SMC1 - Honor and Betrayal: Moral Injury and the Japanese American WWII Experience

Course Description

This graduate-level seminar explores the historical, psychological, and ethical dimensions of moral injury as it pertains to Japanese American veterans of World War II, specifically those who served in segregated units such as the 442nd Regimental Combat Team—a battalion composed of Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans), many of whom volunteered from within the confines of internment camps. While this course does not offer clinical licensure or direct therapeutic training, it aims to help students (counselors, social workers, scholars of trauma, historians, and mental health professionals) develop a nuanced understanding of how moral injury arises and manifests in individuals who fought for a nation that simultaneously questioned their loyalty and forcibly uprooted their families.

We will examine the historical, social, and political contexts surrounding Japanese American incarceration during WWII, tracing how these injustices intersect with the intense violence and camaraderie experienced on the European battlefields. Students will gain familiarity with the theoretical frameworks of moral injury—drawing on psychoanalytic, existential, and trauma-studies perspectives—to analyze how betrayal of one’s values or betrayal by one’s government and society can cause deep moral distress. The course will also address how personal identity, stigma, and collective memory shape the healing process. Through literary works, historical documents, personal testimonies, and theoretical readings on moral injury, students will craft a composite “treatment approach” that acknowledges the multifaceted experiences of Japanese American veterans.

By the end of the semester, students will have:

1. A thorough understanding of the political and cultural context of Japanese American internment and the unique formation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

2. A working knowledge of moral injury concepts, distinguishing it from PTSD and other trauma syndromes.

3. Familiarity with psychoanalytic, existential, and culturally informed frameworks for conceptualizing the profound ethical and psychological toll of war.

4. The ability to propose trauma-informed, culturally competent strategies for mitigating moral injury in this historically specific context—and by extension, in other settings where state or institutional betrayal impacts veterans’ mental health.

What Moral Injury Might Look Like for a Nisei WWII Veteran

• Betrayal by One’s Nation: Soldiers experiencing deep resentment and confusion that they must risk their lives overseas to prove loyalty while family members languish in internment camps. This sense of government betrayal can elicit shame, anger, and an overarching grief for lost trust.

• Conflict of Identity and Duty: Tension between Japanese heritage and American identity, compounded by the fact that these men were fighting to defend freedoms that their loved ones were denied.

• Witnessing War’s Atrocities: Exposure to brutal combat, death, and injustice in the European theater. Veterans could feel guilt about actions taken or not taken, layered upon their pre-existing sense of having been abandoned by their own country.

• Double Consciousness of Honor and Invisibility: Although many were highly decorated (the 442nd became one of the most decorated units in U.S. military history), racism and ignorance upon returning home meant their heroism often went unrecognized or dismissed. The dissonance between valor in uniform and continued discrimination stateside may result in moral disorientation or despair.

• Silencing and Suppression: An additional layer of moral injury could stem from the need to ‘move on’ or remain silent about both internment and wartime experiences, preventing authentic processing or communal acknowledgment.

Course Syllabus

Week 1: Contextual Foundations

• Readings:

  • Excerpts from Executive Order 9066 (1942) and official U.S. government documents authorizing Japanese American removal.

  • Introduction to Jonathan Shay’s concept of moral injury (Achilles in Vietnam, selected chapters).

  • Seminar handout on the distinctions between PTSD and moral injury.

• Themes & Discussion:

  • Definitions and key debates around “moral injury” in veterans’ mental health.

  • Overview of historical context: Pearl Harbor, wartime hysteria, and the sociopolitical climate that enabled internment.

  • Foundational ethical questions about loyalty, citizenship, and national identity.

Week 2: Camp Life & The Birth of the 442nd

• Readings:

  • Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki & James D. Houston, Farewell to Manzanar (selections).

  • Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter (selections).

  • Archival testimonies from Japanese American internees about the call to volunteer for the Army.

• Themes & Discussion:

  • Life in internment camps, everyday indignities, and family disruptions.

  • Motivations and controversies surrounding voluntary enlistment from behind barbed wire.

Week 3: Diving Into Ecology of Fear – The Apocalyptic Imaginary

• Readings:

  • Mike Davis, Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster (selected chapters focusing on fear, militarized landscapes, and the concept of “Fortress L.A.”).

• Themes & Discussion:

  • Davis’s critique of fear-based public policy and the ways it can deepen social stratification.

  • Parallels between fear-based discourse in Los Angeles urban development and the wartime propaganda that fueled suspicion of Japanese Americans.

Week 4: Fear Narratives and Collective Moral Betrayal

• Readings:

  • Continue Davis, Ecology of Fear (chapters on disaster profiteering and the role of structural inequities).

  • Blog post by the instructor: “Crisis, the Humanities, and Storytelling in the Age of Climate Change, AI, and Populist Authoritarianism.”

• Themes & Discussion:

  • How fear-driven discourses shape moral injuries in specific communities.

  • Linking the broader discussion of populist authoritarianism to the local context of LA’s racial and class tensions.

Week 5: Formation & Combat: The 442nd Regimental Combat Team

• Readings:

  • Historical accounts of the 442nd RCT’s training, deployment, and combat experiences in Europe.

  • War Department pamphlets or official statements about the 442nd.

  • Oral histories from the Densho Digital Archive or the Go For Broke National Education Center (first-person veteran testimonies).

