American Hero

Quote

“No state shall make or enforce any law which shall

abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor
deny to any person the equal protection of the laws.”

14th Amendment
Constitution of the United States of America
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a Fringe Politician hatches a
Conspiracy which Incarcerates the entire Japanese American
Population of the West Coast.

This is the True Story of the quiet student, turned Civil Rights
Hero, who fights all the way to the steps of the Supreme Court to
achieve justice for his community.
“[A] story about America and the frailty of its promises
of freedom and equality in times of crisis – then and now”
-Lori Bannai, Korematsu v. United States, Corium Novis

On February 19th, 1942 President.Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed

Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal and indefinite
incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent.

Citizen and Immigrant alike were taken. No trials. No hearings. No

heed for the the protections enshrined in the Constitution.

Homes and businesses were lost. Careers halted. Lives Destroyed.

Their only crime, Japanese ancestry.

Only FRED KOREMATSU resisted.

With a team of the most powerful politicians in the country aligned

against him, this unlikely hero stood up for what he believed no
matter the cost. Through perseverance, he challenged the
incarceration all the way to the United States Supreme Court,
achieved personal justice, and ultimately exposed the conspiracy
upon which the interment was based.

Yet, despite his victory, the battle for justice remains unfinished.
Korematsu v. the United States is still used by those looking to strip
the rights of minority communities and it is up to us to continue the
fight for Liberty and Justice for All.

Fred’s Legacy;
• Has never been more important than under a Trump Presidency
• Is the subject of the 2x Emmy Award winning documentary, ‘Of
Civil Wrongs and Rights”
• Is the subject of an Oscar Nominated documentary, “Unfinished
Business”
• Is the subject of multiple books on Amazon’s Best Seller Lists
• Is used to teach the importance of civil rights in 1000’s of
elementary school classrooms around the country.
• Is the cornerstone case used to teach constitutional law in every
US Law School.
 This is Fred’s Story

“In the long history of our country’s constant search for justice, some
names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls. Plessy, Brown,
Parks… To that Distinguished list, today we add the name
Fred Korematsu”
-President Bill Clinton
1941…WAR RAGES IN EUROPE Oakland, CA - 1941
AND AROUND THE GLOBE....

Fred Korematsu- American Everyman

In the still isolated United States, a soft spoken

high school grad is simply doing his best to get
along. This man is Fred Korematsu, the third
son of a family of Japanese American nursery
owners.

Fiercely independent and deeply patriotic, Fred

epitomizes the “American” lifestyle. A boy scout
and track star, Fred even had an Italian
American girlfriend – Ida Boitano.

Fred and Ida Plan their Escape

Against their parents’ wishes, Fred and Ida got

engaged and began secretly saving to move to a
state which would allow their marriage.
 Dec 7, 1941
“All of a sudden the music
stopped and they
announced that pearl
harbor was attacked by
Japanese airplanes. I just
couldn’t believe it. I
thought it was a dream.”
-Fred Korematsu

Pearl Harbor Attacked

December 7th, 1941…

Fred and Ida were sitting together on a grassy hillside overlooking the San Francisco
Bay. A newspaper laid out on the ground. The car radio played.

Suddenly a news broadcast broke through the music. The Empire of Japan had
attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor and, though the extent of the damage was
classified, there were government reports of Japanese sabotage.
 Enter the Villains

Karl Bendetsen Maj. Gen. Allen Gullion Gen. John L. DeWitt Solicitor Gen. Fahy

At that moment Major General Allen W. Gullion, a fringe politician whose racially infused
protectionist agenda had been ignored by mainstream politics, sat behind a desk on Capitol Hill. In
Pearl Harbor, Gullion saw an opportunity to channel the fear of a frustrated populace to rid the west
coast of “enemy aliens” and, in doing so, gain personal power.

With the aid of his sinister right-hand man Karl Bendetsen, Gullion wrote Executive Order 9066
granting the military the power to intern US citizens at will. Gullion, despite Intelligence reports
negating any threat of Japanese American subversion, used public hysteria and fake news to
convince President Franklin Roosevelt to sign the order.

