Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1943-01-28
LETTER FROM LIEUTENANT
CLYDE VAUGHN
Camp Shelby, Miss,


Hello Ray:-Just a few lines to
let you know I have changed loca-
tions since I last saw you in De-
cember. / was then in Wisconsin
training U. s. Japanese soldiers.
1t seems rather odd to me, that am
in Shelby-seems like / am just fol-
lowing the 9th division around. In
1910 they were in Mccoy, Wis. In
October. the same year. they were
called into federal service and sent
to Mississippi, now here I am. !
enlisted in the regulars-went to
Hawaii; came back to o. C. S., and
then sent to Wisconsin. After five
and half months up there they
transferred me to Mississippi. Maybe
If l can keep going long enough and
this war holds out, will be back
with them once again.
Ray, have very interesting ar
ticle that l found in the Honolulu
Star Bulletin, Dec. %, 1912. 1t is
about some Of our boys that we have
in training here. 1t will give you a
slight idea of just how much is
known about them. At first it was
quite joke to us all, but after
reading it over the second time the
joke wore off and things took diff
ferent meaning. You can publish
the article in the "Town Crier" If
you choose-just suit yourself.
Well, will close and hope you en-
joy the article. 1t seems rather odd
that the Honolulu paper would hear
about this and never word men
toned in the mainland papers,
am, as ever, Lieutenant James c..
Vaughn. Co. D. Tooth Infantry Bn.,
APO IS. Camp Shelby, Miss.
The letter referred to by Lieu
tenant Vaughn, under the caption
Of mo They Weren't Fifth Col
umnists," follows:
A news story in the Washington
Post carries this headline: Six Jap
anese in U. S. uniforms cause fifth
column INJURY here.
The story went ON to explain that
a half dozen Japanese-American
soldiers from Hawaii. stationed in
Wisconsin, and on leave for a visit
to the capital. had difficulty getting
into hotel until army intelligence
officials explained to the nervous
hotel clerk that they are perfectly
good Americans and fighting against,
not for Herohito.
Besides" said the Post story,
"all six are as much American as
your friends Murphy, McTavish,
Pappadeas, Chang and Dominelli.
The story continued: "They were
in the army when Pearl Harbor was
attacked and were Immediately
rushed to the beaches to string
barbed wire, but their arrival in
Washington yesterday caused a
furor.
"On the first day they asked the
Travellers Aid at the union station
where they could get rooms. The
Travellers Aid referred them to the
government housing department,
which called hotel and asked the
manager if he could put up six
Japanese-American soldiers.
"The manager said certainly, and
the soldiers were directed to the
hotel, but By the time Of their ar
rival the hotel manager got to won
dering why he hadn't heard of Jap
anese-American soldiers. He had
been led to believe that most Japan
ese In America were in re-settlement
camps.
Whoa" he said to himself. and
called U. s. army intelligence.
They were In regulation uniforms
all right, but the manager still
wasn't taking any chances. SO he
asked for their dog tags-furlough
papers.
Intelligence told their names and
identincations over the telephone
and said everything was a order.