We have had an exciting summer here at Pacific Atrocities Education! A few of our summer projects include Japan’s Miracle Economic Boom after WW2, Vietnamese Famine During WW2, and The Forgotten Chinese Expedition in Burma. We have also revamped our website, merchandise page, as well as launching Boba Talk! 

Talk from Survivor- Jean B. Chan 
Jean B. Chan is a retired mathematics professor at Sonoma State University. She was an early member of the Rape of Nanking Redress Coalition. She had worked tirelessly to include a memorial for the Asian holocaust in Sonoma’s Holocaust and Genocide Memorial Grove. She shared the story of losing a brother from starvation and inadequate medical care during the Japanese Imperial Military invasion of China in WW2. 

​Education for Social Justice Foundation presented “Comfort Women” History and Issues. 

We participated in discussion and discourse surrounding the topic of remembering history. We were faced with questions like “How do you decide who is responsible for these atrocities?”, “How do we commemorate and memorialize these atrocities?”, and “How do we move forward in today’s world without forgetting history?”.

Our interns also shadowed Dwayne McDaniel, Developer Advocate at Pantheon Systems, Julie Soo, Commissioner on the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, Enforcement Bureau for California Department of Insurance, and Judge Lillian Sing, retired at SF Superior Court’s Collaborative Court for professional development. 

We are also hosting public history night on July 25th where you can learn more about not only what we have been working on this summer but also our interns’ immigration history. 

For more information about our interns, check here. 

by Yesenia Olmos

A superhero defeats evil supervillains in the name of justice, or do they? Superheroes offer us the perfect revenge and fantasy without the constraints of the law. American pop culture, for example, is obsessed with this idea of superheroes, this the U.S. government knew. The U.S. funded a government agency accordingly and named it ‘War Writers Board’ (WWB) in (1941) that introduced western “history” into comics to entertain, shape and sway Americans' opinions during wartime. Along with (WWB), Detective Comics (DC) writers and cartoonists brought to life war stories that would captivate an audience that had just suffered the post-traumatic stress of WWI and the beginning of the Great Depression. Comic books were geared towards all ages, that is what made them so popular and alarming. Acknowledging the time these comics were printed, there was sure to be wartime hysteria, (yellow peril) especially directed towards their enemies the Axis powers.  It will be hard to say by the end of this blog if the previous statement is true or only a prospector's reality. 
The beginning of the twentieth century would be known as the “Golden Age” of “innocence”. This was a time used metaphorically to describe the “innocence” of America or as an ironic description of the horrors of war. The period of the “Golden Age” of comic books would begin in (1938-1946) with the “first” American superhero, Superman. Accordingly, there had to be supervillains, America's wartime enemies, such as the “Japs”. The Japanese were often shown in comics as villains with yellow-tinted skin, pointed devil ears, long jaws, buck teeth, and sometimes fangs. By the 19th century, Americans had stereotyped the Asian population with the racist color-metaphor “yellow peril”. The term is integral to the xenophobic aspect of colonialism, saying the peoples of East Asia were an existential danger to the Western World. Paradoxically, they also tried to emphasize racial tolerance systematically to seem inclusive as opposed to their enemies abroad. 

The Claw was a superhuman monster obsessed with America's complete destruction. The Claw orders a wave of “slaves” aka (Asian immigrants) to invade the U.S. The Claw was purposefully colored yellow, to represent the Yellow Peril a racist term that originated in the 19th century after Chinese immigrants moved to the West. This racist color-metaphor related to the people of East Asia as an existential danger to the Western World. 

​Black Dragon Society was created with the goal of driving the Russian Empire out of East Asia. The Black Dragon Society was a nationalistic right-wing military group in Japan, in the late 20s and 30s. During WWII Americans invoked wartime hysteria to sway the youth to think of the enemy as less than and incomparable to the American “intelligence”. Again, we see an illusion of how the American people saw their enemy.

