July 1st, 1941 11:30, Tokyo Japan Iva Toguri stood on the dock at Yokohama   watching the SS President Coolidge disappear toward the horizon   carrying the last group of Americans being evacuated from Japan   as tensions between the two nations approach the breaking point   she’d come to the dock hoping to find passage back to Los Angeles   but the ship’s passenger manifest had been full and the ticket agent had told her bluntly   that no more evacuation ships would be scheduled she was 25 years old born in Los Angeles  

raised American in every way that mattered and now stranded in Japan   because she’d made the mistake of visiting her sick aunt in July 1941   three weeks before the US imposed oil embargoes on Japan   five months before Pearl Harbor would transform peaceful visit into wartime imprisonment   she’d planned to stay six weeks she would be trapped in Japan for four years   and what happened during  those years would make her   simultaneously a lifeline for American POWs and a scapegoat   for a nation that needed someone to blame for wartime propaganda Iva walked  

away from the dock carrying the small   suitcase that contained everything she’d brought from California   she had approximately $200 in American currency that was becoming increasingly worthless   as US Japan relations deteriorated she spoke limited Japanese   enough for basic conversation but not fluency   she had a college degree in zoology from UCLA that was useless in wartime Tokyo   and she had American citizenship that was about to become her greatest liability   five months later when Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor  

and America declared war on Japan Iva Toguri became enemy alien   in the country of her parents birth 2 American for Japan and 2 Japanese for America   the choices she would make  during the next four years   particularly her secret efforts to feed starving American POWs   while working for Radio Tokyo would save lives and cost her freedom   proving that mercy during wartime often receives punishment   rather than gratitude the stranded American after Pearl Harbor   Iva’s situation became increasingly precarious the Japanese government required  

all foreign nationals to register as enemy aliens   officials pressured her to renounce American citizenship and   accept Japanese citizenship which would have provided legal Protection   and access to ration cards she refused repeatedly   insisting she was American  and would remain American   regardless of where geography had trapped her the refusal came with severe consequences   without Japanese citizenship Iva couldn’t receive ration cards for food   clothing or other necessities that were distributed through government systems  

she couldn’t work in most occupations that required Japanese citizenship   she lived under constant surveillance as suspected foreign spy   the Kempeitai Japanese military police interrogated her multiple times   about her background her family in America   whether she was gathering intelligence the practical challenge was survival   without legal status or  resources in wartime economy   where everything was rationed and controlled Iva found work where she could   initially as typist for a Japanese news service that needed someone who could type English  

later at Radio Tokyo   where English language broadcasters were required for propaganda programming   directed at Allied audiences the radio work paid minimally   but provided access to the building and eventually to the American Po ws   who were forced to work there the POW broadcasters   by 1943 Radio Tokyo had begun using Allied POWs   in propaganda broadcasts designed to demoralize   American and Allied forces in the Pacific the prisoners primarily Americans   Australians and British we’re forced to work in radio studios  

producing programs that  Japanese authorities believed   would undermine Allied morale and encourage defeatism   the POW broadcasters worked under guard lived in prison camps   and survived on inadequate rations that left them malnourished and sick   they were selected partly for their voices partly for their language skills   and partly because Japanese authorities believed their status as POWs would make them compliant   the reality was more complex the prisoners cooperated   enough to avoid execution while subtly undermining propaganda through tone  

word choice and delivery that suggested   they didn’t believe what they were reading the conditions in which POW broadcasters worked   were documented in post war testimonies Major Charles Cowans an   Australian radio announcer who had been captured in Singapore   and forced to work for Radio Tokyo described the situation we were starving   the Japanese gave us enough food to keep us alive but not enough to maintain health   many of us had beriberi dysentery and other diseases from malnutrition   we were weak constantly the work itself wasn’t physically demanding  

but the psychological pressure of being forced to produce propaganda for the enemy   while our comrades were fighting and dying was devastating   Iva Toguri encountered the POW broadcasters when she was assigned to Radio Tokyo   as announcer her initial role  was reading news scripts   and introducing musical programs she had no broadcasting experience   but spoke English fluently with American accent that Japanese producers   thought would sound authentic to Allied audiences the work was uncomfortable  

she was reading propaganda for Japan against the country she still considered her own   but refusing would have meant arrest and possibly execution the secret feeding   Iva recognized immediately that the POW broadcasters were starving   their gaunt appearance the way they moved slowly to conserve energy   the fact that they’d focus intensely on any food that appeared in the studio   all indicated severe malnutrition she began bringing extra food from her own   limited rations and secretly passing it to the prisoners  

