Following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, wartime hysteria led to President Roosevelt's executive order authorizing the relocation of Japanese-American families on the West coast to internment camps—an edict that resulted in law-abiding Americans losing their homes, jobs, and businesses. To prove their patriotism, many Japanese men volunteered to fight in segregated units, distinguishing themselves on European battlefields, where many died—including "Ted" Tanouye of Torrance, CA. In Robert Horsting and Craig Yahata's Citizen Tanouye, viewers follow eight contemporary Torrance High School students assigned to conduct research on Tanouye's life and extraordinary courage under fire, which resulted in a belated 2000 Congressional Medal of Honor given to Tanouye's family. The students fan out to local libraries and museums, scouring old newspapers and yearbooks, and interviewing surviving Japanese-American soldiers, who describe the peculiar experience of fighting for your country while your family remains imprisoned behind barbed wire—along the way learning a valuable and timely lesson about tolerance. DVD extras include bonus and deleted scenes. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)
Citizen Tanouye
(2005) 58 min. DVD: $19.95. WGBH Boston Video. PPR. Closed captioned. ISBN: 978-1-59375-760-1. Volume 23, Issue 1
Citizen Tanouye
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