Fear and Panic Become Racism and Hate

Far away in his San Francisco headquarters sat General John L. DeWitt, Western Defense
Commander in charge of all West Coast military decisions. Appointed for his political connections,
DeWitt is a bigoted, weak willed, and insecure bureaucrat, prone to “repeating the last thing he had
been forcefully told as if it were his own opinion.”

Through Bendetsen, Gullion used DeWitt’s insecurity and racism to control him. With DeWitt on his
side, Gullion was free to intern any group of people, citizen or not, without review of any kind.

Feb 11:
Gullion Informs FDR Internment
Jan 5: Necessary Cite False News and
Gullion Secretly Sends
Lack of Sabotage as Proof
Bendetson to DeWitt’s HQ Jan 26:
Jan 4: ONI Reports Feb 15:
DeWitt declared Head of Japanese Gullion and Bendetsen Write
Western Defense Command Americans Executive Order 90066
Pose No Threat

December ---------------- 1942 ----------------- February---------------- March ---------------- April

Dec 7: Jan 20: Feb 12: Feb 19:

Pearl Harbor FCC Declares DeWitt’s
FDR Relents, “Be FDR Signs Executive
Attacked Proof Invalid
as reasonable as
Order 9066
you can”
 Incarceration
without Trial
First They Came for The Issei

Police rounded up thousands of suspected “enemy

aliens” across the west coast the same day as the
attack. Within days the FBI searched tens of
thousands of homes. Next, a curfew was imposed.
Finally, all Japanese American's, regardless of
citizenship, would be removed from the West Coast.
They could take with them what they could carry.

Before the day to report came Fred left the family

home to escape the overwhelming sadness. He
informed his family he will meet them when the
evacuation is called…

“The Japanese race is an enemy race… The very

fact that no sabotage has taken place to date is a
disturbing and confirming indication that such
action will be taken.”
-General DeWitt

120,000 Interned, 1 Resists

Fred had done nothing wrong and not be treated as

a criminal. While others planned for the
evacuation, he and Ida planned their escape.

Fred's family reported for removal on May 8th: They

became family #21,538 and each family member
was tagged.

Fred did not report. While in hiding, Ida sold his

car to pay for surgery on his eyes. The surgery did
not have the desired effect.

On May 30, 1942, police officers arrested Fred as

he waited for Ida on a street corner.
“Oakland Jap held for FBI”
-San Francisco Times

Fred Arrested
A Hero Criminalized
The plastic surgery was the focus of every national
newspaper.

Fred was quickly transferred from prison to the military

stockade in San Francisco's Presidio Army base.

Then came a visitor in a grey suite.

Ernest Besig: Legal Champion

Earnest Besig was an attorney with the ACLU.

Of the 120,000 Americans incarcerated, only Fred had

resisted. Besig needed Fred to challenge the
constitutionality of executive order. Fred agreed to fight.

Besig posted the $5,000 bail at Fred’s arraignment. As

Fred left the court house he was stopped by Military
Police. They forced the judge to raise the bail to an
unpayable amount. Returned to custody, Fred was
shipped of to join his family at the Tanforan “assembly
area.”
 Tanforan “Assembly” Area
Tanforan race track had been home to
spectators and livestock. Now it had
become the “home” for 7,816 Japanese
Americans.

Family Shame

Fred’s home: a horse stall with a single

lightbulb and heavy sent of manure. His
“Jail was better first job: stuff his own mattress with straw.
than this.”
Fred’s mother was distraught over his
-Fed Korematsu arrest. H]His dad furious. His brothers
organized a secret late night meeting where
Fred was confronted by the men of the
camp.

Ida Leaves Fred

Pressured by her parents and swayed by

the rising tide of racism, Ida breaks off
their engagement through the barbed wire.
Crushed by the ignorant betrayal of
someone that had known him so well, Fred
could only silently despair.

