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Nisei Veterans Memorial Center, Maui, Hawaii, June 2015 NewsletterTRANSCRIPT
conferred on 18 Maui Nisei veterans France’s highest honorific medal.
Carmona flew to Maui on Janu-ary 22 to honor these men during a ceremony before an appreciative audience of 200 family members and friends in the Kahului Union Church’s Puaaiki Hall.
The 18 honorees and their Nisei comrades helped to liberate the French from German occupation more than 70 years ago. In remarks before she presented the medals, Carmona described the critical battles that the men of the 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regi-mental Combat Team had engaged
in, and she declared that “the peo-ple of France will never forget.”
It was an emotional evening — one that began with a call for a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks in France by master of ceremonies Brian Moto of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center Board of Directors.
Leonard Oka, president of Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans, then welcomed the audience, evoking the memory of his father by stating how proud Clarence “Hekka” Oka would have been of his comrades who received
Volume 22 Issue 2, June 2015
ALSO SEE:n An exhibit featuring the 18 recipients of the Legion of Honor medal is at the NVMC through August 15. On page 7n The Freedom and Liberty Trail traces the route of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team as it liberated areas of the Lorraine Province as well as the Lost Battalion. The president of the Freedom and Liberty Trail Association and his family visited Maui in March. On page 15Please turn to page 6
“The people of France will never forget.”Pauline Carmona, French consul general in San Francisco
The Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the French Legion of Honor) medal was presented by Pauline Carmona, the French consul gen-eral in San Francisco (third from right in the back row) to (seated, from left) Jotoku Asato, Takeo Ikeda, Shigeo Iwamasa, Arthur Kurahara, Edward Nishihara, Masanobu Sakuma, Shigeo Wakayama and Kaoru Muraoka, and (standing) Robert Miyashiro, Cora Matsumoto (receiving the medal for her late husband, Clarence Matsumoto), Kunio Kikuta, Jill Izumigawa-Ross (for her late father, Stanley Izumigawa), Hideo Takahashi, Shigeru Na-kamura, Francis Ohta, Keith Sakamoto (for his late father, Walter Sakamoto), Fred Yamashige and Hiroshi Arisumi. On the right are the American, French, 442nd Regimental Combat Team and 100th Infantry Battalion flags. Photo by Irvin Yamada
Nisei soldiers honored for their roles in liberation“Au nor du president de la republique, je vous fais
Chavalier de la Legion d’Honneur.” (On behalf of the president of the [French] republic, I bestow you as knight of the Legion of Honor.)
With these words repeated to each recipient, Pauline Carmona, the French consul general in San Francisco,
B E C A U S E O F Y O U I A M . . .
2 – June 2015
Okage Sama de ...The Okage Sama de… newsletter is a free publication issued by the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center.
Articles, questions and comments may be sent to Nisei Veterans Memorial Center, P.O. Box 216, Kahului, HI 96733-6716.
We encourage family and friends to submit information and photos to our Lest We Forget column.
The NVMC Vision:Nisei values that resulted in heroic concern and sacrifice for community and nation, loyalty to family, friends and country, and patriotic valor in World War II will be embraced by all generations and demonstrated in civil society at all levels.
The NVMC Mission:The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center is a living memorial guided by the valor and values of the Nisei Veterans of World War II and is committed to perpetuating their legacy through education and continuing service to all generations.
Board of DirectorsBrian T. Moto, President Roy Katsuda, Vice President Beryl Bal, Secretary Paul Mizoguchi, Treasurer David Fukuda Glenn Goya Hideo Kawahara Mark Mizuno Dwight Muraoka Nelson Okumura Yuki Lei Sugimura
Hiroshi Arisumi, President Emeritus Leonard Oka, Director Emeritus
Nisei Veterans Memorial Center Address: 1 Go For Broke Place, Wailuku Hours: Noon to 4 p.m. weekdays Phone: (808) 244-NVMC (6862)
Website: www.nvmc.org
As newly installed president of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center Board of Directors, I extend warm greetings to you, our veterans, friends, partners and donors. It is an honor to serve you and our nonprofit organiza-tion.
I also extend thanks to our great and beloved immediate past president,
Hiroshi Arisumi, who has retired from the board after many years of devoted and generous service. Mr. Arisumi has been, and will continue to be, our model of leadership, self-
lessness and community spirit.In February, your board voted to
honor Mr. Arisumi, and another re-cently retired board member, Leonard Oka, by conferring on them the titles of president emeritus and director emeritus, respectively. You will see their names and new titles on our let-terhead and website, and in the list of board members in the column to the left of this article.
In this time of change, your board has spent considerable effort on preparing for the recruitment of a new NVMC executive director. Among the measures accomplished:
• Obtaining a grant from the Hawaii Community Foundation to fund an NVMC executive transition
process.• Retaining the consulting firm
Linda Morgan & Associates to assist in completing this executive transi-tion.