Beginning in 1938, the term nomos would come into context. Robert Cover, a law professor at Yale himself said, “nomos is a normative universe where we constantly create and maintain a world of right and wrong, of lawful and unlawful, of valid and void.” The introduction of superheroes created nomos. Unfortunately, some of the American population could not assimilate fact from fiction. The purpose of the (WWB) was to create hyper-nationalism amongst the American population while promoting inaccurate stereotypes of the enemy. 
Starting December 7, 1941, the U.S. joined the war after a naval attack on Pearl Harbor, HI was bombed by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Comic books then began to emphasize the importance of going to war to defeat the “evil” that was abrupting the peace and justice of America. Comic books essentially became political media for all ages. It is important to realize that these comic books were being read by children who would grow up to be voters, soldiers, and officials of society for the next future generation. 
Law is very different from justice. Law is associated with the dominant. While justice is associated with the person who escaped the bonds of the dominant. Greek philosopher, Plato himself said, “justice may be something apart from the law”. Therefore, superheroes became providers of justice. What I am trying to get at is, children, adults, soldiers reading these comics believed that America was the purveyors of justice, trying to defeat communism and fascism abroad. Comic books written during the “Golden Age” helped shape the modern American culture. It is important not to underestimate the impact of propaganda absorbed by the youth.
Many associate the end of the “Golden Age” with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since then, comic book creators began to create more inclusive superheroes, such as the ones below: 

Cassandra Cain was born for experimental purposes, she became a trained assassin. She was given up by her mother (Lady Shiva) to her father (David Cain) who was part of the League of Assassins and trained her. She is Chinese-American and stands at 5’5, she is currently 19 years old. A vigilante, Cassandra decides to fight for what she believes in. She is later introduced to the Bat-Family and taken in as an adoptive daughter to Bruce Wayne, where she becomes “Batgirl”. 

Kai-Ro, also known as Green Lantern, was a Tibetan-American. The ring chose him after he showed remarkable maturity and wisdom. He fought alongside the Justice League, where he advocated for more peaceful resolutions. Although Kai-Ro’s age is not known, it is assumed he is very young and a pariah for his insightful thinking. 

Tatsu Yamashiro was trained at a young age to become an expert in martial arts and a samurai master. The sword that she carries is trapped with the soul of her dead husband and thousands of souls, whom she seeks to help. Katana is most known as a ‘vigilante’ in her role in the ‘Suicide Squad’.  ​

Youth will always be targeted as the “weak” link to society. With undeveloped ideas and political views, the youth is always easily swayed. However, this can be changed. The only thing that might have the power to awaken the youth is to study history. History allows one to become a critical thinker, it allows you to decipher your own opinions based on facts. If the youth of today learned inclusive world history there could be a chance of understanding the world without inaccurate stereotypes. Superheroes may fight for justice, but the creators are the ones who form the conscience of what is right and wrong. So, then do superheroes truly fight for justice? Or only in what they believe is justice. Wars do not start on the battlefield, they begin at the home front. I would like to end this with a quote many Batman fans would recognize. 


“Why do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves back up.” – Batman  


Bibliography

Bainbridge, J. (2015). “The Call to do Justice”: Superheroes, Sovereigns and the State During 
Wartime.”  International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue Internationale de 
Sémiotique Juridique, 745–763.

David Dellecese. (2018). “Comic Books As American Propaganda During World War II”, SUNY 
Polytechnic Institute, 2018.

Hirsch, P. (2014). “This Is Our Enemy”: The Writers’ War Board and Representations of Race in 
Comic Books, 1942–1945.” Pacific Historical Review, 448–486. 

Siegel, Jerry, Joe Shuster, Wayne Boring, Jack Burnley, Paul Cassidy, Ed Dobrotka, Don 
Komisarow, Leo Nowak, Frederic E. Ray, and John Sikela. (2017) Superman, the Golden 
Age. Volume Three. 

