Greatest Generation, Indeed

A new documentary presents the internment of nearly 1000 Aleuts in Alaska during World War II. As described in the Guardian, the Japanese invaded several western Alaskan outposts in 1942, and so the Greatest Generation figured the only course of action was to lock up everyone who looked vaguely Japanese-looking person they could find to protect the national security. 881 Alaskans were detained in camps with no running water or medical care and allowed to leave only to fight in the army or work in forced labor projects, such as hunting seals for the government's profit. And when they were allowed to return home in 1945, they found their homes and churches looted. The film was partly funded by reparations paid by Congress to the survivors in 1987.