• Convening an executive transition team to establish team roles, create an atmosphere of enthusiasm and direction, assess the organization and its mission and vision, and prepare an executive search toolkit to aid in recruiting the best possible candidate for executive director.
• Forming a search committee to oversee the recruitment in accordance with a leadership profile and target dates.
More news concerning the recruit-ment will be available soon.
Your board has recently welcomed a new and distinguished member, Nelson Okumura. We are grateful for his leadership and participation.
We are also thankful for How-ard Ikeda and David Fukuda, who, together with Kyle Watanabe, Melanie Agrabante, Debra Lumpkins, the Legion of Honor families and oth-ers, have labored long and hard to assemble the Chevaliers de la Legion d’Honneur (Knights of the French Legion of Honor) exhibit.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are marching forward.
Brian T. MotoPresidentBoard of DirectorsNisei Veterans Memorial Center
a message from the president of our board | Brian T. Moto
The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center is pleased to announce that Nelson T. Okumura, president of VIP Foodservice, has agreed to serve on our Board of Directors.
VIP Foodservice has been on Maui
for more 64 years, and both Nelson Okumura and his father, Roy, have been generous supporters of the NVMC.
The company’s cumulative giving
Loyal and longtime supporter now a member of board
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Marching Forwardas we fill large shoes
It’s a time of change – and action – for the NVMC and its leaders
3 – June 2015
Arisumi, Oka honored for years of service, commitment
Two men who did so much to create the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center have been honored with emeritus status by our Board of Directors.
The board announced that the title of president emeritus has been conferred on Hiroshi Arisumi, and Leonard Oka has been honored with the title of director emeritus. The actions recognize their many years of service and commitment.
Arisumi and Oka are the only ones to have served continuously on the board since it was formed in 1991.
Arisumi is a co-founder of Arisumi Brothers Inc. He served in the 232nd Combat Engineer Company of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Over the years, Arisumi has been involved in Nisei veteran affairs, including as president of the Maui 442nd Veterans Club. Currently, he serves as a director of Maui AJA Veterans Inc.
Arisumi recently stepped down from his presidency and board positions at NVMC.
Oka is the founder and current presi-dent of Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans. His father, Clarence “Hekka” Oka, was a veteran of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The concept of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center came from MSDNV.
Oka was the longtime secretary of the
NVMC board. He resigned from the board in March 2014.
Brian T. Moto succeeds Arisumi as president of the board. He was elected at the body’s recent annual meeting. Re-elected as officers were Roy Katsuda, vice president; Paul Mizoguchi, treasurer; and Beryl Bal, secretary.
The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center is a living memorial guided by the valor and values of the Japanese-American veterans of World War II, and is committed to per-petuating their legacy through education
and continuing service to all generations. The NVMC features an Education Center with exhibits, archives and educational programs, and an Intergenerational Center that includes Kansha Preschool and the Maui Adult Day Care Centers Ocean View facility.
The NVMC Board of Directors continu-ally seeks to enhance the organization’s mission and operations. Currently, the board is preparing to recruit a new execu-tive director to help lead the NVMC into the future.
Nelson OkumuraContinued from page 2over the years earned a bronze plaque on the walkway to the Maui Adult Day Care Centers’ Ocean View facility at the NVMC. Ocean View partners with Kansha Pre-school in our Intergenerational Center.
“I have always felt indebted to the Nisei veterans,” Okumura said in explaining his involvement with and support of activities conducted for members of the Maui 442nd Veterans Club and the NVMC.
He has two relatives who are Nisei veter-ans: His uncle James Okumura served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and his cousin Harold Okumura was a member of the Military Intelligence Service.
Okumura is a graduate of Maui High School and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he earned a Bachelor of Busi-ness Administra-tion in marketing. After a stint with the Army Reserves, he joined the family
business his father founded.Okumura is a past chairman of the Maui
Chamber of Commerce board and has also served on the Maui Food Bank board and as Key Club adviser at Baldwin High School. He currently serves as treasurer
of Kahului Hongwanji Mission, is on the advisory board to the Feed My Sheep food distribution program on Maui and is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Maui.
Okumura has three grown children, Cheryl, who is a professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles; Neil, a senior engineer at Raytheon in Redondo Beach, California; and Scott who works in Hono-lulu as a draftsman.
The NVMC board that Okumura joins is headed by President Brian T. Moto, Vice President Roy Katsuda, Secretary Beryl Bal and Treasurer Paul Mizoguchi.
Also serving as board members are Da-vid Fukuda, Glenn Goya, Hideo Kawahara, Mark Mizuno, Dwight Muraoka and Yuki Lei Sugimura.