“DC Comics Inc”. (2019) DC. https://www.dccomics.com/.

by Samantha Quach

by Samantha Lam

by Junyi Han 

In May 1942, the rainy season in Burma just began to reveal its true color, soaking lands with nightmarish thunderstorms. In the meantime, tens of thousands of soldiers from the Chinese Expeditionary Force were suffering from a disastrous retreat in the jungle. Gu Luo, a soldier serving in the Fifth Army wrote in his diary: “The jungle covered everything for miles, leaving us deadly thirsty…The soldiers are all in rags and look very gaunt. Everyone is carrying a bag of rice, a water-can, a diesel tin, and in the other hand, a walking-stick…Because we haven’t had any oil for a month, my stools are very hard and my anus has split” (Mitter 640). Luo only provides us with a sketch of this withdrawal. In fact, about 30,000 soldiers died in this foreign jungle (Wangyi). The tremendous death toll urges us to question how and why this tragedy happened. Historical records suggest that this military disaster was primarily caused by a split among the Allied leaders and it was exacerbated by the extreme climate in Burma. 
    In early 1942, the situation in Burma was unfavorable to the Allied forces. In late April, the Japanese troops continued advancing in eastern Burma and successfully seized Lashio on April 29th. Under such circumstances, Joseph Stilwell, the commander of the American Army Forces of the China-Burma-India Theater and the Chiang Kai-Shek’s chief of staff, was concerned that the Allied troops in this region would be destroyed by the Japanese army and therefore wanted to initiate an imminent retreat (Chen). However, a split between Joseph Stilwell and his superior Chiang Kai-Shek broke out as they were setting out the withdrawal plan. While Stilwell wanted to bring his troops to India instead of back to China, Chiang was “aghast when he heard the news that his chief of staff had ordered a substantial part of his army into another country, and wondered whether Stilwell had lost his resolve because his proposed attack in Burma had gone so wrong” (Mitter, 637). Chiang then reversed Stilwell’s order, commanding the generals to lead their troops to assemble in Myitkyina, a town in northern Burma. Stilwell was determined to leave. He formed a party of about eighty people – including American, Chinese, and British soldiers, Indian engineers, and Burmese nurses – and headed to India (Mitter, 638). 
While Stilwell’s group managed to arrive in India without any deaths, the rest of his troops were not as lucky. For instance, general Yuming Du, the commander of the Fifth Army, decided to follow Chiang’s order and led his troops to Myiktyina. For the Fifth Army, the most lethal threat on their way did not come from the Japanese troops, but from nature. When Du decided to dispatch his troops into the Burmese jungle, he had no idea how terrifying the journey could be. In early May, because the communications broke down, they decided to move northwest into Mandalay and soon got lost in the jungle. The rainy season in Burma came along with extreme weather. Massive thunderstorms soaked soldiers to the skin. Moreover, everywhere they go, insects attacked them ruthlessly. The longer they stayed, the conditions became even worse. The soldiers were too exhausted to carry their own weapons. The weapons were destroyed and abandoned so that they would not be captured by the Japanese troops. Luo recalled that as his division wandered in the jungle, he saw corpses scattered everywhere. Their company cook was missing and the remains of his body were found half-eaten, supposedly by tigers (Mitter, 639). By the middle of June, the soldiers were bogged down into a more desperate situation. They were “starving, digging up roots to try and survive; meanwhile the monsoon rains poured down every day. Even when supplies were dropped in the area from the air, tragedy struck, as some soldiers were hit and killed by the falling boxes. More then died from eating too fast after a period of long deprivation” (Mitter, 641). Other divisions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force also went through extreme hardships, and a large number of soldiers were wiped out by assaults from native people, Japanese attacks, and disease. Recently, the skulls of three female soldiers were found in a native Burmese tribe. The chief of the tribe said these skulls were used as medicine ladles for women who suffered from difficult labor (Sina). These skulls have been taken back to China. Now they are kept in Dianxi Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall located in Yunnan, China. There were many more soldiers lost in the jungle and remained unknown in a foreign land. Overall, the retreat was a fatal disaster. It led to the death or injury of about 25,000 Chinese troops (the exact number is unclear) along with over 10,000 British and Indian troops (Mitter 642). This failure was rooted in the distrust among the Allied leaders, and the death toll substantially increased due to the extreme weather in Burma. This massive withdrawal caused severe damages to the Allied defense in the China-Burma-India Theater. The supplies to China were cut off as the Japanese troops seized the Burma road. Therefore, the National Government led by Chiang became even more isolated. 

