John L. DeWitt
United States Army general
Died when: 82 years 162 days (989 months)Star Sign: Capricorn
John Lesesne DeWitt (January 9, 1880 – June 20, 1962) was a 4-star general officer in the United States Army, best known for leading the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Empire on December 7, 1941, General DeWitt believed that Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans in the West Coast of the United States were conspiring to sabotage the American war effort, and recommended they be removed from coastal areas.
President Franklin D.Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, giving authority to restrict military sensitive locations.DeWitt used the authority granted to him to issue military proclamations to place most of the west coast off limits to Japanese Americans, incarcerating 110,000 Japanese men, women and children, most of whom were American citizens.
Although the removal of the Japanese Americans was technically called an evacuation, it turned out to be internment in concentration camps.
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