Deeds earn emeritus status on NVMC board
HIROSHI ARISUMI President Emeritus
LEONARD OKA Director Emeritus
Nelson Okumura
4 – June 2015
“The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story” exhibit at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center came to a close on January 3 after attracting about 955 attendees during its nine-week run — which included a three-week extension.
The exhibit was held in the Education Center.
“Visitors came from various parts of Ha-waii, the Mainland USA and even Canada,” noted Kyle Watanabe, the historical preser-vation and education program coordinator for the NVMC, which co-sponsored the ex-hibit with Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii (JCCH).
A good number of attendees had some connection to the internment story.
About half a dozen Mainland visitors were born in internment centers such as Manzanar, Poston and Heart Mountain. Three Canadian visitors commented that they were born in one of the internment centers in their country.
When the visitors were asked about their parents’ experiences, they replied that their elders did not want to talk about their internment.
Many Maui visitors recognized the names of families, relatives and friends on a list of Valley Isle internees that was part of the exhibit.
One Maui gentleman, Takuzo Ageno, spoke of his experience of living in two internment camps. His family eventually went to live with their father, a Molokai fisherman, who was interned at the centers in Jerome and Rohwer, Arkansas.
Watanabe also said, “The Education Center would like say thank you for the generous donations received from visitors during the exhibit. The donations will be a great help in providing for future exhibits.”
NVMC board member David Fukuda, who chaired the event, said, “I was particu-larly struck by the fact that so many people who visited stated they had no idea that there were such camps in existence in Ha-waii during the war. It shows that we have a lot of work to do in educating both our community and students about this period
in Hawaii’s history.”Diane Orikasa, who has been organizing
the docent team for the NVMC’s exhibits, offered her praise to those who volunteered to host the exhibit: “A big mahalo to the 51 docents, most of whom volunteered for several dates during the nine-week intern-ment exhibit. Their presence in greeting our many visitors, providing information and listening to their family experiences contributed greatly to the success of this exhibit.”
Visitors were encouraged to provide names and leads so more stories of other Maui internees can be told. Fukuda and Bert Kikuchi, recently retired history instructor at University of Hawaii Maui College, will be attempting to follow up on these potential stories.
Another area that needs further investi-gation is the location of the Haiku deten-tion camp. While we have several witnesses who have established the former dormitory
Please turn to the next page
Nearly 1,000 see Hawaii internees exhibit
Takuzo Ageno points at the Jerome and Rohwer, Arkansas, internment centers, where his father, a Molokai fisherman, was incarcerated. The family went to live with him at the centers. With Ageno are his daughter Laurie and wife Rebecca. They have been regular attendees at exhibits at the Education Center. Photos by Kyle Watanabe
A good number of them have link to internment locally, on Mainland, in Canada
Participants in the Kaunoa Senior Services dining program at the Kahului Union Church were among the more than 900 people who attended “The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story” exhibit at NVMC’s Education Center.
Exhibit to tell of Jews’ liberation by Nisei soldiers
5 – June 2015
The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center Historical Preservation and Education Committee is planning to present an exhibit titled “Unlikely Liberators: The Story of Japanese American Soldiers of the 522nd Field Artillery and the Libera-tion of the Dachau Death March.”
It is scheduled to start in early Novem-ber at the NVMC Education Center.
The exhibit, composed of dozens of photos and text panels, was created by Eric Saul, a former curator of the Military Museum at the Presidio of San Francisco. Saul has a longtime association with the NVMC’s historical preservation efforts. Most recently, in June 2014, the NVMC staged an exhibit that included portions of his “Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts.”
Saul also is scheduled to be the key-note speaker at our annual fundraising banquet on November 7.
“Unlikely Liberators” is the remarkable story of a U.S. Army unit that witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust as it liber-ated Nazi concentration camps in and around Dachau, Germany.
That unit was the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, which, for most of its wartime service, was attached to the 442nd Regi-mental Combat Team.
Because of the 522nd’s reputation for speed and accuracy, commanders vied for its services. In March 1945, it was separated from the 442nd and used as a roving artillery unit for the Allies’ march toward Berlin. The rest of the 442nd went to Italy.
It was during this time that the 522nd aided in the liberation of several sub-camps around Dachau, and also liberated the infamous Dachau Death March on May 2, 1945. During this incident, the men of the 522nd saved hundreds of Jews who would have perished due to Nazi atrocities and because of starvation and exposure.
The irony of this incident is that many soldiers of the 522nd who freed the Jewish prisoners were victims of racism and had volunteered for service from America’s internment centers, which were also called concentration camps.
This exhibit has been shown at the Presidio museum; Yad Vashem Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem; the African American Histori-cal Society in San Francisco; the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in San Francisco; and the Veter-ans Center in Fresno, California.
