No sooner had the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, that the home front became obsessed that lurking in the shadows was a Japanese traitor or Nazi spy, saboteur, or subversive hiding behind every bush, gathering all of the United States’ valuable information.

As a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the nation was on high alert for spies, especially “suspicious looking Orientals.”  Many law enforcement officials took matters into their own hands.  At a major naval base in Norfolk, Virginia, the…