1

Jamie Sharp
History 102
A. Morales

From slavery of Africansii at the founding of America to profiling Muslimsiii after the
terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, prejudices have influenced the U.S. government and its
citizens throughout American history. At the beginning of World War II, misconceptions of
Japanese immigrants and Germans (citizens and immigrants) strongly influenced American
culture. In 1907-1908, to keep tensions down between Japanese and American laborers, the
Gentlemans Agreementiv was enacted preventing Japanese immigration into the United States.
During World War I, Germans rapidly changed their names, closed businesses and hid their
German heritage to avoid harassment and unwarranted violence based on their ancestry.v However,
during World War II, nothing from U.S. history would prepare the United States for what it would
develop in the hearts and minds of the American people. Lets REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR
as we go to meet the foe. Lets REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR as we did the Alamo. We will
always remember how they died for liberty. Lets REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR and go on to
victory.vi Propaganda in music, movies, radio and on posters greatly influenced American
families and enlisted men during World War II. What these families and servicemen did not
realize, is the propaganda not only enforced racial prejudice within their culture but essentially
manipulated people into supporting the war effort and eventually desensitizing them to their
abhorring behavior.vii
Songs like Remember Pearl Harborviii and propaganda posters that pictured strong men
defending their country ultimately persuaded many American men prompted by a deep feeling of
uneasiness that the war might end,ix to join the military and get overseas and into combat.x They
joined for various reasons, from thoughts of protecting the United States from subsequent Japanese
attacks, for some to stop German advancement, while others joined as courageous Americans
needing to fearlessly support their country. Fed a faade of victory and triumph, without any

realization of what war would truly ensue, these men signed up proudly and as they left for boot
camp only feared they may not complete their recruit training.xi After weeks of extensive physical
endurance only men able to complete the challenges of boot camp officially represented the armed
services and went to train for their designated assignments.xii. Once trained, these men went
overseas to fight on the war front.
Prior to entering the war, men such as E.G. Sledge, could not comprehend what they would
be exposed to. All the training in the world could not prepare them for what the harsh realities of
live combat truly entailed. Training provided these men instruction on how to use weapons and
evade enemy fire but did not equip these men to live in disgustingly atrocious conditions, deal with
death of comrades or prevent them from becoming inhumane barbarians. Laying and sleeping in
the midst of rotting corpses and wastexiii while watching the slaughter and mutilationxiv of their
comrades affected these solders in ways one cannot know unless experienced firsthand. E.B.
Sledge himself becomes desensitized from his personal and horrific experiences that almost push
him to participate in collecting Japanese teeth souvenirs. Many soldiers partook in these
Japanese souvenir collecting rituals without a second thought. Fortunately as Sledge starts
heading in this foul direction, Doc Caswellxv saves him and Sledge refrains from removing the
dead mans teeth. Regrettably, many men collected these teeth and skullxvi souvenirs without
hesitation or respect for the dead. These thoughtless practices demonstrate how American Marines
did not view Japanese as human but instead saw them as subhuman beasts.xvii Once these
servicemen annihilated the beast these murderers felt as victors that deserved a prize. The actions
of Japanese war soldiers only supported the Marines view of them being subhuman and vile due
to the grotesque defilement of American prisoners and the dead.xviii Interestingly enough, most
servicemen did not view their own behavior as vile or subhuman and some went as far as trying to

bring home other severed body parts, such as human handsxix and did not remotely think about
their barbaric actions. Soldiers so lost and broken, that only by the influence of a fellow serviceman
or friend would reach into these black hearts to come back to a place in which reason prevailed.
However, it is skeptical that reason is what persuaded these men to leave these more distasteful
trophies. It would be more appropriate to conclude that a comrades opinion trumped all.
Although some men somehow saved themselves from some of these barbaric souvenir
practices, their hate for the Japanese fully raged within them. E.B. Sledge himself on numerous
occasions acknowledged the loathing he feels for the Japanese military.xx The war ultimately left
many hearts destitute with feelings of intense disgust for all Japanese.
Propaganda not only affected the military during World War II, but additionally
contributed to issues at home in the States. Two months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066xxi relocating Japanese Americans to
internment camps. The passing of the legislation protected the United States from possible
espionagexxii but later revealings proved the Order passed due to racism and hysteriaxxiii by many
American citizens against the Japanese. The Order unfortunately, was enacted on to keep people
appeased, as many Americans felt too little was being done addressing the Japanese threat in the
United States.xxiv These crowded internment camps housed thousands of Japanese and many of
them shared living conditions with complete strangers but they made the best of their situation. In
the end, the Japanese did their best to live their lives for the three years of occupying the camps.
Some 300,000 Japanese men showed their loyalty to a country that took away their rights, by
enlisting in the armed forces. These people overcame these hostile persecutions.xxv
Negative impacts of the war did however provide a silver lining. For many of these
servicemen, their comrades and fellow servicemen contributed to their ultimate physical

