Poston

Chapter eight : Enlistment and Loyalties

The beginning of 1943 started off chilly and somewhat uneventful. The New Year was celebrated with cookies and streamers, and once it hit midnight every couple in the camp were together to kiss in the new year.

In January, the U.S. Army announced to the entire camp that they were now going to allow Japanese Americans into the military to fight against the Axis in Germany, and almost immediately every young man aged seventeen and older ended up at the Recruitment building.

There were only a couple of men who refrained from signing up. Jun and Sho couldn't sign up because they weren't American citizens, and that also meant they couldn't be drafted either. "It's for the best anyway," Jun answered. "If something happens to me, who is going to take care of Charlie and Samantha?"

Nino didn't sign up for a couple of reasons. The first was that he was already in on the draft list, so if they needed him he would have to go. Why should he go before he has to? The second reason was his mother. She was getting old and frail, and because his father was no longer around, if he went off to war and never came home, who was going to care for her? Natsumi was one day going to get married and have a family of her own, and since Nino was with Satoshi (and intended on being with him for a very long time) he was more capable to care for his mother. And what about Satoshi? If he went off to war and was killed, who was going to take care of Satoshi? He could barely take care of himself some days! He was already disowned by his family, and Jun had his own family to tend to, so Nino was pretty much all he had. The third reason was that Nino just flat out did not want to go. He wasn't made to be a soldier, and he knew that he might not last very long in the military. He was stubborn and headstrong, and while he would follow orders if a commanding officer gave them to him, he didn't want to live a miserable life in trenches and fighting off an enemy he may or may not be able to see right before he died.

Satoshi didn't sign up either, and Nino was grateful. Satoshi wasn't cut out to be a soldier either. He was too small and soft-spoken, not to mention he had a tendency to space out into his own little world at the most random of times. There was no way Satoshi would have lasted long in the army. And while no one said it, Nino had a feeling that he also was a big part of Satoshi's final decision not to enlist.

Yusuke jumped on the chance to get back into the fight. He had been there when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and ever since he had been taken out because of his heritage, he had been itching to get back and fight for his country once more. "I don't understand how you guys can just sit here and not want to do anything!" Yusuke told the other men in the barrack. "Hitler has taken over almost every free country in Europe! Doesn't that make you angry?!"

"Hitler has not invaded this free country!" Jun told him. "And who are you to tell them what they should or should not do! You telling them to enlist even if they don't want to is taking away their freedom to choose, is it not?"

"We have a duty as American citizens to stand up to those who threaten the freedom this country provides!"

"Well then, it's a good thing I'm not an American citizen."

Yusuke ran his fingers through his hair, desperate to find another way of talking to them. He looked at his brother. "Masa, say something!"

Masaki, who was sitting on his bed doing his own thinking, looked up. "I understand them," he answered. "Going off to fight for a country who may or may not believe in them is difficult. Plus, leaving your family behind in case something goes wrong is hard to swallow as well."

Yusuke gaped at his brother. "Masaki—!"

"However," Masaki spoke up again. "I believe in fighting for the freedom of everyone." He looked up at those around him before he stood up. "I'm going to enlist as well."

Nino felt a rock sink to the bottom of his stomach. He wanted to tell him to not go, to stop, to do anything but fight. He had been close with his cousin since they were children, and they had done practically everything together. Masaki was his best friend. Masaki had always been there to support him. He had been the one who encouraged him to be with Satoshi! If he never came home....

Masaki looked over at Nino and smiled gently. "And I promise that I'll come home," he said.

Nino felt like crying, but instead he stood up straight and punched his cousin square in the arm. "You better! Or I'll never forgive you."
Masaki and Yusuke enlisted, even against their parent's wishes, and were scheduled to be deployed to basic training a few weeks later. During that time, however, something else came up.

"What exactly is this?" Jun asked when Sho passed out the packets to everyone in the barracks, except the kids. "'Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry.'"

Everyone began looking it over. "It's just a bunch of questions," Mai said. "It's tons of questions about whether or not we're fluent in Japanese, where we were born, small stuff like that. What is the point of giving this to us?"

Nino looked through it and nearly scoffed it off. It asked his address, his profile, his family, his education, just basic things. When he got to the last page, however, he froze and read over the last two questions:


27. Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?