Japanese-American Claims Act
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack sank four U.S. battleships, destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft, and killed 2,403 U.S. citizens within two hours, and led to the United States joining World War II. Once the United States entered the war and anti-Japanese sentiment began to circulate, Americans increasingly reacted with racism and hostility, viewing people of Japanese descent were treated as enemies regardless of whether they were U.S. citizens. The U.S. government expressed concerns about the loyalty of the Japanese people living in America and about Japanese spies sending information to Japan. "The U.S. Department of the Treasury froze the assets of all citizens and resident aliens who were born in Japan, and the Department of Justice arrested some 1,500 religious and community leaders as potentially dangerous enemy aliens. Because many of the largest populations of Japanese Americans were in close proximity to vital war assets along the Pacific coast. The result was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066."
USS Barb (SS-220)
Following a brief overhaul period at New London, "Barb" departed for Pearl Harbor where she arrived in September. It was in the Pacific waters that "Barb" found lucrative hunting and went on to compile one of the outstanding submarine records of World War II. During the seven war patrols she conducted in the Pacific between March 1944 and August 1945, "Barb" is officially credited with sinking 17 enemy vessels totaling 96,628 tons, including , sunk on 17 September 1944. On 15–16 September "Barb" had rescued 14 Australian and British POW survivors of .