for being a woman who never existed.
Her name was Iva Toguri.
Iva is the subject of the next musical I'm writing, and her story will anger you to no end, while at the same time bear witness to you of the strength of the human spirit.
She was the first born American citizen in her family. How ironic that this young woman, born on the 4th of July, 1916...a Girl Scout who had a crush on the actor, Jimmy Stewart; how ironic that by the end of WWII, she would be labeled a traitor, have her citizenship revoked, and serve 9 years in prison (never told why she was arrested)...for being the infamous Tokyo Rose... a woman who NEVER existed.
For those who have never heard of Tokyo Rose... google will answer that question and maybe give birth to even more questions - lol!
Investigation would prove that of all the Japanese, English speaking women who broadcast over radio Tokyo during the war. NONE OF THEM ever went by the name Tokyo Rose.
Iva never looked at herself as a "Japanese-American". She couldn't speak Japanese, in fact, Iva and her family looked at themselves as Americans - period.
Because she was the only naturalized citizen born in her family, Iva had to go to Japan to take care of her mother's sister, whose health was failing. She left in August of 1941.
Due to the strained relations between Japan and America at the time, Iva couldn't get a passport. Instead, she was given a "certificate of identification". She was told by a representative of the State Department, that on arrival in Tokyo, she was to go to the American Embassy/Consulate, show her certificate, and she would then be given a passport.
The American embassy denied her passport request, saying that she had no proof of American citizenship. Another irony in that she would not have been given the certificate of identification had she not been able to show proof of American citizenship.
We all know what happened in early December of 1941, and due to that, Iva was stranded in Japan, labeled a "Hostile Alien", and was constantly under scrutiny of the Japanese Secret Police.
Iva refused to renounce her American citizenship: even openly cheering when Doolittle ran his raids over Japan. As a result, Iva's life went downhill from there.
As old as this story is, it is relevant today - especially when examining the media's role in her persecution.
President Gerald Ford would finally pardon Iva, as one of his last acts as president in 1974.
A few years later, Iva was asked if she held any resentment toward the government.
According to all who knew her, her answer was pure Iva..."There was Eaney, Meaney, Mina. and I was Mo."
Thanks for reading my blog.
Loren
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