Legal Roadblocks

Only Besig remained by Fred’s side. They

spoke often but there was little good news.
On September 8th, 1942 Fred was convicted
of the crime of resisting removal. Three
days later Topaz Internment Center opened
its gates.
“In times like these, let us remember that it
is much easier to be a martyr than it is to be
a quiet, self-suffering good citizen who is
vitally interested in the winning of the war.”
-President, ACLU National Council

Besig’s Wars
While Fred fought his incarceration from behind
barbed wire, Besig waged wars in the courts and with
the ACLU

“I for one do not intend to be faithless to the Secret War with the ACLU
commitments we have made with Korematsu. This
office just doesn’t do business that way. I think the June 24th, 1942, the ACLU national committee issued
Board has one helluva nerve suddenly to change its an edict forbidding any legal challenge to the
opinion and give it retroactive effect.” internment.
-Ernest Besig
Besig ignored the edict…

The National ACLU threatened to stop all funding.

Besig dared of the ACLU to kick him out and stopped
answering them entirely.

The War in Court

Every step of the legal process if dogged by obstructionist
judges and racist officials. Despite all obstacles Besig never
relents.
 Sept 28, 1942
“The site of the concentration camp at
Topaz was ugly and desolate, barbed
wire fencing all around and barren
desert, with nothing but sage brush
and scorpions”
-Fred Korematsu
 Topaz, Jewel of the Desert
The Long Train Ride to Imprisonment

Thousands were packed into trains and shipped like cargo to

their relocation centers. Days later Fred arrived at a platform
lined with soldiers.

Barbed wire fences rose over the endless blocks of barracks,

hastily erected in the barren Utah desert. High towers pointed
their machine guns inwards. ”Relocation center” was a
euphemism for concentration camp.

“We were all scared for our lives.”

-Kotsui Korematsu

Welcome to Topaz

The Korematsu’s were assigned two 20’ x 20’ sections of

barracks. Their address, Block 28, Building 9, Apartment C-D.

Blankets separate their ”apartment” from their neighbors’.

Toilets, showers, mess halls, and laundry, everything now had
to be shared with hundreds of strangers. Everything else,
they would need to provide themselves.
 The Fight from Behind Barbed Wire
Community Rejection

To large and vocal groups within the Japanese American

community, Fred was a criminal, selfishly and pridefully fighting
at the expense of his community.

Notoriety and isolation went hand in hand. When the camp

newsletter, The Topaz Times, began covering Fred’s case and
giving his parents address within the camp, it became too much
for Fred to bear.

Branded a criminal by those within, a traitor by those out side,

and as a source of shame by his own family, Fred was alone.

The other internees knew about me and they kept

away from me. They figured I was a troublemaker.”
-Fred Korematsu

The Lonely Fight for Justice

He worked grave-yard shifts and tough lonely jobs to keep his

distance for the camp community.

The Groundwork of Conspiracy

Before Fred’s day in court, General DeWitt issued a falsified “Final

Report”, the official government explanation of the reasons
behind the internment.

The false report cited non-existent evidence of sabotage and

espionage within the Japanese American Community and
proposed the it would have been “impossible” to effectively screen
so many potential enemies in time.
“If DeWitt’s orders are upheld, what is to prevent some future use of these
precedents against some other minority group when the compelling causes Korematsu V. The United States
are less urgent than that of war against a treacherous foe?”
-Ernest Besig

Korematsu v. United States

Oct 11, 1944: the Supreme Court herd Korematsu Vs. The United
States.

Fred Makes His Case

Besig argued eloquently on Fred’s behalf that the removal order

was an unconstitutional overset of presidential authority as it
stripped citizens of basic rights without military necessity. He
rejected the claim that it was impossible to tell loyal from disloyal.

The Government Responds

The government prosecutor, Solicitor General Charles Fahy

argued the camps were the product of secret military necessity
and that it would have been impossible to differentiate saboteurs
from their loyal counterparts in time. All facts came directly from
the lies in DeWitt’s Final Report.

