Bob Fletcher And Japanese American Farms
I read this obituary for Bob Fletcher in the newspaper, who passed away at the age of 101 on May 23. I was not aware of this man and his courage in the face of anti Japanese sentiments during WW II. I thought this was interesting. He was a good man and lived a life having done something good. RIP Mr. Fletcher and thanks for doing the right thing.
From the Sacramento Bee:
Bob Fletcher, a Sacramento farmer, volunteer and man of courage and conviction who saved the farms of interned Japanese American families during World War II, died May 23. He was 101. Mr. Fletcher demonstrated the finest human values in one of the darkest periods of American history. It was 1942, a few months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when the U.S. government forced Japanese immigrants and Americans of Japanese descent to report to barbed-wire camps. Many lost their homes to thieves or bank foreclosures.
A state agricultural inspector, Mr. Fletcher acted instinctively to help Japanese American farmers. He quit his job and went to work saving farms belonging to the Nitta, Okamoto and Tsukamoto families in the Florin community.
In the face of deep anti-Japanese sentiment – including taunts of "Jap lover" and a bullet fired into the Tsukamoto barn – Mr. Fletcher worked 90 acres of flame Tokay grapes. He paid the mortgages and taxes and took half the profits. He turned over the rest – along with the farms – to the three families when they returned to Sacramento in 1945.
"I did know a few of them pretty well and never agreed with the evacuation," he told The Bee in 2010. "They were the same as anybody else. It was obvious they had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor".....
Mr. Fletcher's heroism was widely celebrated in the community, including a centennial birthday party for him in 2011 that drew more than 150 people. His inspirational story is recounted in history books – including "We The People: A Story of Internment in America" by Elizabeth Pinkerton and Mary Tsukamoto, whose farm he saved. "Few people in history exemplify the best ideals the way that Bob did," said Tsukamoto's daughter, Marielle, who was 5 when her family was interned. "He was honest and hardworking and had integrity. Whenever you asked him about it, he just said, 'It was the right thing to do.' "
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/31/5460559/obituary-bob-fletcher-saved-farms.html#storylink=cpy"
From the Sacramento Bee:
Bob Fletcher, a Sacramento farmer, volunteer and man of courage and conviction who saved the farms of interned Japanese American families during World War II, died May 23. He was 101. Mr. Fletcher demonstrated the finest human values in one of the darkest periods of American history. It was 1942, a few months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when the U.S. government forced Japanese immigrants and Americans of Japanese descent to report to barbed-wire camps. Many lost their homes to thieves or bank foreclosures.
A state agricultural inspector, Mr. Fletcher acted instinctively to help Japanese American farmers. He quit his job and went to work saving farms belonging to the Nitta, Okamoto and Tsukamoto families in the Florin community.
In the face of deep anti-Japanese sentiment – including taunts of "Jap lover" and a bullet fired into the Tsukamoto barn – Mr. Fletcher worked 90 acres of flame Tokay grapes. He paid the mortgages and taxes and took half the profits. He turned over the rest – along with the farms – to the three families when they returned to Sacramento in 1945.
"I did know a few of them pretty well and never agreed with the evacuation," he told The Bee in 2010. "They were the same as anybody else. It was obvious they had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor".....
Mr. Fletcher's heroism was widely celebrated in the community, including a centennial birthday party for him in 2011 that drew more than 150 people. His inspirational story is recounted in history books – including "We The People: A Story of Internment in America" by Elizabeth Pinkerton and Mary Tsukamoto, whose farm he saved. "Few people in history exemplify the best ideals the way that Bob did," said Tsukamoto's daughter, Marielle, who was 5 when her family was interned. "He was honest and hardworking and had integrity. Whenever you asked him about it, he just said, 'It was the right thing to do.' "
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/31/5460559/obituary-bob-fletcher-saved-farms.html#storylink=cpy"
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