References:
Mitter, Rana. Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II 1937-1945. New York: Houghton Mifflin 
Harcourt, 2013.
Chen, C. Peter. World War II Database. Accessed on July 5, 2019. 
https://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=18
Wang Yi Xin Wen. Accessed on July 2, 2019. 
http://3g.163.com/dy/article/E541MLMJ0525PILS.html
Xiao Ming Shi Hua. Sina. Accessed on July 2, 2019.
http://k.sina.com.cn/article_5453296053_1450ab1b50010076gt.html​

While you are here, we have a small favor to ask. PAE was founded as a nonprofit in 2014 because we knew the mainstream media wouldn't cover the forgotten voices of the Pacific Asia War. Today, the support from our readers makes up about 2/3 of our budget. This support allows us to dig deep on stories from the past that matter. If you value what you are reading from us, please contribute to make this possible. 

Our mission at Pacific Atrocities Education is to raise awareness about the Pacific War and understand its relevance in modern America. We facilitate conversations through the books we publish, our educational outreach programs, and work with local communities. Yet, we yearn to have a larger conversation about why some narratives surrounding the Second World War are more popular than others. It is through this desire that the podcast, Boba Talk, was created. 
Our three Communication interns; Hanna, Neomi, and Alexa have created this podcast series to highlight specific narratives of the Pacific war with the goal to look into the past in order to solve the issues of today. This aim is realized in the title, ‘Boba Talk,’ which alludes to the Bay Area’s craze of boba tea, which originated in Taiwan. The San Francisco Bay Area has become home to many Asian Americans, resulting in a diverse and complex history. Yet, Pacific Asian history is not represented in mainstream American culture. ‘Boba Talk’ will attempt to remedy this problem by creating a bridge between Pacific Asian history during World War II and its influences on our contemporary world. 
The bi-weekly podcast serves as a discussion forum, covering a variety of topics from the Pacific War including Women in War, The Philippines, Unit 731 and the debate over reparations. Boba Talks uses the knowledge promoted by PAE and demonstrates how it can impact the Bay Area. We are so proud of our communications team for heightening the level of discussion surrounding the Pacific War. Starting July 8th, find ‘Boba Talk’ on Spotify, Soundcloud, iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Anchor, and more. Enjoy! 

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/boba-talk/id1471435154
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2zjRJKBB7T90qSQBDT3hl5
Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9jN2FjMzYwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-364264533
Anchor: https://anchor.fm/boba-talk
Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/boba-talk
RadioPublic: https://www.breaker.audio/boba-talk​

by Neomi Ngo

Canned foods are a staple in every household. Almost every grocery store has an aisle, or even more, of just canned foods. It seems as though you can put almost anything into a can, from fruits to meats. Canning started hundreds of years ago, primarily in France, but did not reach its peak until World War II. 

Canning Began in France
During the French Napoleonic Wars (1803 – 1815), the French government offered a hefty cash award of 12,000 francs to any inventor who could create a cheap and effective method of preserving large amounts of food. In 1809, Nicolas Appert developed the method of sealing food in glass jars, but the Napoleonic Wars ended before his process was perfected.

Canning Moved to the UK and Europe
In 1811, Bryan Donkin developed the process of packaging food in sealed airtight cans made of tinned wrought iron, whereas previously, the process was done with glass jars. Unfortunately, without modern machinery, it was a long and hard process to develop. Additionally, it was an expensive process. Thus, in the mid-19th century, canned foods became a status symbol for the middle to upper class throughout Europe. Later on, with the increasing mechanization of the canning process, coupled with the huge increase in urban populations across Europe, there was a rising demand for canned foods.

Canning Introduced to the United States
Large scale wars in the 19th century, such as the Crimean War, the American Civil War, and the Franco-Prussian War, introduced an increasing number of American working class men to canned foods. 
 
In World War I, the demand for canned foods increased as military commanders needed quantities of cheap, high-calorie food to feed their millions of soldiers. The federal government also emphasized canning as patriotic ventures. Numerous posters were produced emphasizing the correlation between canning and allied victory. During the Great Depression, the canning center movement was accelerated by widespread decreases in farm income, and widespread increases in unemployment across the country.