Justice Denied

The Supreme Court ruled against Fred, 6 judges to 3.

That was it. Fred had lost. Indefinite Incarceration based on race
had been determined constitutional.
40 Years Pass
 A Cover Up Discovered
A Chance Discovery

In 1983, Professor Peter Irons discovered a box of dusty files in a

forgotten government storeroom. Hiding from censors to gain
unfettered access, Irons uncovered the paper trail that would detail
the conspiracy by General Gullion, General DeWitt, Karl Bendetsen
and Solicitor General Fahy, to fabricate the evidence found in DeWitt’s
Final Report and suppress the intelligence reports which would have
refuted Fahy’s argument to the Supreme Court.
Apr 30:
May 3:
Fahy made aware of
Bendetsen Re- Oct 11:
intelligence
Writes the Final Korematsu V. United States:
Conspiracy Uncovered
indicating Japanese
Report Fahy Knowingly Presents False
Americans never
threat Evidence in Final Report • DeWitt and Gullion ignored inteligence reports from the FBI, Office
of Naval Intelligence, FCC and Military Inteligence Division

1943 -- Jan -- Mar -- May -- Jul -- Sept -- Nov -- 1944 -- Jan -- Mar -- May -- Jul -- Sept -- Nov -- 1945 • All reports of suspicious activity had been falsified.

• Bendetsen destroyed all copies of the original Final Report.

Apr 23:
May 9: Jan 19: Jan 30:
Fahy Made Aware
DeWitt’s Final Bendetsen Altered Final Korematsu V United • Fahy had knowingly lied to the Supreme Court and presented false
Destroys All Report Made States Determines
Report Contradicts
Public Racial Internment
evidence.
Government Copies of Original
Final Report Constitutional
Argument
 A Fight Renewed
An Unlikely Team

Fred, now a father of two, viewed the evidence.

Together Fred and Peter put together a diverse team of

passionate lawyers to take the fight back to the courts.
They worked in secret for fear of the destruction of still
hidden documents.

The team became a family. Their office, Fred’s kitchen

table.

The Final Fight for Justice

The government defender attempted to prevent Fred’s

case from moving forward. Fred could not be stopped.

The judge gave a powerful ruling to a room packed with

Fred’s supporters, exonerating Fred of any wrong doing.
Fred’s conviction was overturned based on the
overwhelming evidence of Fahy’s lies and the ensuing
cover up.

The room erupted with joy and vindication.

A Final Warning

Despite Fred’s personal victory, the ruling of the lower

court could not overturn the Supreme Court’s decision.

Korematsu vs. United States Is Now Being Used as

Precedent for Current Policy.

As Justice Jackson said in his 1944 statement of dissent,

“The principle…lies about like a loaded weapon, ready for
the hand of any authority that can bring forward a
plausible claim of an urgent need.”

“Let America know what happened… let them know what this
should never happen again”
-Fred Korematsu
Fred Korematsu: Legacy of a Hero
A Civil Rights Victory
Fred’s case and subsequent activism lead to the award of
$20,000 in reparations to all surviving Japanese American
internees.
The Continuing Quest for Justice
Fred spent the rest of his life continuing the fight against the
legacy of his supreme court case. Every time a politician brought
up the president as justification for an action driven by fear and
prejudice, Fred was there.
Fred would go on to fight for:
• The rights of Gay Americans during the Aids scare
• The rights of Iranian Americans during the Iranian hostage
crisis
• The rights of Arab Americans during the gulf war
• The rights of Muslim Americans after September 11th, 2001
For his good work and incredible bravery, Fred would go on to
receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest
civilian award, from President Bill Clinton.
Our Turn to Fight
Fred passed away on March 30, 2005 but his legacy continues as
an example of the power of one man in the quest for Justice.
Now that his experience is once again being used by those in
power to justify the mistreatment of minorities it is up to us to
pick up his mantle and carry on his fight bravely into the future.
The Cast