This picture of historian Eric Saul was taken in March 2014, when he came to Maui to tour the NVMC, have lunch with Ni-sei veterans and discuss future projects of the NVMC and Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans. Photo by Melanie Agrabante
522nd Field Artillery helped save hundreds from sure death
InterneesContinued from page 4for Haiku plantation workers as the camp, there are others who say they saw a cluster of military tents located across St. Rita’s Church, which could also have served as a holding facility.
“The exhibition was the NVMC’s first collaboration with the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, and we cannot thank them enough for their generous support in making this presentation possible,” said Glenn Goya, chairman of the NVMC His-torical Preservation and Education Com-mittee and also a member of the JCCH’s Internment Committee.
“Their video production, ‘The Untold Story,’ provided a perfect introduction to
the exhibit,,” Goya said, “and their displays on ‘Clouds over Paradise’ and ‘Right from Wrong’ were invaluable to understanding what had occurred.”
The JCCH materials looked at the Hawaii experience, and special segment — devel-
oped locally by NVMC and its supporters — focused on Maui internees.
The JCCH is moving forward on plans to broaden its research to include the Neigh-bor Island stories on internment and feature the islands in separate video presentations.
Bert Kikuchi, recently retired his-tory instructor at University of Hawaii Maui College, talks with Jane Kurahara (left) and Carole Hayashino of the Japa-nese Cultural Center of Hawaii at “The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story” exhibit at NVMC’s Education Center. The three did a presenta-tion on Hawaii internment during a breakout session of the 2014 Teacher Institute Day on Maui. Photo by Melanie Agrabante
6 – June 2015
Legion of HonorContinued from page 1this honor.
As each awardee or a surviving loved one went forward to receive his medal, the veteran’s photograph was projected onto a screen while NVMC board member David Fukuda read a summary of the veteran’s experiences during the French campaigns.
Most of the men participated in the Rhineland Campaign, which occurred in the Lorraine Province in places like Bruy-eres, Biffontaine and the Vosges Moun-tains. The heaviest fighting took place between mid-October and early November 1944, when one-fourth of the 101 Mauians
who lost their lives during the war were killed.
Three of the awardees had passed away between the time their applications for the medals were made and the ceremony in January. They were Stanley Izumigawa (medal accepted by daughter Jill Ross), Clarence Matsumoto (accepted by widow Cora Matsumoto) and Walter Sakamoto (accepted by son Keith Sakamoto).
Present to receive their medals were Hi-roshi Arisumi, Jotoku Asato, Takeo Ikeda, Shigeo Iwamasa, Kunio Kikuta, Arthur Kurahara, Robert Miyashiro, Kaoru Mu-raoka, Shigeru Nakamura, Edward Nishi-hara, Francis Ohta, Masanobu Sakuma, Hideo Takahashi, Shigeo Wakayama and
Fred Yamashige.Fifteen members of the Maui French
Club led the audience in the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “La Marseillaise,” the French national anthem, accompanied by Kahului Union pianist Pearl Nishino.
Club member and French citizen Se-golene Wilson of Maui assisted Carmona in the medal presentation.
Arisumi closed the ceremony by offer-ing thanks on behalf of all the awardees to Consul General Carmona and the French government and to the MSDNV and its event chair, Eric Yamashige, for putting on this event.
As each awardee or a surviving loved
one went forward to receive his medal,
the veteran’s photograph was
projected onto a screen while Nisei Veterans
Memorial Center board member
David Fukuda read a summary
of the veteran’s experiences during
the French campaigns. Here, Robert Miyashiro views his image
on the screen, then receives his
medal from Pauline Carmona, the French
consul general in San Francisco.
Photos by Melanie Agrabante
Please turn to the next page
The Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the French Legion of Honor) medal was bestowed on 18 Japanese-American soldiers from Maui who helped to liberate France from German occupation during World War II. Photo by Irvin Yamada
An exhibit featuring the 18 Maui recipi-ents of France’s Legion of Honor medal is at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center through August 15. It is free and open to the public from noon to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
The 18 men received France’s highest honorific medal this past January for their contributions toward liberating France from German occupation during World War II.
Featured are biographies and photo-graphs of the honorees, and there are descriptions of the battles in which the men participated as they fought to liber-ate France. Included are the liberation of Bruyeres and the famous Rescue of the Lost Battalion in the Vosges Mountains, for which the 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team was awarded three Presidential Unit Citations.
The Chevaliers de la Legion d’Honneur (Knights of the French Legion of Honor) exhibit opened to the public on May 11 in the NVMC’s Education Center. It is co-sponsored by Maui’s Sons and Daughters of Nisei Veterans and the NVMC.
A co-chair for the exhibit is Howard Ikeda, son of Takeo Ikeda, one of the Legion of Honor awardees.
