John L. DeWitt

Who was John L. DeWitt?

John Lesesne DeWitt was a general in the United States Army, best known for his vocal support of the internment of Japanese-Americans and his role supervising the combat operations in the Aleutian Islands, some of which had been invaded by Japanese forces during World War II.

General DeWitt believed that Japanese and Japanese Americans in California, Oregon, and Washington could be conspiring to sabotage the American war effort, and recommended they be removed from coastal areas. President Roosevelt agreed with DeWitt's recommendation and issued Executive Order 9066, ordering the internment. The president's executive order affected 110,000 Japanese men, women and children. Sixty two percent of the affected Japanese Americans were American-born citizens. Although the removal of the Japanese Americans was technically called an evacuation, it turned out to be internment in detention camps, euphemistically called resettlement camps.

In the course of carrying out the policy, he issued military proclamations that applied to men, women and children of Japanese ancestry, directing that they be moved from their homes to government created and operated internment camps.