Feb. 14, 1942:  West Coast legislators abandon plans to register “enemy aliens,” a process that would allow them to remain in defense zones. Instead, the congressmen ask President Roosevelt to order the “immediate evacuation” of “all persons of Japanese lineage.”

One legislator said: “We are aware of the gravity of asking a president of the United States to order the evacuation from any area of thousands of men and women who enjoy the rights of American citizenship, but we feel the situation justifies our position and will warrant any action he may take.”

In Los Angeles, “enemy aliens” without permits are restricted to an area north of Long Beach, south of the San Fernando Valley and west of Sierra Madre, Arcadia, El Monte and Whittier. On the Palos Verdes Peninsula, 30 families farming 1,500 acres are forced to move way, abandoning their crops, The Times says.

Cpl. Wallace Butcher, 24, is the first to file a Love Insurance claim after receiving a Dear John letter from his fiancee. In compensation, Butcher will get a tour of Hollywood nightspots with “Movie Starlet Janet Blair,” The Times says.

Betty Rowland is at the Follies and the Cutest Nudists are at the Liberty.

Edwin Schallert writes that widows of men killed at Pearl Harbor will be honored in the Paramount musical “Priorities of 1942,” starring Jerry Colonna, Vera Vague and Susanna Foster. Proposed filming locations include the Lockheed-Vega plant.

Continue reading →