTLE SORT OF HALF
SIZED TOWN WHICH WAS VACANT
BUILDINGS AND SIGNS, AND FAKE
STREET TO DISGUISE THIS VERY
IMPORTANT WARTIME FACTORY.
>> THAT IS FASCINATING,
SOMETHING I DID NOT LEARN IN MY
HISTORY CLASS.
HISTORY CLASS. YOU BROUGHT UP BOEING AND
BOEING IS HUGE FOR US HERE IN
WASHINGTON.
WASHINGTON. HOW DID THEY PLAY THAT ROLE
BACK THEN?
BACK THEN? YOU SAID THEY MENTIONED THE B-
17 AND YOU ALSO TALKED ABOUT
THE B-29 I WENT?
>> THE B-29 WAS A MUCH BIGGER
BOMBER BUILT DOWN IN RENTON, A
PLAT WHERE THEY STILL BUILD OR
TRY TO BUILD THE 737s, AND THE
B-29 FAMOUSLY HELPED DELIVER
THOSE ATOMIC BOMBS THAT WERE
DROPPED ON JAPAN, HIROSHIMA AND
NAGASAKI IN 1945.
SO, THE WAR IS NOT, A LOT OF
LOCAL PEOPLE LOST BROTHERS,
SISTERS, HUSBANDS, WIVES.
BUT THE STORY IS SO MUCH MORE
NUANCED THAN THAT, BECAUSE IN
ADDITION TO PEOPLE GOING
OVERSEAS TO BUY, AND MAKING
SACRIFICES AT HOME TO HAVE THE
PRODUCTS AND THINGS THEY NEEDED
TO FIGHT THAT WAR, THERE WERE
ALSO SOME BAD THINGS THAT
HAPPENED.
HAPPENED.
HAPPENED. LIKE IN 1942 WHEN AN EXECUTIVE
ORDER LET THE ROUND UP AMERICAN
CITIZENS, JAPANESE-AMERICANS AND
AMERICANS OF JAPANESE DESCENT
AND PUT THEM IN CONCENTRATION
CAMPS AND OVER IN IDAHO,
CALIFORNIA, AND WYOMING.
AND VIOLATED THEIR
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. MOST LOST PROPERTY THEY HAD AND
WHEN THEY CAME BACK THEY
COULDN'T BUY THEIR HOMES BACK.
IT WAS REALLY A DARK SPOT IN
AMERICAN HISTORY.
AMERICAN HISTORY. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DID
EVENTUALLY APOLOGIZED AND
AWARDED REPARATIONS IN
EVERYTHING BUT STILL, IT IS A
REALLY DIFFICULT TIME THAT IS
WORTH REMEMBERING, TO SEE HOW
WE TREAT PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY
LOOK DIFFERENT FROM US DURING
WORLD WAR II.
WE DIDN'T DO THAT TO GERMAN
PEOPLE, ONLY TO JAPANESE BECAUSE
THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT WAS THE
ENEMY AND THE JAPANESE-
AMERICANS LOOKED LIKE THE ENEMY.
IT WAS A VERY COMPLICATED AND
DARK TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY
IN ADDITION TO BEING A TIME OF
GREAT TRIUMPH.
GREAT TRIUMPH. WHEN IN 1945, WHEN THE WAR
ENDED 75 YEARS AGO, DOWNTOWN
SEATTLE SAW THE BIGGEST PARTY
EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE
CITY.
CITY.
CITY. PEOPLE SPONTANEOUSLY, THE
AUGUST 14th 1945 DAY, PEOPLE
TURNED OUT ON THE STREET.
>> SEATTLE LET LOOSE ALL THE
PENT UP EMOTIONS OF THREE YEARS
AND EIGHT MONTHS OF WORK, AND
TO THE VICTORS THE SPOILS.
>> THIS HUGE SENSE EVER LIVE,
ONLY FOUR YEARS OF SACRIFICE IS
OVER, OF COURSE NOBODY KNEW THE
COLD WAR WAS JUST AHEAD.
A LONG, LONG DEBATE OVER
COMMUNIST, NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND
ALL THESE OTHER THINGS WOULD
HAPPEN IN THE 50s AND 60s.
BUT FOR AT LEAST SEVERAL HOURS
THERE ON AUGUST 14th, 1945,
PEOPLE CELEBRATED.
PEOPLE CELEBRATED. THEN, SEPTEMBER 2nd, 1945, THE
FORMAL TREATY WAS SIGNED.
IN TOKYO BAY, HOSTILITIES
ENDED.
ENDED.
ENDED. >>
ENDED. >> YOU SAID SOMETHING I WANT TO
CIRCLE BACK TO, HOW THEY WERE
TREATING THE JAPANESE-
AMERICANS, AT THAT TIME WITH
THE INTERNMENT CAMPS.
BECAUSE THEY FELT THREATENED,
AND I KNOW ALSO THE PROPAGANDA
THAT WAS PUT OUT TO MAKE US NOT
WANT TO HAVE THEM AROUND
BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO INCITE
THAT FEAR.
THAT FEAR. WHAT DO YOU THINK WE COULD
LEARN FROM WORLD WAR II, AND
WHAT THE JAPANESE-AMERICANS
WENT TO BACK TO, WHAT COULD WE
LEARN AND MAYBE TRANSLATE THAT
INTO TODAY'S RACE ISSUES?
>> A BIG TAKE AWAY FROM WORLD
WAR II IS YOU DON'T VIOLATE
PEOPLE'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
BECAUSE WE ARE AT WAR.
YOU NEVER CROSS THAT LINE.
IT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO OBSERVE
THE CONSTITUTION WHEN IT IS
HARDEST TO DO SO.
BECAUSE ALL THAT STUFF WAS
EVENTUALLY FOUND TO BE WRONG,
THEY FOUND THE GOVERNMENT IN
ERROR, UNCONSTITUTIONALLY
ERROR, UNCONSTITUTIONALLY ROUNDING UP AMERICAN CITIZENS
FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN THEIR
ETHNIC BACKGROUND.
ETHNIC BACKGROUND. THEY CANNOT DO THAT AND STILL
CALL YOURSELF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA.
OF AMERICA. FORTUNATELY, PEOPLE DID PAY
ATTENTION, THERE IS A WONDERFUL
HISTORY PROJECT IN SEATTLE
CALLED DENTURE, INTERVIEWING
SURVIVORS OF THE JAPANESE
CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND KEEPING
THE HISTORY ALIVE SO THAT THE
LESSON CAN BE LEARNED BY A NEW
GENERATION AND NEVER FORGOTTEN.
IT IS WASTED IF WE DON'T USE IT
TO MAKE OURSELVES BETTER AND
KEEP WORKING ON THAT WHOLE ROW
MORE PERFECT UNION THAT WE ALL
LOVE SO MUCH.
>> A HISTORY PROJECT BASED HERE
IN SEATTLE, WE ARE LUCKY TO
HAVE IT SHOW'S WEBSITE HOUSES
AND MAKES ASSESSABLE ORAL
HISTORIES AND DIGITAL ARCHIVES
THAT CHRONICLED JAPANESE-