Newspaper column: Pacific Citizen – From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa. “Why is the president honoring Korematsu?” The article reads, in part: In 1983 Peter Irons, a lawyer, published a book about his findings titled Justice at War (Oxford University Press). It was a meticulously researched, very readable account of the circumstances leading up to the conviction of the three men on charges of violating federal orders...etc. Of Fred Korematsu’s motives, Irons found only “Personal interest.” A month before the date set for evacuation of his area, Korematsu had a San Francisco plastic surgeon alter his appearance. Police arrested him in San Leandro three weeks after the evacuation deadline. He gave a false name, was carrying a fake draft card and lied about parentage, claiming to be Spanish-Hawaiian. Later he admitted his intention was to avoid evacuation....etc. Recently the Clinton administration presented Fred Korematsu with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award for service to the country and widely recognized the peacetime equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Two questions: why Fred Korematsu? How did it come about? Mar.10 – Rafu Shimpo – Letters to the Editor: “Irons Appalled by Hosokawa’s Attack on Korematsu” Mar. - Pacific Citizen – “Hosokawa responds to Irons’ Letter to the Editor” “Professor Peter Irons accuses me of launching ‘a men spirited attack on Fred Korematsu’ in my column suggesting that ‘Korematsu did not deserve the Presidential medal of Freedom.’ If professor Irons will re-read my column, he will find that I cited briefly the records and reported motives of Minoru Yasui, Gordon Hirabayashi and Fred Korematsu, all of shown were involved in the supreme Court cases challenging the evacuation Then I asked why Korematsu alone was honored while the others were ignored, and how it came about. These are not improper questions. They have not been answered.”