mitsuye endo, a young woman born in sacramento, was a typist at the california dmv in 1941, just 21 years old when japan attacked pearl harbor. and what she did in those following years challenging the u.s. government in court, now has prominent attorneys, community groups and legal scholars circulating a petition calling for her to be awarded the nation's highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom. >> i am very proud of my mother for what she did, and she did it for herself and her family and for all of the japanese americans who were incarcerated. >> mitsuye endo son, wayne tsutsumi, says his mother was strong but quiet and didn't tell her three children about her historic role until they were adults. >> mom did not speak about it, nor did my dad. >> san francisco attorney dale minami is a member of the endo presidential medal of freedom committee, with attorneys katherine bannai and peggy nagai, who famously worked on other japanese american legal challenges. endo was a u.s. citizen among the 120,000 people of japanese ancestry on the west coast who were forced into what