The Japanese victory at Pearl Harbor had been so swift and decisive that many in the United States came to believe that Japanese forces were aided by "fifth column" saboteurs of Japanese ancestry. The notion that fifth column activity on the West Coast was a reality was reinforced by comments made by respected columnists and radio journalists across the United States. Many charged that all Japanese living on the Pacific shore, aliens and citizens alike, were a secret army planted by the Japanese government, loyal only to the Japanese emperor and poised to strike at his command. Los Angeles radio commentator John B. Hughes estimated that 90 percent of American-born Japanese were loyal to the country of their parents' birth and that they would "die joyously for the honor.....
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