A HERO NOT A TRAITOR. President Gerald Ford pardoned Iva Toguri DAquino (a.k.a. Tokyo Rose) on January 19, 1977. The true story. Iva Toguri was born on July 4, 1916, in Los Angeles. Her father, a Japanese immigrant, wanted his family to be Americanized, so Iva lived a typical American life, participating in sports, music and Girl Scouts. Hoping one day to be a doctor, she graduated in 1940 with a degree in zoology from UCLA. Her dreams of a normal American life changed forever in July 1941 when an aunt’s illness saw her in Japan for the first time. She struggled with the new culture and was isolated because she did not know the language. Then the outbreak of the war stranded her in Tokyo. Iva refused to renounce her American citizenship and was declared an enemy alien in Japan. To support herself she worked as typist for Radio Tokyo. Even though, she herself had to struggle to live, Iva smuggled food into a POW camp. In 1943 Iva hosted portions of a radio show The Zero Hour produced and hosted by Allied POWs for Radio Tokyo. On the radio show Iva, known as “Ann” and “Orphan Annie, avoided participating in the propaganda newscasts; rather she primarily played music. “Strike up the band”, UCLA’s fight song, was used as the theme song per her suggestion. After the Japanese surrender, the media hunt was on for the Tokyo Rose. Even after the US Office of War Information concluded that Tokyo Rose was a GI invention and that the term could have applied to many different women broadcasters, reporters and authorities continued to search. Iva, tricked by a reporter, signed a document claiming to “the one and only Tokyo Rose”, subsequently she was arrested and held for a year in Tokyo. The military concluded there is no evidence that [Iva Toguri dAquino] ever broadcast greetings to units by names or location, or predicted military movements or attacks indicating access to secret military information and plans, etc., as the Tokyo Rose of rumor and legend is reported to have done. Hoping to return home to her family in American, Iva requested to return to the US. Even though the military had concluded Iva was innocent of any crimes, public sentiment in the US ran strongly against her return. Whipped up by the influential media, Iva was once again arrested and on Sept 25, 1948 was returned to San Francisco where she was charged with the crime of treason for adhering to, and giving aid and comfort to, the Imperial Government of Japan during World War II. A lengthy and expensive trial ensued. She was found guilty on only one of the 8 counts - that she had on one occasion spoken into a microphone concerning the loss of ships. Most trial observers were surprised, expecting her to be acquitted for lack of evidence. Iva served 6 years of a 10 year sentence before being paroled on Jan 28, 1956. In the years following Iva release, it was shown that two people who testified against her had lied under oath. Additionally, the Allied POWs who worked on The Zero Hour with Iva repeatedly came to her aid stating the accusations were false. Finally on January 19, 1977, President Ford granted Iva a full and unconditional pardon and restored her US citizenship. The WWII Veterans Committee awarded Iva the Edward J. Herlihy Citizenship Award on January 15, 2006. The award cited her indomitable spirit, love of country, and the example of courage she has given her fellow Americans”. Iva Toguri DAquino – a true American Hero! See more at: historynet/tokyo-rose-they-called-her-a-traitor.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iva_Toguri_D%27Aquino glennbeck/2013/09/26/glenn-broadcasts-with-tokyo-roses-microphone-to-tell-incredible-forgotten-story-of-american-history/
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 00:22:40 +0000
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