“After reading veterans’ biographies and war articles, I have a greater understanding of what they went through in France,” co-chair Ikeda said. “They sacrificed their lives and fought with courage in many battles to bring freedom to the people of France. This exhibit has given me the opportunity to share the veterans’ stories and experiences of the war in France.”
Assisting Ikeda is Kyle Watanabe, NVMC historical preservation and education coordinator, and David Fukuda, co-chair of the Legion of Honor exhibit and an NVMC board member.
The exhibit panels were designed by Debra Lumpkins, who has been responsible
for most of the NVMC poster designs since the Education Center opened two years ago.
Another battle that merits exhibit space is Operation Dragoon, the airborne invasion in southern France of August 1944. The 442nd Antitank Company took to the air in C-41 gliders to support the mission. On display are models of the gliders as well as a piece of canvas from a glider skin. The canvas came from the glider that carried a soldier from Maui, Edwin Kokubun, who donated the souvenir to the NVMC archives.
Sadly, Masanobu Sakuma, Maui’s last survivor of this glider operation, passed away earlier this year. He was among the Legion of Honor recipients. (Please see Mr. Sakuma’s obituary on page 16.)
Ikeda contacted the honored veterans and their families in an effort to gather
photographs and other memorabilia for the exhibit.
“The families were very supportive and cooperative by providing information needed for the exhibit,” Ikeda said. “It has been a rewarding experience getting to know each family.”
This exhibit is the fourth that the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center has sponsored over the last two years. Others were “Goku-rosama: Hawaii Nikkei Nisei,” “Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts” and “The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story.”
The events are open to the public free of charge, fulfilling the NVMC’s mission of perpetuating the legacy of the Nisei soldiers of World War II and their service to the community.
7 – June 2015
Legion of HonorContinued from page 6
Yamashige is the son of medal recipient Fred Yamashige.
Others who assisted in making this event possible were Patricia Lee, honorary French consul general of Honolulu; Ka-
hului Union Church and Associate Pastor Ken Tanaka; Wendy Higa of MSDNV; and Printers Inc., Dani’s Catering and Maui Specialty Chocolates.
Applications for the Legion of Honor are still being accepted by the French gov-ernment. If a veteran who served in France during World War II has copies of his dis-
charge papers, please call the NVMC office at 244-6862 or Fukuda at 878-1354.
Fukuda is coordinating the NVMC effort to help veterans receive this recogni-tion.
The veteran must have fought in France and must be alive at the time the applica-tion is submitted.
Debra Lumpkins goes over the exhibit’s graphic requirements with Howard Ikeda (center), who co-chairs the show with NVMC board member David Fukuda, and Kyle Watanabe, the Center’s historical preservation and education coordinator. Photo by David Fukuda
NVMC exhibit features Legion on Honor recipients
Hui Malama partners with Education Center
Staff from the Nisei Vet-erans Memorial Center and Hui Malama Learning Center partnered to provide students with an educational, thought-provoking and, at times, emo-tional experience.
Eighteen Hui Malama Learning Center students participated in the NVMC education outreach activity.
Prior to their sessions, eight Hui Malama staff members visited our Education Cen-ter, where they were briefed on the NVMC’s history and operations, viewed the vari-ous displays and watched the “Our Nobler Selves” video. The NVMC’s short video pro-vides an overview of the Nisei veteran legacy through Maui veterans talking about topics from their early childhood through statehood.
After the staff visit, Hui Malama’s lead academic instructor, Tamara “Tammy” Tanaka, and Kyle Watanabe, NVMC’s historical preserva-tion and education program coordinator, discussed ways to provide the students with a more personal and interactive learning experience of Hawaii’s history in World War II. They decided to focus on the Hawaii internment story and Nisei veterans’ history, using the Education Center exhibits as the foundation of instruction and class activity.
Internment segmentThe internment instruction
was done in November 2014 and consisted of two parts.
The first part took place at Hui Malama Learning Center, where students viewed “The Untold Story,” then discussed the documentary and complet-
ed worksheets. The video about the Hawaii internment experi-ence was done by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii and produced by Carole Hayashino, who is its executive director, and June Kurahara.
The documentary stirred a lot of emotions and comments from the students.
“We Americans should learn from this event and handle things differently if a situation like this occurs again,” student Ethan Kaplan com-mented.
After the video, NVMC board member David Fukuda did a history lesson with the students. The retired high school history teacher shared interesting facts and stories about World War II, and he led the students in an activity in which they were asked to cre-ate their own lists of five items they would take with them if they were sent to an intern-ment center.
“Although the class con-sisted of seventh- to 11th-graders, I was impressed that all of them could grasp what occurred 70 years ago,” Fukuda remarked.