when guards weren’t watching the feeding started small   rice balls wrapped in paper smuggled into the studio in her bag   and slipped to prisoners during breaks pickled vegetables   occasionally fruit when she could obtain any the quantities were tiny by normal standards   but significant for men who weren’t receiving adequate nutrition   a rice ball containing a few ounces of rice provided hundreds of calories   that could mean the difference between functioning and collapsing   the risk was substantial Japanese authorities  

treated any assistance to POWs as serious crime that could result in arrest   torture and execution the Kempeitai monitored everyone at Radio Tokyo   for signs of disloyalty or sabotage being caught feeding prisoners   would have been interpreted as collaboration with the enemy and dealt with accordingly   but Iva continued bringing food because she couldn’t watch men starve   when she had resources however limited to help   Major Cousins later testified  about Iva’s assistance   she brought us food when she could not much she didn’t have much herself  

but a rice ball or some  vegetables when you’re starving   means everything she risked her life doing it   if the guards had caught her feeding us they would have killed her   she knew that but she did it anyway she was the only Japanese person at Radio Tokyo   who treated us like human beings rather than propaganda tools   the food smuggling expanded as Iva found additional sources   she’d use her small salary  to buy food on black markets   where transactions were illegal but available she’d trade possessions for food  

she could pass to prisoners she’d save portions from her own meals   going hungrier herself so prisoners could eat the systematic assistance over months   probably saved lives among POW broadcasters whose malnutrition was severe enough that small   additional calories made medical difference the broadcasts Iva’s work at Radio Tokyo   required her to participate  in propaganda broadcasts   that were designed to demoralize Allied forces the Zero Hour program featured music   comedy sketches and commentary that Japanese authorities believed  

would make Allied soldiers homesick and reluctant to continue fighting   Iva served as announcer and occasional participant in sketches   the broadcasts used the name Tokyo Rose a generic term that Allied servicemen   applied to various female announcers on Japanese radio rather than specific individual   multiple women broadcasters  worked for Radio Tokyo   during the war but Tokyo Rose became catch all designation   for any female voice on Japanese propaganda radio Iva was one of several women who filled that role  

at various times though post war she would be singled out as the Tokyo Rose   despite never using that name herself the propaganda content was relatively harmless   Japanese script writers weren’t sophisticated about American culture   and produced material that was more amusing than demoralizing   Iva and the POW broadcasters deliberately emphasized the entertainment aspects   while minimizing propaganda effectiveness they’d read scripts in tones that suggested   skepticism they’d insert   subtle humor that undermined messages they’d play music that boosted morale  

rather than diminishing it American servicemen who listened to Zero Hour   generally enjoyed it as entertainment rather than being demoralized by it   the music was better than what most Armed Forces Radio could provide   the comedy was unintentionally funny because the cultural   misunderstandings produced absurd content the propaganda was so heavy handed   that listeners recognized it as propaganda and dismissed it post war   surveys of veterans who’d  heard zero Hour broadcasts   found that approximately 80% considered them entertaining  

rather than demoralizing and approximately 60% believed the broadcasters were actually   sympathetic to Allied forces despite being forced to work for Japanese radio   the double life throughout her time at Radio Tokyo   Iva maintained precarious double life publicly working for Japanese propaganda   while secretly assisting Allied prisoners the psychological strain was considerable   she had to appear cooperative  enough to avoid suspicion   while undermining propaganda effectiveness when possible   she had to feed prisoners secretly while maintaining professional relationships  

with Japanese staff who would have reported her if they’d known   she had to preserve her  American identity internally   while presenting acceptable face to authorities who watched for disloyalty   the strain was documented in what little personal correspondence survived the war   in a letter to her family in California that was smuggled out through neutral diplomats   Iva wrote I am doing what I must to survive   but I have not forgotten  who I am or where I belong   I help where I can even when helping is dangerous  

