December 17, 1944: Internment of Japanese-Americans Comes to an End.
On December 17th, 1944 the United States under the direction of U.S. Major General Henry C. Pratt issued Public Proclamation No. 21 stating that on January 2nd, 1945 all Japanese-Americans “evacuees” from the West Coast could return back to their homes.
The internment of Japanese-Americans began exactly ten weeks after the Empire of Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which gave authorization for the removal of any or all people from military areas. As a result the military defined the entire West Coast, home to a majority of Japanese-Americans as military area. Within a couple of months over 110,000 Japanese-Americans were relocated to internment camps built by the US military scattered all over the nation. For the next two years Japanese-Americans would live under dire living conditions and at times abuse from their military guards.
Throughout World War II ten people were found to be spies for the Empire of Japan, not one of them was of Japanese ancestry. Forty-four year would pass until Ronald Reagan and the United States made an official apology to the surviving Japanese-Americans who were relocated, and were given $20,000 tax-free.