Suit says FDR used Americans as bait to spark World War II

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | 7-30-02 | Imran Vittachi

[FairWitness]

President Franklin D. Roosevelt deliberately stranded 7,000 American civilians in the Philippines and other United States territories, using them as "bait" to draw the Japanese into a war with the U.S. in December 1941, a federal class-action suit asserts.

The suit was filed Monday in a federal court in Washington. Among the nearly 600 plaintiffs is Collinsville resident Evelyn Greaves, 72. Greaves, who was 12 when the war broke out, spent 37 months with her parents in a Japanese prison camp.

[FairWitness]

War is hell.

[TxBec]

In the last six weeks of her internment, Greaves said, the food shortage got so bad that she had to live on 2 ounces of nourishment a day. She said she still suffers from some ill effects, including problems with her teeth and eyesight.

Shouldn't she be suing the Japanese government, then?

[mrs9x]

I don't think this will get any traction, but the "legendary" status of FDR as a great President must be destroyed.

[nothingnew]

Evelyn Greaves, 72.

If this case ever gets heard, she'll be 102 by the time it does.

FMCDH

[shadowman99]

I'm no FDR fan, but it bothers me to think they will write crap like this about Bush someday, and nobody will be around to defend how the events of last year really happened.

[DonQ]

A good deal of the blame for the situation in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded (I am old to remember when it was not merely acceptable but fashionable to call them "Japs") should be put on the shoulders of Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur ignored repeated orders to beef up the military preparedness in the Philippines but he refused to do so, purportedly on the grounds that he thought that such an action would be considered provocative by the Japanese. The result was that the Philippines toppled like a house of cards, MacArthur left hundreds of American servicemen at the mercy of the Japanese - although he made sure that he, his family, his staff, and his typewriter made a clean getaway to Australia.

[FairWitness]

I don't think this will get any traction, but the "legendary" status of FDR as a great President must be destroyed.

Good point. That, and the "Camelot" mythology of JFK both need downsizing.

[JoeGar]

We really do need a "loser pays" tort system like found in the UK.

[Gunrunner2]

>>As American civilians were being evacuated from East Asia, Indochina and the Malay peninsula at the time, the U.S. High Commission in Manila refused to issue passports and visas, D'Amato said.<<

Excuse me. . . but if you are am American citizen, you would have had a passport when you left America and, in any event, you would not need a visa to return.

This suite stinks.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

MacArthur fancied himself a great Orientalist in his Philippine Island days but he really didn't get it untill the occupation. If the Philippine government had a "Crown Prince" position, MacArthur would have filled it.

[Viva Le Dissention]

Yeah, so that way, giant corporations can bully the little guy even more into not suing by threatening to hold court costs over his head.

Why do you think you are required to pay court costs in traffic court if you lose? They aren't stupid--it discourages people who may otherwise have a legitimate case from coming to court because they fear getting saddled with hundreds or (in some, but not many) thousands of dollars in court costs.

If you want to totally tip the scales of justice in favor of the person that has the most money, by all means, let's have a loser pays system.

[cynicom]

MacArthur was not called into active duty until Dec. 7 1941.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I think he was recalled to active duty in 1941. He was in charge of the Philippine Army.

[Catspaw]

Isn't this suit just an itty bit late?

[Viva Le Dissention]

Although it doesn't say in this (I'm guessing) abbreviated version of the article, the suit is based on some recent documents that Truman had sealed in perpetuity. I don't know if they were unsealed or what, but the defense just recently got the documents, which supposedly show that FDR intentionally stopped the Americans from leaving by revoking their passports so they would be captured by the Japanese and the US would have an excuse to enter the war.

Since the defense claims it just now had the documents available to them, the statute of limitations should not be considered for this case. It's a strong argument--the government shouldn't be able to hide relevant documents from the public and then fall back on the statute of limitations when it gets sued. We'll just have to see where it goes from here.

[cynicom]

Eric...

MacArthur I believe held the rank of Field Marshall in the Philippine army. Having retired in 1937, FDR did not recall him to active duty until De. 7 1941. FDR did not like MacArthur even tho they were cousins of a sort.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Its hard to believe a suit would be brought on such a thin basis, but I've been surprised by the absurdities of the plaintiff's bar more than once.
There were many thousands of Americans living in Asia (including Japan) in the 1930's who were unable to leave conveniently when war was declared. Among them was my dad who was a pilot for China National Airlines Company, then owned by American Airlines. He made his way to India and spent the early war years as a civilian C-46 pilot flying the Hump with the AAF. Later, when we lived in Japan in the 1950's, our family got to know a couple of Americans who were interned in POW camps from 1941-1945.

[aristeides]

Don't you think MacArthur was under orders from Washington to avoid being provocative? How else do you explain his refusal to accede to Bremerton's pleas to allow him to use his bombers to attack the Japanese fields on Formosa (with the result that the Japanese destroyed our bombers on the ground)?

[aristeides]

MacArthur didn't like FDR either. His comment when he got the news that FDR had died: "The chief is dead. He never told the truth when a lie would serve." At least, that was the sense of what he said -- I'm not sure I remember the exact words.

[cynicom]

Eric...

We have numerous attorneys here on FR. Regardless, in my long life I have never met or known of an honest for hire attorney. None. Several have been friends but they also hid behind professional ethics.

If one wants to test my opinion, ask any attorney to represent you in a lawsuit against some other attorney, for malpractice. Record his words and facial expressions.

As for this suit, some attorney smells money. Pure and simple.