I am still American regardless of what anyone here believes   or what you might hear about what I am doing trust that I remain loyal to what matters   the P O W broadcasters who worked with Iva   understood her position and protected her as much as they could   they’d create opportunities for her to pass food by asking to speak with her privately   about scripts they’d position   themselves to block guard sight lines when she was handing over food   they’d divert attention when necessary to give her time to complete handoffs  

the collaboration was mutual assistance she helped them survive physically   they helped her survive legally by covering for her assistance   the wars end when Japan surrendered on August 15th, 1945   Iva Toguri experienced brief period of relief before disaster   she was free from Japanese authority could potentially return to America   and might resume normal life after four years of strain and danger   the American P O W’s she’d been feeding were liberated and processed for repatriation   several told their liberators  about the Japanese woman  

who’d helped them describing her assistance in terms that should have resulted in gratitude   instead American   occupation authorities began searching for Tokyo Rose as suspected war criminal   journalists covering the occupation wanted to identify the woman   whose voice had been broadcasting Japanese propaganda for years   the story had dramatic elements that would sell newspapers   American woman broadcasting  for enemy exotic nickname   propaganda work that could  be portrayed as treason   the fact that multiple women  had worked as announcers  

that the broadcasts had been relatively harmless that listeners had found them entertaining   rather than demoralizing  none of those complications   interfered with narrative that journalists wanted to tell   Iva was arrested on October 17th, 1945 identified as one of several women   who’d broadcast as Tokyo Rose and held for interrogation   the initial questioning focused on her citizenship status   whether she’d renounced American citizenship whether she’d accepted Japanese citizenship   what her legal status was during the war she maintained  

she’d remained American citizen throughout had refused Japanese citizenship offers   and had worked at Radio Tokyo only because she needed employment to survive   the betrayal begins the arrest initiated   betrayal that would consume   the next six years of Iva’s life despite initial investigations   finding no evidence of treason or deliberate propaganda on her part   despite testimony from liberated P 0 W’s describing her assistance to them   despite recordings of her broadcasts showing relatively innocuous content  

American authorities and journalists pursued prosecution with determination   that seemed disconnected from evidence the initial investigations   recommended against prosecution army investigators concluded   that Iva had not committed treasonous acts that her broadcasts were entertainment   rather than effective propaganda and that her assistance to P O   W’s demonstrated loyalty to Allied forces rather than to Japan   the investigators recommended she be allowed to return to America   without charges but political and media  

pressure demanded prosecution journalists had built   Tokyo Rose into symbol of wartime treachery and retracting the narrative   would have been embarrassing the American public still angry about the war   wanted someone to blame for Japanese propaganda Iva as American citizen who’d worked   for enemy radio was convenient target   regardless of whether evidence  supported prosecution   The Justice Department reopened the case in 1948 under political pressure to prosecute   new investigators were assigned with apparent mandate to build prosecution case  

rather than objectively assess evidence witnesses were pressured to change testimony   p 0 W’s who’d initially  described IVA’s assistance   were asked leading questions designed to elicit statements   that could be interpreted as evidence of propaganda work   the investigation’s outcome seemed predetermined the trial Iva Toguri   was indicted for treason on September 25th, 1948 seven years after she’d been stranded in Japan   three years after war’s end she was charged with eight counts of treason   based on her broadcasts from Radio Tokyo the prosecution alleged  

she’d broadcast propaganda designed to demoralize American forces   had given aid and comfort to the enemy and had done so with treasonous intent   the trial began on July  5th, 1949 in San Francisco   it lasted three months and became media spectacle the proceedings were documented extensively   providing detailed record  of what was either justice   or persecution depending on perspective   the prosecution case was thin recordings of Iva’s broadcasts   showed relatively innocuous content music introductions comedy sketches  

news readings that were obviously propaganda but not particularly effective   the prosecution relied heavily on testimony from two witnesses   who claimed Iva had made specific broadcasts that supported prosecution theory   both witnesses later recanted stating they’d been coerced by FBI agents   who’d threatened them with prosecution if they didn’t cooperate   the defense presented testimony from multiple P 0 ws who’d worked at Radio Tokyo   and described Iva’s assistance Major Cousins testified extensively  

about the food she’d smuggled to prisoners and the risks she’d taken   other P O W broadcasters  corroborated the assistance   several testified that Iva had deliberately undermined propaganda effectiveness   by her delivery and that she’d never expressed support for Japanese war effort   the prosecution countered by arguing that whatever assistance   Iva had provided to individual POWs was irrelevant   to the question of whether her broadcasts constituted treason   the broadcasts had occurred she’d been paid for them by Japanese authorities  

and intent could be inferred from her   willingness to work for enemy radio   the legal theory was questionable but sufficient for jury instructions   the verdict and sentence on September 29th, 1949 after 13 hours of deliberation   the jury convicted Iva Togary  on one count of treason   specifically that she had broadcast statement that Allied forces had suffered military losses   which was alleged to give  aid and comfort to the enemy   the jury acquitted her on seven other counts several jurors later stated  

