Memorable Moments During the 3rd
Anniversary Celebration of the
Go For Broke Monument
By Patsy Sakuma

([Los Angeles, CA) The sun rose early this past Father's Day, June 16, 2002, casting its mighty glow on the sizable crowd of approximately 300, who had gathered at the Go For Broke Monument in Little Tokyo, at the edge of Downtown Los Angeles, California. They came to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the Go For Broke Monument . The theme of this year's celebration was "Celebrating Our Heroes."

Dedicated in 1999, the monument commemorates the Nisei (second-generation, Japanese-American) World War II soldiers of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, MIS (Military Intelligence Service), 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company, and 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion.

The 100/442 RCT (from Hawaii and U.S. mainland) were segregated units in the U.S. military and they became the most decorated units for their size and duration in U.S. military history. The MIS is credited for saving many lives and shortening the war by two years. These Nisei soldiers achieved all of this despite the fact that their country had questioned their loyalty and their bretherns and families living on the U.S. West Coast had been forcibly evacuated into internment camps, after the Presidential Executive Order 9066 classified them as 4C enemy aliens, even though many were US citizens.

David Ono, an ABC (KABC- Channel 7, Los Angeles) anchorman, moderated over the day's ceremony. Christine Sato-Yamazaki, the Executive Director of the Go For Broke Educational Foundation, gave the opening remarks and a special welcome to the fathers and grandfathers in the audience. Shinto and Christian invocations followed. The 40th Military Police Company, 40th Infantry Division, presided over the raising of the flag, which this year had added meaning after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The 2001 Nisei Week Queen, Lauren Kinkade, sang a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. Briana Wong, of the Mt. Wilson/Vista Council Girl Scout Troop 279 said the Pledge of Allegiance. David Ono then read the names of the arts and essay competition winners in four (4) age-categories.

Robert Asahina, an author, gave the keynote address. He told a poignant story about the tireless efforts of a World War II Nisei military doctor in the 442nd Regimental Combat Battalion, who never gave up trying to enlist for military service despite of repeated rejections from the military medical core. To the audience's surprise, the story was about the author's own father, who had kept silent about his experience for some 34 years and had only recently told his family about the bigotry he had experienced after the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941. Mr. Asahina is currently writing this story for publication.

Nisei veterans from each unit and their children then made floral presentations. The 2001 Nisei Week Court and Girl Scout Troop 279 paid tribute to these veterans by giving them miniature flags. A moment of silence followed. Colonel Young O. Kim (Retired) of the 100 the Battalion gave the closing remarks.

The 100/442nd/MIS World War II Memorial Foundation acknowledged the following people, businesses, and organizations for this year's 3rd celebration of the Go For Broke Monument:

• Heaven Scent Flowers
• Flowers by Don
• 40th Military Police Company, 40th Infantry Division (Mechanized)
• Russell Nakaishi
• Paradise Restaurant/Vince Kikugawa
• Japanese American National Museum/Clement Hanami
• 2001 Nisei Week Court
• Mt. Wilson/Vista Council Girl Scout Troop 279
• 100/442 Veterans Association
• City of Los Angeles
• High Resolution/Steve Kikuchi
• Dolphin Rents
• Mary Graybill

• Little Tokyo Public Safety Association

Through the Foundation's efforts, the monument became a reality and one of many means of educating the public on the sacrifices and courage of the Nisei soldiers, whose stories have remained largely unknown. In 1998, the State of California, California Arts Council, awarded grants to develop an educational program to define to school children "What is an American?" The program would, in part, teach high school students about the little known but important contributions of the Nisei soldiers (as told in the 1951 movie, Go For Broke), the Navajo Code-Talkers (now a WB-feature movie, The WindTalkers), and the Tuskegee Airmen (segregated African-American pilots, whose story is told in the movie, Tuskegee Airmen ) during World War II.

Private donations and other state grants have also aided the Foundation's other efforts to preserve the legacy of the Nisei soldiers through the creation of:

• The "American Story" Teacher Training Workshops to assist teachers in incorporating the Japanese-American experience (immigration, World War II Internment, WII military service, and redress) in the classroom curriculum.
• The Hanashi (Japanese for "speak") Voice of the Nisei Soldier Oral History Program, to document these veterans' stories first hand by their children and countless of volunteers.
• An Interactive Website: www.goforbroke.org.
• Film Projects.

Another of the Foundation's goals bore fruit in the premiere of the 92-minute documentary, A Tradition of Honor, a ticketed event, which followed the ceremonies. Many in the crowd continued the celebration by finding refuge from the heat and filling their stomachs at the buffet that preceded the film, across the way at the open plaza between the George & Sakaye Aratani Japan American Theatre and the Japan American Cultural and Community Center.

A photo exhibit of "Celebrating Our Heroes," capturing the personalities of the Nisei veterans, taken by Shane Sato, lined up the theater's entranceway. Inside, a packed audience awaited the first public screening of co-producers', Craig Yahata's and David
Yoneshige's A Tradition of Honor. Mr. Yahata also directed the documentary. The co-producers thanked LaserPacific and Echo Sound, David Snyder for his moving score, Robert Horsting for his creative input and graphic design, Doug Urata for his in-depth research, and the staff of the Go For Broke Educational Foundation for their continuous support.

The Foundation also acknowledged the following supporters of the afternoon events:

• Paradise Restaurant/Vince Kikugawa
• JLI Photo Imaging/Jeff Ikemiya
• Mikawaya
• Brian Minami, photographer
• Giumarra Bros./Tom Uchizono
• Full Force Graphics/ Jerome Tanibata
• Fugetsu-do Confectionary
• Mary Graybill and all their great volunteers
• Laura Ichikawa
• Richard Hawkins
• JACCC
• Jason Inouye

And special acknowledgments were made to:

• Kevin Bradley
• Mike Hagiwara
• Congressman Mike Honda
• Clyde Kusatsu
• Bobby Okinaka
• Sab Shimono
• George Takei
• David Yamazaki
• California Hotel, Las Vegas
• Fuji Film
• Ala Moana Hotel, Honolulu
• Assemblymember George Nakano
• Helen Ota
• Don Tamaki/Minami, Lew, & Tamaki LLP
• Vista Verde Travel
• Dino Zervos
• Tony Chiu
• Manabi & Sumi Hirasaki
• George & Iku Kiriyama
• Clifford Muraoka
• Panavision
• Drusilla Tanaka
• Wexler Video Rentals
• 100th/442nd Veterans Association of Southern California
• 42nd Veterans Club (Honolulu)
• Japanese American Veterans Association (Washington, D.C.)
• Sons & Daughters of 442nd Veterans (Honolulu)
• Nisei Veterans Committee (Seattle)
• 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans (Honolulu)
• Hilo AJA Veterans Club
• MIS Association of Northern California
• MIS Club of Southern California
• MIS Veterans (Honolulu)

Chip Mamiya moderated the brief panel discussion that followed the premiere. On the panel were Craig Yahata, David Yoneshige, two Nisei veterans, Ted Ohira, 442nd RCT, H, Co., and Victor Abe, Military Intelligence Service (MIS), and Hanashi volunteer, Marie Demonteverde. Robin Morishita made the closing remarks and asked the audience to give applause to the Nisei veterans, one which they would truly remember this Father's Day. The roaring applause that followed hopefully conveyed the gratitude felt for all the Nisei veterans' sacrifices and courage during the darkest moment in U.S. history for Japanese Americans and those of Japanese descent.

Copyright © 2002 Patsy Sakuma. All Rights Reserved.

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GO FOR BROKE (1951)


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A TRADITION OF
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The 100/442,the Most
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