• Themes & Discussion:

  • The intense training regimen, the camaraderie formed, and how these men negotiated identity under extraordinary pressures.

  • Possible seeds of moral injury: risking death for a country that imprisoned loved ones.

Week 6: Cultural & Existential Perspectives on Betrayal

• Readings:

  • Selections from Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning (existential engagement with trauma).

  • Cathy Caruth, Unclaimed Experience (on trauma and narration).

  • Blog post by the instructor: “Originalism, Derrida, and the Urgent Need for an Applied Humanities in Our Courts and Beyond.”

• Themes & Discussion:

  • The existential dimension of moral injury—losing trust in the moral fabric that was supposed to protect and value you.

  • Derrida’s concept of deconstruction as a tool to reveal the unstable grounding of official “truths” (e.g., originalist arguments that discount lived realities).

Week 7: Ethnographic & Literary Narratives of Nisei Veterans

• Readings:

  • John Okada, No-No Boy (though not about a soldier who served, it provides insight into the conflicts around military service and Japanese American identity).

  • Yoshiko Uchida’s essays or short stories on post-war Japanese American identity.

  • Additional transcripts of interviews with surviving members of the 442nd or the 100th Infantry Battalion.

• Themes & Discussion:

  • Expressions of guilt, shame, and pride in soldier narratives.

  • Tension between representation of heroism and the invisibility of internment’s moral impact.

Week 8: Midterm Presentation & Reflection on Moral Injury

• Students present on a chosen aspect of moral injury among the 442nd veterans—could be a historical event, a personal testimony, or a theoretical concept.

Week 9: Return Home & Post-War Struggles

• Readings:

  • Excerpts from Years of Infamy by Michi Weglyn, focusing on post-war transitions.

  • Archival letters or diaries describing veterans’ homecoming experiences and continued racism.

  • Scholarly articles on the immediate aftermath of WWII for Japanese Americans, exploring re-entry into civilian life.

• Themes & Discussion:

  • Reconciling war hero status with continued discrimination.

  • Potential moral injury in feeling one’s sacrifices went unacknowledged or insufficiently rewarded by society.

Week 10: Modalities of Treatment—Psychoanalytic and Existential Therapies

• Readings:

  • Jonathan Shay, selected chapters from Odysseus in America, on bridging ancient war narratives to modern veterans’ moral anguish.

  • Sharon Stanley, The French Enlightenment and the Emergence of Modern Cynicism (optional theoretical reading on betrayal and disillusionment).

  • Case presentations or hypothetical case vignettes from psychoanalysts who have treated war-related trauma in veterans.

• Themes & Discussion:

  • Core principles of psychoanalytic therapy in addressing betrayal, shame, and wounded ideals.

  • Existential approaches that help re-establish meaning in the wake of disillusionment.

Week 11: Alternative & Culturally Adapted Interventions

• Readings:

  • Barbara Myerhoff’s essays on ritual and healing in marginalized communities (for insight on communal, narrative-based healing).

  • Linda G. Mills’s work on narrative therapy and trauma.

  • Examples of culturally adapted interventions developed for Japanese American elders or veterans (community-based programs, group therapy models).

• Themes & Discussion:

  • Reconciling psychoanalytic and existential frameworks with the cultural frameworks of Japanese American families.

  • Group-based storytelling circles, intergenerational dialogues, and the role of communal acknowledgement in healing moral injury.

Week 12: Restorative Justice & Public Memory

• Readings:

  • Excerpts from the U.S. government’s 1988 Civil Liberties Act offering reparations for Japanese Americans.

  • Examination of museums, memorials, and public events that honor the 442nd RCT.

  • Scholarship on restorative justice as applied to marginalized veterans (e.g., using truth-telling commissions, communal apologies, or commemorations).

• Themes & Discussion:

  • The role of official acknowledgement, apology, and compensation in mitigating moral injury.

  • Potential blind spots or inadequacies in official reparations or memorials.

Week 13: Reimagining Treatment: Applied Health Humanities Proposals

• Readings:

  • Instructor’s expanded reflection on moral injury, AI, and climate crises—connecting these historical experiences to future vulnerabilities in minority veterans.

  • Sample proposals from interdisciplinary fields (public health, social work, arts therapy) on integrative, narrative-based trauma care.

• Themes & Discussion:

  • Developing an integrated approach for moral injury that balances psychoanalytic depth with socio-political realities.

  • The significance of cross-disciplinary scholarship that merges history, literature, psychoanalysis, and activism.

Week 14: Final Synthesis & Action Projects

• Students present final projects proposing a hypothetical “clinic” or “community-based program” for the 442nd veterans and their descendants, grounded in moral injury theory, cultural competence, and historical literacy. This might include a sample syllabus for group therapy, a pilot workshop for psychoeducation, or even a conceptual public memorial project that integrates emotional healing with historical reckoning.

Conclusion

This course invites students to probe one of the most paradoxical narratives of World War II: that of Nisei soldiers who fought heroically in Europe while family members remained imprisoned at home. By coupling the historical vantage of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team with frameworks of moral injury—rooted in psychoanalysis, existential philosophy, and narrative-based therapy—participants gain a multi-layered understanding of how trauma, betrayal, racism, and combat experiences converge in human lives. The course not only provides a window into a unique moment in American history but also offers broad insights into how the humanities, practiced in an applied and health-oriented fashion, can inform ethical care, shape policy debates, and promote empathy and justice across diverse cultural contexts.