Iva Ikuko Toguri D'Aquino

Years ago, in Chicago, we sometimes visited Toguri's, a Japanese import shop owned and operated by one of the so-called "Tokyo Roses." I often saw, and once got to chat with, the late Iva Ikuko Toguri D'Aquino, a very nice lady. Read about her in Wikipedia and weep for how she was mistreated and abused, first by the Japanese, then by her own countrymen. Not a traitor, but a casualty of war and bigotry.

With the beginning of American involvement in the Pacific War, Toguri, like a number of other Americans in Japanese territory, was pressured by the Japanese central government under Hideki Tojo to renounce her United States citizenship. She refused to do so. Toguri was subsequently declared an enemy alien and was refused a war ration card. "A tiger does not change its stripes" is a quote attributed to her. ...

Toguri had previously risked her life smuggling food into the nearby prisoner of war (POW) camp.... After she refused to broadcast anti-American propaganda, Toguri was assured by Major Cousens and Captain Ince that they would not write scripts having her say anything against the United States True to their word, no such propaganda was found in her broadcasts....

Documentary about her on YouTube