Canning’s Peak in WW2
In addition to meeting civilian needs, US farms also had to feed the military and the Allies. However, an agricultural labor shortage due to the draft and the internment of Japanese-Americans strained the system. Reducing civilian usage of processed fruit and vegetable products through rationing would help reduce the strain. As a result, there was a mass shortage of food, and people were encouraged to plant Victory Gardens to reduce the amount of processed food needed. Newspapers and magazines published how-to articles, and gardens became popular in backyards, vacant lots, big-city window-boxes, and even on community property. By the end of 1943, Victory Gardens supplied 40 percent of civilian needs for fruits and vegetables.

Throughout World War II, canning became a major focus of the US government. Because Victory Gardens had become such an effective system, women were also encouraged to can the produce grown in their own garden, for preservations’ sake. Canning, like gardening, was presented in official propaganda as a patriotic and unifying act, linking soldiers’ activities to women’s roles in the kitchen. Because of the rise of victory gardens and the Women’s Land Army, both of which promoted and lead women to spend their energy on agriculture, the relationship between victory gardens and canning ensured that just as victory garden yields reached their peak in 1943, so too did canning levels. A poll in January 1944 found that 75 percent of housewives canned, and those women canned an average of 165 jars per year. The USDA estimates that approximately 4 billion cans and jars of food were produced that year. 

Along with the introduction of canning in homes, community canning centers were built throughout the states to further promote and cultivate canning. Canning centers proved effective, and in 1945, the USDA stated that 6,000 canning centers were in operation throughout the United States. The government-sponsored and financially backed these centers, and allowed the USDA to provide instructional and educational supervision. The government released convenient bulletins outlining the canning process, including the use of water baths and low-acid food pressure cookers. It also gave guidance on cooking times and temperatures to preserve various foods, making it easy to follow. 

A home demonstrator from the Extension Services or a locally skilled person was on hand inspecting and instructing customers in canning methods within the facilities. Individuals brought their raw food to the center, paying a small fee or donating a small amount of their preserved food in return for materials use. 

Sources:
https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/food-rationing-and-canning-world-war-ii
http://www.sarahsundin.com/make-it-do-rationing-of-canned-goods-in-world-war-ii-2/
https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/ipd/canning/exhibits/show/wartime-canning/world-war-ii
https://www.thekitchn.com/breakthroughs-in-food-science-canning-218083
https://www.britannica.com/topic/canning-food-processing
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21689069
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/08/02/157777834/canning-history-when-propaganda-encouraged-patriotic-preserves
http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/food-rationing-in-wartime-america