survival.xxvi One of the countless reasons these servicemen cared nothing for Japanese life,
stemmed from their love and compassion for their friends. Whenever one comrade died from
enemy hands, it affected everyone. These men played a large role as each others lifeline. Some
soldiers could not survive without the constant support they received from the men in their unit.xxvii
Although low morale plagued them all, it was their right-hand man that encouraged them to go
on despite what appeared as a never ending war.
Prejudice and racial profiling is a part of American history.xxviii The influences of hate that
E.B. Sledge and the American people displayed during World War II are essentially part of the
American culture that still exist today. These characteristics are something that will never change
but will only adapt to the varying views of the country and among its citizens. From the founding
of America, these racial biases began with the initiating of slavery. Although some of these racial
issues have in-part been resolved, racial issues against other cultures and backgrounds still
continue to this day. Racial dominance and ignorance are present issues within the United States
culture even with claims that these people are free and the American government system is a
just system. There is nothing free and just when immigrants and people from different cultures
are treated in the current American system and society. In the present time, the United States and
its people continue to racially profile. As shown from United States history, these ignorant views
come from both a feeling of superiority and stem from a lack of education and ignorance of other
ethnic cultures within American society. However, the United States continues to progress as many
of these prejudices have been a result of the time period. America continues to adapt and change
its policies and views in an attempt to become the nation that its forefathers envisioned. As times
change so does the United States and the people that proudly claim to be Americans.

Notes

Mike King, Americas Disgusting & Idiotic Propaganda Posters of World War II, October 8, 2013, The Daily Stormer,
http://www.dailystormer.com/americas-disgusting-idiotic-propaganda-posters-of-world-war-ii/
ii
History.com, Slavery in America, accessed Nov. 16, 2014, A & E Networks
iii
Bernard E. Harcourt, Muslim Profiles Post 9/11, (Chicago:University of Chicago, March 17, 2006), 3
iv
Steven, High, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Japanese American Internment During World War II,
(Baltimore: Anne Arundel Public Schools)
v
Keene, Cornell, ODonnell, Visions of America, (New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2010) 216-218
vi
Sammy Kaye, Lets Remember Pearl Harbor, Don Reid, 1941, Republic Music Corp
vii
Chris Refiner, World War II Propaganda, (Stanford: Stanford University, accessed November 16, 2014);
web.Stanford.EDU/class/e297a/World%War%2011%20and%20Propoganda.htm
viii
Sammy Kaye , Lets Remember Pearl Harbor, Don Reid, 1941, Republic Music Corp
ix
E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed, (New York: Random House, Inc., 1981), 5.
x
E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed, (New York: Random House, Inc., 1981), 5.
xi
E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed, (New York: Random House, Inc., 1981), 13.
xii
E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed, (New York: Random House, Inc., 1981), 14
xiii
E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed, (New York: Random House, Inc., 1981), (144)
xiv
E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed, (New York: Random House, Inc., 1981), (148)
xv
E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed, (New York: Random House, Inc., 1981), (123)
xvi
Life Magazine, New Guinea Hatfield and McCoy, (Life:May 22, 1944), 35
xvii
Steven, High, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Japanese American Internment During World War II,
(Baltimore: Anne Arundel Public Schools)
xviii
Drea, Brassiere, Hanyok, Life, Peterson and Yang, Researching Japanese War Crime Records, (Washington D.C.:
Nazi War Crime and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group, 2006)
xix
E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed, (New York: Random House, Inc., 1981), (152-153)
xx
Steven, High, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Japanese American Internment During World War II,
(Baltimore: Anne Arundel Public Schools)
xxi
Steven, High, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Japanese American Internment During World War II,
(Baltimore: Anne Arundel Public Schools)
xxii
Steven, High, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Japanese American Internment During World War II,
(Baltimore: Anne Arundel Public Schools)
xxiii
Steven, High, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Japanese American Internment During World War II,
(Baltimore: Anne Arundel Public Schools)
xxiv
Steven, High, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Japanese American Internment During World War II,
(Baltimore: Anne Arundel Public Schools)
xxv
Library of Congress Teachers Guide, Japanese American Internment During World War II (Washington
DC:Lobrary of Congress) Accessed November 16, 2014
xxvi
Steven, High, Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Japanese American Internment During World War II,
(Baltimore: Anne Arundel Public Schools)
xxvii
Robbins N. Hunt, World War II Veterans, Social Support and Veterans Associations, (May 1, 2001),
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/11511065/
xxviii
Keene, Cornell, ODonnell, Visions of America, (New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2010