The story of the no no boys is not a widely known one outside the Asian American community.
There are no congressional medals awarded to Japanese Americans who refused to profess their loyalty to the United States while their constitutional rights were being denied behind barbed wire.
There were no presidential proclamations for those Japanese Americans who refused to serve in the armed forces during these same circumstances.
The 110,000 plus Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II were asked if they would be willing to serve on combat duty or other capacity for the military (question 27) and if they would swear unqualified allegiance to the United States and forswear any form of allegiance to the Emperor of Japan (question 28).
Those who answered no are known as no no boys. Most were segregated at the incarceration camp set aside for “troublemakers.”
Elizabeth Kurata is a student at U.C. Berkeley. She just recently learned her grandparents answered no to question 27 and 28. She also learned that although her grandparents didn’t suffer any backlash for their decision, other no no boys did.
You can read about her family’s story in the Daily Cal.
