|
 |
TITLE Draft resistors DESCRIPTION Draft resistors "63 young Niseis from Heart Mountain concentration camp being arraigned in the US District Court in Cheyenne, Wyoming on June 13, 1944. They are being charged with resisting the Selective Service Law while interned in the concentration camp. They contend that the law is unconstitutional when applied to Niseis interned in the camps." Frank Emi CONTEXT "There were sixty-three in the first group that resisted. Their trial began on June 12, 1944, before Judge T. Blake Kennedy in the U.S. District Court, Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was headlined in the local papers as the largest mass trial in the history of Wyoming. While the resisters were awaiting their trial at the Cheyenne county jail, they were visited by the late Min Yasui and Joe Grant Masaoka. The two tried to persuade the resisters to change their minds and enter the Army. They even tried fright tactics by telling the resisters that if they went to the "Pen," the gaurds would beat them with two-by-fours. Their arguments did not impress the young men. No one changed his mind. The trial of the "63" ended on june 20, 1944. They were found guilty and sentenced to three years. About thirty went to McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary. The rest were sent to Leavenworth." Frank Seishi Emi, Draft Resisters at Heart Mountain CREDIT Courtesy of Frank Emi DATE June 13, 1944 |
