FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JAPANESE AMERICANS LOSE 5,000 PURPLE HEARTS IN SMITHSONIAN EXHIBIT

Provo, Utah August 16 – After more than a year of urging by two publishers and their congressman the Smithsonian has conceded that it mislead Americans for 15 years about the World War II accomplishments of Japanese American soldiers and has agreed to make corrections in its exhibit.

In June, 2001 Lee and Sam Allen of Athena Press Inc., publishers of MAGIC: The Untold Story of U.S. Intelligence and the Evacuation of Japanese Residents from the West Coast during World War II, by David D. Lowman, presented the Smithsonian with a 50 page critique of its exhibit “A More Perfect Union.” The exhibit, which was partially funded by a Japanese war criminal, purports to tell the story of the evacuation. With an arrogance reminiscent of the institution’s reply to the Wright brothers telling them to forget about powered flight, the Allens were rebuffed. That is when they sought the help of Rep. Chris Cannon of Utah.

Cannon wrote a letter to Secretary Lawrence W. Small asking for a serious review of the critique which included primary source material. In response Marc Pachter, Acting Director of the National Museum of American History replied by fax conceding misleading information and promising changes.

The issues conceded by the Smithsonian are summarized below:

Sam Allen, one of the critique’s authors said, “This was truly a case of gilding the lily. The Japanese Americans who served America in World War II served with great gallantry. Those who exaggerate and fabricate their achievements dishonor them. If an individual had made such outrageous claims it would be called fraud.”

Commenting on the effort to seek accuracy from the Smithsonian, Lee Allen, a retired army Lt. Col., observed, “This is just the tip of the iceberg in the effort to bring accuracy to the history of the Japanese Americans in World War II. Since the September 11th attacks it has become even more important that we understand what really happened because government policy is being made based on a false understanding the event. The politically correct notion that race was the main motivation, which the Smithsonian with its poor scholarship buys into, results from denying, ignoring, exaggerating and fabricating important facts. We hope the Smithsonian will eventually get it right.”

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