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Fletcher Bowron
An officer of the United States Army, DeWitt is one of the most vocal supporters of Japanese internment. He oversees the Western Defense Command (the part of the U.S. Army responsible for overseeing defense of the West Coast) and divides the West Coast into the military zones after President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066. Though there’s no evidence that Japanese Americans are conspiring against the U.S. government, DeWitt insists it’s nevertheless necessary to impose curfews, other restrictions, and ultimately incarcerate them in internment camps.
Lt. General John L. DeWitt Quotes in They Called Us Enemy
The They Called Us Enemy quotes below are all either spoken by Lt. General John L. DeWitt or refer to Lt. General John L. DeWitt. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
They Called Us Enemy
Quotes
As a teenager, I had many after-dinner discussions with my father... discussing everything from the government’s forced incarcerations of Japanese Americans... to politics.
He taught me the power of American democracy—the people’s democracy.
“People can do great things, George. They can come up with noble, shining ideals.
“But people are also fallible human beings, and we know they made a terrible mistake.”
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From the moment the war began, our loyalty as Americans was constantly under suspicion.
General John L. DeWitt, the commanding general of the western theater of operation:
“A Jap is a Jap... It makes no difference whether he is theoretically an American citizen, he is still a Japanese.”
Senator Tom Stewart (D-TN):
“They cannot be assimilated. There is not a single Japanese in this country who would not stab you in the back.”
Never mind that in the early days of the war, Japanese Americans showed up in great numbers to register for military service.
This was an act of patriotism, but it was met with a slap in the face. They were denied military service and categorized as 4-C: enemy aliens.
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Lt. General John L. DeWitt Quotes in They Called Us Enemy
The They Called Us Enemy quotes below are all either spoken by Lt. General John L. DeWitt or refer to Lt. General John L. DeWitt. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
They Called Us Enemy
Quotes
As a teenager, I had many after-dinner discussions with my father... discussing everything from the government’s forced incarcerations of Japanese Americans... to politics.
He taught me the power of American democracy—the people’s democracy.
“People can do great things, George. They can come up with noble, shining ideals.
“But people are also fallible human beings, and we know they made a terrible mistake.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
From the moment the war began, our loyalty as Americans was constantly under suspicion.
General John L. DeWitt, the commanding general of the western theater of operation:
“A Jap is a Jap... It makes no difference whether he is theoretically an American citizen, he is still a Japanese.”
Senator Tom Stewart (D-TN):
“They cannot be assimilated. There is not a single Japanese in this country who would not stab you in the back.”
Never mind that in the early days of the war, Japanese Americans showed up in great numbers to register for military service.
This was an act of patriotism, but it was met with a slap in the face. They were denied military service and categorized as 4-C: enemy aliens.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