The Right Side of History – 1940’s
Toyosaburo (Fred) Korematsu
• Straight forward, soft
spoken and unshakably
dedicated to what he
thought was right
• Creative and insightful, Fred
never took to work at the
nursery
• Inherited his father’s fierce
independence
• Brave
• Patriotic
Kakusaburo Korematsu (65)
• Fred’s Father
• Immigrated to the US at the
age of 31
• Purchased the family
nursery weeks before
immigrant landownership
outlawed
• Fiercely independent
• Always favored oldest sons
Kotsui Aoki (50)
• Fred’s Mother
• Married Kakusaburo and
moved to the US at 22
without ever meeting him
• Had to speak to her
younger children through
her older children due to
language barrier
• Incredibly strong
Hiroshi (Hi) Korematsu
• Fred’s Oldest Brother
• “King of the Jungle”
• Bearer of all family hopes
• Seen as responsible for his
brothers
• Most highly educated
brother
Potential Characters
The Right Side of History – 1980’s
Kathryn Korematsu
• Formerly Kathryn Pearson
• Bachelor in biology and
chemistry from South Carolina
State College for Women
• Masters in medical tech from Peter Irons Marilyn Hall Patel
Wayne State in Detroit • Professor at University • Federal Judge with the Us
• Worked in bacteriology lab in of Massachusetts at District Court of Northern
Henry Ford Hospital Amherst California
• Love of Fred's Life • Leader of the Corum • Firm
• Fred's biggest supporter from Novis effort • Fair
the moment they met • Man who discovered • Ruled from the bench in
the files that changed favor of Fred’s motion
Ernest Besig everything recognizing civil rights
• Attorney with American Civil abuses ignored for
Liberties Union of Northern decades
California
• The man who takes Fred’s
case to the supreme court
• Maverick
Takashi (Harry) Korematsu Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga Dale Minami
• Fred’s second oldest brother • Chief researcher for the • Head Attorney working
• The most academic Commission on on Korematsu V. United
Korematsu Wartime Relocation States
• Highly responsible and self and Internment of
• Sansei attorney
disciplined Civilians
practicing in Oakland
• Would ultimately take over • Second on the case
the Korematsu family nursery • Member of Bay Area
Attorneys for Redress
(BAAR)
Jujchi (Joe) Korematsu
• Fred’s Youngest Brother
• The cute one
• As the baby, escaped family
responsibility and expectation
• Never became fluent in
Japanese

The Wrong Side of History
General John L. DeWitt
• Head of Western Defense
Command
• Figure head in charge of
the Japanese American
Internment
• Weak willed bureaucrat
• Racist
Karl Bendetsen
• Gullion’s right hand man
• Slick
•
•
Sinisterly effective
“The architect of Executive
Order 9066”
Major General Allen W.
Gullion
• Provost Marshall General
in charge of internal army
security
• Ambitious
• Manipulative
• The ultimate villain behind
the incarceration of
Japanese Americans
Potential Characters
The Japanese American Community
President Franklin D.
Roosevelt This film provides the opportunity to
• President of the United depict a nuanced vision of the breath
States
• Signed Executive Order of reactions a community has to a
9066
• ”be as reasonable as
trauma of this magnitude through
you can” including the voices of characters for
all segments of Japanese American
Society. A few examples include:
• The Issei
• The Nisei
• The Sansei
Charles Fahy • The young men who want to
• Solicitor General
• Top government fight for their country
prosecutor
• Knowingly had evidence
• The soldiers of american’s
falsified to support his previous wars
argument in Korematsu
V. United States • Those awaiting repatriation
• Those that lost everything
• Those who’s education was put
on hold
• Those whose futures are in
jepordy
Ida Boitano
• Fred’s girlfriend before
• Those who’s best years are
the war being taken from them
• Shy, quite
• Stops seeing Fred • Those who are still too young to
shortly after he is
arrested
understand
 American Mythic Pictures, LLC

AmericanMythicPictures@gmail.com

(949) 350- 6932