by Ally Diwik

In December 1941, over the course of only a few days, the Thai government moved from a public stance of neutrality to a military alliance with Japan. Thailand’s alliance with Japan would ultimately define Thailand’s role in World War II in the Pacific Theater. After allying itself with Japan, Thailand would go on to declare war against the British and Americans as well as assist the Japanese in supplying their troops through the completion of the infamous Thailand-Burma Railway. Thus, it is valuable to examine how this rapid shift in government policy took place in Thailand. 
    Prior to the outbreak of war in the Pacific, Thailand was a quasi-independent state in which the British and French exercised considerable influence. The area to the east of the Menam Chao Phraya Basin fell within the French sphere of influence while the area to the west of the river basin lay within the British sphere. However, in December 1938, Phibunsongkhram took power in Thailand as a military dictator. Phibunsongkhram, also known as Phibun, maintained friendly relations between Thailand and Japan. Relations with Japan had been increasing amiable since the early 1930s and when paired with Thailand’s new strongly nationalistic policies which were anti-Chinese at home and pro-Japanese abroad, relations between Thailand and European powers were increasingly strained. Thai-European relations continued to falter when in November 1940, Phibun ordered the invasion of French territories in western Laos and northwestern Cambodia that had formerly been under Thai control. This move on the part of Thailand was strongly supported by Japan. 
    The relationship between Thailand and Japan didn't remain friendly especially when it came to the convenience of Thailand. Japanese aggression in the Pacific increasingly strained the Thai-Japanese relationship. Thai officials, including Phibun himself, repeatedly appealed to the British and Americans to help Thailand defend its territory and sovereignty against Imperial Japan. But neither country was able to offer any significant support to the Thai government. As a result, as relations between Japan and its Pacific rivals worsened following the advance of Japanese forces into southern French Indo-China, Phibun declared that Thailand would remain neutral. Unfortunately, the likelihood of war only increased in the following months which in turn increased apprehension within the Thai government that they would be able to remain neutral. 
    Phibun attempted to remain friendly and yet noncommittal towards the Japanese officials that urgently lobbied his government for support. But by December 8th, 1941, the Thai government was forced to seriously consider all options following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the impending Japanese invasion of Thailand. Four main options were discussed at a cabinet meeting on December 8th. The options included were: (1) Japan and Thailand would conclude an offensive/defensive alliance; (2) Thailand would join the Tripartite Pact with Germany, Italy, and Japan; (3) Thailand would cooperate with Japanese military operations; (4) Thailand and Japan would undertake the mutual defense of Thailand. All four options held the expectation that Japanese forces would be allowed to pass through Thailand. Additionally, each option was accompanied by the Japanese offer to assist Thailand in recovering its lost territories. On the evening of December 8th, 1941, the Japanese ambassador, accompanied by military and naval attachés, went to see Phibun. They arrived with a draft of an alliance treaty they expected the Thai government to agree to. On December 21st, the formal signing of the Treaty of Alliance took place as scheduled at Wat Phra Kaeo. Phibun then reshuffled his cabinet to ensure that it represented a more pro-Japanese group of officials. Then, on January 25th, 1942, the deputy foreign minister announced over the radio that Thailand was joining Japan and declaring war on Britain and the United States. 
    Following the declaration of war, the most significant role Thailand played in the Pacific War was in building the Thailand-Burma Railway. The Japanese decided it was necessary to build a railway to connect Bangkok, Thailand, with Moulmein, Burma. By early 1942, shipping lanes had become incredibly vulnerable to allied attacks and thus a railway was necessary to bring much-needed supplies to Japanese forces in Burma. It was designed to be 259 miles long running through jungles, across rivers, and over the mountain chain that separated Burma and Thailand. To build the railway, the Japanese and Thai used thousands of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) as well as hundreds of thousands of Romusha (indigenous contract laborers) from Burma, Malaya, Java, and other conquered nations as a labor force. Construction began in October 1942 and within a few months the Imperial General Command in Tokyo, anxious to complete the project, moved up the completion date to October 1943. This acceleration was known as “the Speedo” and it was during this time that the Thailand-Burma railway earned its nickname: the “death” railway.
    Ultimately, during World War II, Thailand was only able to gain minor territorial concessions in Burma, Malaya, Laos, and Cambodia as a result of its alliance with Japan. Additionally, the Thai economy greatly suffered during this time which undermined public support for Phibun. The waning public support for Phibun allowed resistance groups based in the United States and Britain to make contact with similar groups within Thailand. The Free Thai, as these groups were known, conducted raids against the Japanese and ultimately succeeded in infiltrating the Thai government. By July 1944, Phibun was forced to resign and his 1942 declaration of war was determined to be unconstitutional and therefore legally void. As a result, Thailand never needed to official surrendered to the allies. Instead, following Phibun’s resignation, Thailand did its best to repair diplomatic relations with the Allies and ceased the majority of its wartime operations. 

Sources:
Eldredge, Sears, “The Thailand-Burma Railway: An Overview” (2014). Book Chapters. Book 
21. http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/thdabooks/21. 
Keyes, Charles F. and Jane E. Keyes. “Thailand.” Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Encycloaedia 
Brittanica, Inc., 9 June 2019, https://www.britannica.com/place/Thailand/Chulalongkorn-and-the-foundations-of-modern-Thailand. 
Swan, William L. "Thai-Japanese Relations at the Start of the Pacific War: New Insight into a 
Controversial Period." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, vol. 18, no. 2, 1987, pp. 270-293.
Wilson, Hugh. "The Best of Friends: Britain, America and Thailand, 1945-48." Canadian Journal 
of History, vol. 25, no. 1, 1990, pp. 61-84.