The second part of the Hawaii internment instruc-tion took place at the Educa-tion Center, where students completed a fact-sheet scav-enger hunt while visiting “The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story” exhibit.
Student Lehiwa Keliiku-pakako wrote in a class review: “I never knew there was even such a thing as internment camps in Hawaii, but I am glad I learned something new.”
Viewing the exhibit and completing the scavenger-hunt fact sheet provided the students a “museum type” learning ex-perience. For many, it was their first experience of this kind.
“My favorite part of the internees’ exhibit was the scav-enger hunt because it was really
interesting,” Ryden Richardson wrote. “It was cool trying to work with my team and find out information about the internees.”
Nisei veteransIn March, the students
learned about the Nisei veter-ans of World War II by reading the manga “Journey of Heroes” by Stacey T. Hayashi, listening to presentations and stories told by sons of Maui veterans, and completing a scavenger-hunt questionnaire while viewing veterans exhibits at the Education Center.
The presence of the manga was due to the generosity of two anonymous individu-als who had heard that Hui Malama Learning Center students were to learn about the Nisei veterans. They felt that the book would provide an excellent introduction to the Nisei veterans’ story, so they
8 – June 2015
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Hui Malama student Jace Luna enjoys talking story with Floyd Nagoshi (center) and Leonard Oka, both sons of men who were in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Photo courtesy of Tamara “Tammy” Tanaka
Internees, veterans enrich students’ experience
NVMC, veterans help two from Japan with higher educationLecturer and student also tap resources at Education Center
A university lecturer and a college stu-dent who are from Japan were able to take advantage of resources at the Education Center and have personal encounters with veterans and those involved in the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center.
Erika Hori, a lecturer at Nagoya Uni-versity, visited on November 6 and 7. On February 4 and 5, Kaori Takara, a college student from Tokyo, interviewed three Maui Nisei veterans.
Hori was a graduate student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and she teaches about the history of Japanese Americans in Hawaii. She plans to write an essay about the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center that would be part of a publication about American museums and education centers. The purpose of the publication is to expose the Japanese public to American history.
She chose the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center as the subject for her essay after reading a story about the NVMC that was published in the June 20, 2014, issue of the Hawaii Herald.
During her two-day visit, Hori viewed the “The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story” ex-hibit as well as displays about veterans that are in the archives room. In order to learn about the history of the Center, she interviewed several individuals, including Leonard Oka, the founder of Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans, and Hiroshi Arisumi, who has retired as the longtime president of the NVMC board since the interview took place.
Hori also interviewed David Fukuda, chairperson of the internees’ story project, to gain a better understanding of the ex-hibit and its potential as an education tool.
Two of the veterans displays were of particular interest to Hori: “The Legacy of Lt. Saburo Maehara,” about a 100th Infantry Battalion soldier’s correspondence
with his 2½-year-old daughter until he was killed in action in Italy, and “The Best Kept Secret of World War II,” a national-award-winning History Day project from 1993.
Lt. Maehara’s story was touching, Hori said, eliciting sadness and other emotions. The History Day project gave her an over-
view of the Military Intelligence Service and told stories of two Nisei interpreters from Maui. Dr. Mika (Izutsu) Yamazaki was an Iao School 6th-grader when she did the project.
Takara, a third-year student in the
9 – June 2015
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Nagoya University lecturer Erika Hori interviews Hiroshi Arisumi (center) and David Fukuda at the Education Center. She talked about the history of the NVMC with Arisumi, who was recently honored with the title of president emeritus of the Board of Directors. Her main topic with board member Fukuda was the “The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story” exhibit. Fukuda was chairman of the exhibit project. Photos by Kyle Watanabe
Kaori Takara, a student at Tsuda College, interviewed Nisei veterans on Maui as part of her research paper on the people who emigrated from Japan and their descendants. She is seen here with one of the interviewees, Francis Ohta, who served in Company L of the 442nd RCT.
10 – June 2015
Hui MalamaContinued from page 8donated 25 copies of “Journey of Heroes” to Hui Malama.
Making presentations about their fathers were Leonard Oka, Glenn Shishido and Floyd Nagoshi.
Besides speaking about his father (Private First Class Clarence “Hekka” Oka, Com-pany L, 442nd Regimental Combat Team), Leonard Oka gave a brief history of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center.
A moving and touching moment oc-curred when Shishido expressed how grate-ful he was to Sadao Munemori, who sacri-ficed his life to save his father, Private First Class Akira Shishido, Company A, 100th Infantry Battalion, and another soldier.
Nagoshi capped his presentation by explaining the memorabilia collection of his father, Technical Sergeant Noboru Nagoshi, Company E, 442nd RCT.
