Revered nisei veterans Shinye Gima and former Gov. George Ariyoshi joined leaders and community members Wednesday in signing a World War II-era U.S. flag as part of a national initiative to honor Japanese American soldiers and internment camp survivors.
The two flags, part of a project started by a California judge, have been signed by more than 400 nisei soldiers, internment camp survivors and their families, and other Japanese Americans affected by World War II from cities throughout the West Coast and from Washington, D.C. The flags will be signed by about 25 people in Hawaii before they head back to the mainland for more signatures.
“The nisei veterans played a vital role in the war in Europe and the Pacific, said Ariyoshi, who served as an interpreter in Japan with the Military Intelligence Serv ice. “I felt it was important that I come.”
Other officials and community members who signed the flag at the Wednesday event, which was held at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, include the Honouliuli National Historic Site’s first superintendent, Hanako Wakatsuki-Chong, whose family was incarcerated in war relocation centers at Manzanar and Tule Lake in California and Minidoka in Idaho ; University of Hawaii professor Dennis Ogawa, who was born at Manzanar and pioneered the first courses on Japanese Americans at UH ; and Larry Miwa, a Honolulu resident and Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor.
After Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, resulting in the mass incarceration of about 120, 000 Japanese living in the U.S., many of whom were American citizens. Although more prevalent on the mainland, about 2, 000 Japanese from Hawaii were also incarcerated. Years later in 1988, the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, acknowledging the injustice of the incarceration camps and paying $20, 000 in reparations to internees.
During World War II, more than 20, 000 nisei from Hawaii and the mainland served in the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service, despite the U.S. government classifying them as enemy aliens and incarcerating many of their families. Because of their courage, service and bravery during and after WWII, nisei soldiers from these three units were awarded thousands of medals, including Purple Hearts, Medals of Honor and an unprecedented number of Presidential Unit Citations. In 2011, the 100th, 442nd RCT and MIS were also presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress.
For Gima, who served in the Military Intelligence Service, he said it’s important to perpetuate and honor the stories of the nisei soldiers and Japanese Americans today. The signed flags, he said, will be objects of reverence.
“The idea that people from our states are looking for mementos to honor the nisei is great, ” said Gima, 96. “I give people credit for thinking of new ways to honor nisei soldiers. This is a new way.”
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Johnny Gogo, who started the flag signing project as a way to honor activist Fred Kore matsu, who challenged the constitutionality of internment camps, and other Japanese Americans said he plans to donate the flags to the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Gogo, who is originally from Guam and is not Japanese, said he plans to travel to five more cities, including Portland, Ore.; Palo Alto, Calif.; and Fresno, Calif., over the next couple of months and to visit all 10 internment camps on the mainland. So far, he’s visited several cities—Seattle ; Sacramento, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; and Salt Lake City—to collect signatures.
“It’s been a very moving and powerful experience to hear their stories, ” Gogo said Wednesday. “We need to keep these types of stories going so future generations can learn from them and prevent this from happening. Racism still exists, so it’s important to continue reminding people of these lessons.”——Jayna Omaye covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member with Report for America, a national serv ice organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under covered issues and communities.
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