It would take decades for the country’s leadership to broadly recognize and formally address the wrong that had been done to them. But there was at least the beginnings of a shift in attitude among some at the highest levels of government, particularly among those aware of what the Nisei soldiers had accomplished. The new administration of President Harry Truman pushed for a restoration of property and civil rights for Japanese Americans. Shocked by reports of vigilantes attacking returning families, Truman wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt, “These disgraceful actions almost make you believe that a
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