During their presentations, the three men touched on the meaning of “Go For Broke” and values that were demonstrated by the Nisei veterans. Gambari (persever-ance), kansha (gratitude), hokori (pride) and kodomo no tame ni (for the sake of the children) gave the students insight into what drove the veterans to their many ac-complishments.
The three Sansei remarked that the students were very active learners, and that they were impressed that the youths asked many questions and enthusiastically com-pleted the scavenger-hunt questionnaire. They also agreed that they learned a lot from each other’s presentations and enjoyed the experience of the Hui Malama students
wanting to learn about their fathers’ mili-tary service.
The Hui Malama students also had many positive things to say about their experi-ence at the Education Center and what they learned about the Nisei veterans.
Hunter Urata commented, “ ‘Okage sama de — Because of you, I am.’ This is some-thing I will never forget, because for me it means you can be who you want to be, but who you hang out with can change who you become. The Nisei veterans all took care of each other.”
Ransom Watanabe wrote, “I would like to say thank you so much to Mr. Oka, Mr. Shishido and Mr. Nagoshi for sharing their fathers’ stories with us. Thank you also to the anonymous donors of the ‘Journey of Heroes: The Story of the 100th Infantry Bat-talion and the 442nd Regimental Combat
Team’ manga to Hui Malama. My class-mates and I had a lot of fun reading through it, and I thought it was a very entertaining and interesting way of telling the story of the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team.”
Instructor Tanaka reflected, “Our visit to the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center to hear the stories of Mr. Oka, Mr. Shishido and Mr. Nagoshi was a reminder to both our students and us teachers of the responsibili-ties we each carry. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, so we must listen to and take in the stories and lessons of our elders and share with the generation below us the knowledge with which we are blessed.”
Groups desiring to hear Nisei veterans’ stories as told by their children can phone Kyle Watanabe at 244-6862 or send email to [email protected].
JapaneseContinued from page 9Department of International and Cultural Studies at Tsuda College, conducted the interviews as part of her research paper on the people who emigrated from Japan and their descendants.
Through her studies, she learned about Pearl Harbor and how Japanese Americans were affected. She decided to include infor-mation on Nisei veterans, and she turned to the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center as an interview resource.
Takara interviewed Arisumi, who served
in the 232nd Combat Engineer Company, 442nd Regimental Combat Team; Francis Ohta, Company L, 442nd RCT; and Harold Okumura, MIS. She interviewed them at the Education Center with assistance from her father, Toshiyuki Takara. She asked about their reasons for volunteering, war experiences and hardships, and what future generations can learn.
She also read the Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans’ oral his-tory interview transcripts of Arisumi and Ohta. Another source she used was the oral history videos of Go For Broke National Education Center. Scores of videos are on
Go For Broke’s website, including those of Arisumi, Ohta and Okumura.
The Takaras also viewed “The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story,” and took notes about and photos of the Maui stories in the exhibit.
The visits by Hori and Takara were coor-dinated by Kyle Watanabe, historical preser-vation and education program coordinator for the NVMC.
“We would like to thank Erika and Kaori for helping to raise the awareness about the Nisei veterans role in World War II,” Wata-nabe said. “It’s good to know that the Nisei veterans’ story is reaching shores beyond the United States.”
Hui Malama students were on the last leg of their scavenger-hunt questionnaire about exhibits at the Education Center when this picture was taken. Photo courtesy of Tamara “Tammy” Tanaka
New writer’s play about internment, 442nd volunteer staged at festivalNVMC programs have role in how KKHS alumna developed the plot
A college playwriting class assignment sprinkled with inspiration from Nisei Veterans Memorial Center events led to a local high school graduate seeing her one-act drama staged in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The playwright is Mikiko Galpin, a 2011 graduate of King Kekaulike High School who is working toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of British Columbia.
Her play is “Go For Broke,” which was one of 12 plays selected for the Brave New Play Rites festival held March 12-15 at Stu-dio 1398 on Granville Island in Vancouver.
This was the 28th year of the festival, which features the works of new writers. The plays are professionally produced, directed and performed.
On the festival website (http://bravenew.ca), Galpin’s play is described as a work that “explores the racial tensions of the World War II era through the untold story of Japa-nese American internment in Hawaii.”
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Harry Sato volunteers for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
“Far from his home on Oahu, he com-municates his experiences to his sister, Anne, via letters, but the effects of the war are more far-reaching than either could imagine.”
The production spotlights a number of firsts for Galpin: It is her first year in the UBC Creative Writing Program, she is a first-time playwright and this was her first staged production.
Galpin’s assignment was to write a one-act play, and her instructor decided it should be considered for Brave New Play Rites. The committee chose it to be per-formed at this year’s festival.
The playwright is the daughter of Dr. Peter Galpin and Dr. Nina Sato.
