[fintstone]

Originally Posted by rusnak

No, you don't understand. Japan had a caste system. If you were born a son of a shoe repairman, you'll die a shoe repairman.

The first generation Japanese who moved here HATED that system. My great-grandpa hated the Emperor. He loved the freedom, the wide open spaces, and opportunity of America. He loved driving around in an American pickup truck. He said that his proudest achievement was becoming an American citizen in the 1950s. He loved this country even though the FBI tortured my grandpa. And this was a man who settled thousands of acres of farmland, and was sort of a Japanese Sam Walton. My siblings were all taught that the USA is the greatest country in the history of the world. We all wave the American flag and are as conservative and hard working as it gets. I don't doubt that any of my family would die to defend this country, but none were more anti-Japan and pro-USA than the one who came here and made a life out of nothing.

I think that most Japanese immigrants (and most Asian immigrants) were/are fabulous. Moreso than most. They are smart, industrious and patriotic. On the other hand, some Japanese-Americans (not many) still sided with Japan. We have immigrants from the ME that side with AQ and ISIS. Some are second and third generation. Some are even not of ME lineage. The folks that shot up a Christmas Party in CA were reportedly model citizens....enjoying the American dream. Sometimes folks see their loyalty different than others.

It sounds like your family were fabulous immigrants and patriots...just like my German and native American family members were (although some were locked up as well)...not to mention my horse-thieving Scot-Irish ancestors. At the time, folks thought they were doing the right thing. Many who fought in the Civil War on both sides were noble and brave (despite what the current version of history tells us). Hindsight is 20/20.