they’d felt pressured to  convict on at least one count   despite believing the evidence was insufficient that the lengthy trial and political atmosphere   made complete acquittal seem untenable even if it was legally justified   Judge Michael Roche sentenced Iva to 10 years in federal prison   and a $10,000 fine harsh sentence for conviction based on broadcasting   factually accurate statement  about military losses   the sentence reflected less the specific crime than the symbolic   importance that had been attached to prosecuting Tokyo Rose  

regardless of whether the individual prosecuted had actually committed substantive offenses   Iva was incarcerated at  Federal Reformatory for women   in Alderson West Virginia she served six years   before being released on January 28th, 1956 for good behavior   the imprisonment was documented in prison records that showed she’d been model prisoner   who worked in prison library maintained perfect discipline record   and counted days until release that would allow her to resume life   that had been stolen by prosecution the long fight for justice  

after release from prison Iva lived in Chicago   where her family had relocated from California she worked in her father’s import business   avoided public attention and lived quietly while maintaining her innocence   and hoping for eventual exoneration the hope seemed unrealistic   presidential pardons for treason convictions were extraordinarily rare   and the political atmosphere that had driven prosecution   hadn’t changed significantly the campaign for justice   gained momentum in the 1970s as journalists began investigating the case  

more carefully investigative reporters discovered evidence   that had been withheld from defense during trial found witnesses who’d recanted   coerced testimony and documented FBI   misconduct during investigation the revelations raised serious questions   about whetherIva had received fair trial and whether conviction   had been product of political pressure rather than legal evidence   veterans who’d listened to zero hour broadcasts organized to support Iva’s pardon petition   they testified that the broadcasts had been entertaining  

rather than demoralizing that Tokyo Rose had been viewed as friend   rather than enemy that the propaganda had been ineffective   several former P O W’s wrote statements describing Iva’s assistance   and arguing that she’d helped Allied forces rather than aiding Japan   the campaign culminated in petition for presidential pardon filed in 1976   the petition documented trial irregularities presented evidence   that had been unavailable  during original proceedings   and argued that justice demanded correction of wrongful conviction  

the petition was supported  by veterans organizations   civil rights groups and journalists who’d investigated the case   the pardon on January 19th, 1977 his last full day in office   President Gerald Ford granted Ivana Togary full and unconditional pardon   for her treason conviction the pardon didn’t address   guilt or innocence directly but acknowledged that substantial doubts existed   about whether justice had  been served by prosecution   and conviction Ford’s statement accompanying the pardon  

noted that Iva had served her sentence and that clemency is warranted   based on her personal situation the pardon restored Iva’s civil rights   and removed the legal stigma  of treason conviction   but it didn’t restore   the years she’d lost to imprisonment or repair damage to her reputation   she was 60 years old when pardoned had spent six years in prison   and had lived nearly 30  years under cloud of treason   conviction the justice   came too late to undo most of the harm that wrongful prosecution had caused  

Iva’s response to the pardon was characteristically understated   in a brief statement she said I am grateful to President Ford   and to everyone who worked for justice in my case I have always maintained my innocence   and I am pleased that I have been pardoned but I would have preferred   that the trial had never happened that I had been allowed to return home   without being prosecuted for helping prisoners and working for survival during wartime   the Quiet Remainder after receiving her pardon Iva Toguri  

lived quietly in Chicago for another 29 years she granted occasional interviews to journalists   researching the Tokyo Rose case but generally avoided public attention   she maintained that she’d done nothing wrong during the war   that she’d helped American p 0 W’s rather than harming American forces   and that her prosecution had been miscarriage of justice   driven by political pressure  rather than legal merit   she died on September 26th, 2006 at age 90 survived by family   who’d supported her throughout ordeal that had defined much of her adult life  

her obituaries finally told the full story not just the prosecution and conviction   but the assistance she’d provided to P O W’s the food she’d smuggled at risk of execution   the years she’d spent in prison   for helping the men she was  later accused of betraying   the veterans who’d known her broadcasts and the P 0 ws she’d helped   wrote tributes describing  what she’d meant to them   they emphasized that Tokyo Rose had been friend rather than enemy   that the broadcasts had boosted morale rather than undermining it  

and that Iva Togoori had sacrificed her freedom to help prisoners   who needed assistance the tributes provided closure   that legal proceedings had never achieved recognition from the people who actually mattered   that she’d been on the right side despite everything that had happened to her