Dr. Galpin said Mikiko was already working on the project when he told her
about the annual NVMC fundraiser last November where keynote speaker and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Vin-cent Okamoto talked about internment and the Japanese Americans who went to war.
“I think it was a fusion between Judge Okamoto’s story and her knowledge that the Hawaii internment is not well-known even in Hawaii” that led to the way the play turned out, Dr. Galpin said.
Mikiko Galpin and her brother, Akira, have attended a number of NVMC events,
including the recent “The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story” exhibit.
Their parents have been a longtime sup-porters of the NVMC.
As an Army veteran, Dr. Galpin is aware of the 442nd, 100th Infantry Battalion and Military Intelligence Service because “their stories are common knowledge in my circles.”
“The saga of the 442/100/MIS is not just a Nisei story, but rather an American story, and a soldier’s story,” he said.
11 – June 2015
Playwright Mikiko Galpin is on the right in this picture, which was taken by her grandmother Midori Sato at intermission on the final day of performances at the Brave New Play Rites festival. Galpin’s one-act play, “Go For Broke,” was staged at the festival. Also pictured are (from left) director Lisa Goebel, Alex Patalas (who plays a soldier), Brett Willis (Harry Sato), Zac Scott (soldier) and Katie Hayashida (Anne Sato).
Playwright Mikiko (right) and her brother, Akira (left), posed with their par-ents, Dr. Peter Galpin and Dr. Nina Sato at the recent “The Hawai‘i Internees’ Story” exhibit at the Education Center. The siblings were home during college winter break and visited for about an hour and a half. Their parents were the first of many visitors to suggest that the exhibit be extended. The NVMC heeded, adding three weeks to the exhibit’s run. Photo by Kyle Watanabe
12 – June 2015
Washing of the wallsMembers of our Board of Directors were at the quarterly washing of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center walls on February 28. Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans generally provides the pressure-washer operators, and other helpers take care of screens, doors and the like. NVMC board member Yuki Lei Sugimura had a family gathering that day, so she arranged for two boys from Teens on Call to assist in her stead.
Among those helping at the NVMC campus quarterly cleanup in February were Joshua Pinero (left) and Myka Jessy (third from left) from Teens on Call. Also in the picture are (from left) NVMC board members Paul Mizoguchi and Beryl Bal; Beryl’s husband, Gene; Char-lene Doi of Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans; board members Mark Mizuno and Hideo Kawahara; and in the foreground, Leonard Oka, president of MSDNV.
Weeds whackedCentral Pacific Bank employees helped clear the burial area of weeds in March. They are (kneeling in front) Yuka Miller
and (standing, from left) Ann Sakamoto, Kyle Sakamoto, Marissa Cruz, Janis Acoba, Brandon Higashi,
Gwen Fukuyama, Cindi Pojas Smith, Wanda Fujimori, Jason Williams,
Pat Matsumoto, Cathy Shimizu and Scott Sakakihara.
The Native Hawaiian burial area on the upper portion of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center campus had become overgrown with weeds because of heavy rains. So late last year, board member David Fukuda spoke to Scott Fisher, Hawaiian Islands Land Trust Maui director, about how to handle the situation. Fisher, who is also a member of the NVMC Facilities Committee, advised clearing the brush and working on planting native and non-evasive foliage. Later, an offer of help came from Scott Sakakihara, who drops off his father-in-law at the Maui Adult Day Care Centers’ Ocean View facility. He stopped to talk to Donald Ito and Fukuda one day, and offered the help of his Central Pacific Bank crew. So Fukuda suggested the burial area project, and between Sakakihara and his crew and Fisher, the area was cleared on March 28. All the brush was cut back and bagged, and it will be used for mulch this year. Ito and Fukuda are retirees who volunteer their time each week to keep the campus looking good. “He felt sorry for us,” a chuckling Fukuda said of Sakakihara’s offer of help.
13 – June 2015
Through August 15 — Chevaliers de la Legion d’Honneur (Knights of the French Legion of Honor) exhibit in honor of the 18 Maui recipients of the French government’s highest honorific award for their contributions in liberating France from German occupation during World War II. Free and open to the public. Nisei Veterans Memorial Center’s Education Center, Mondays through Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. For more information, call the NVMC at 244-6862 or send email to [email protected].
June 19 — Kansha Preschool “Dad and Me” Picnic, Nisei Veterans Memorial Center. For Kansha families.
June 20 —Joint Social for Nisei Veterans at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center Pavilion. Annual event for veterans and invited guests, sponsored by the Japanese Cultural Society of Maui and Maui’s Sons and Daughters of Nisei Veterans.
June 30 — Kansha Preschool Aloha Program and Potluck at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center. A graduation program for preschool families and invited guests.
July 18 — 442nd Veterans Club Quarterly Social. For club members, spouses and widows, and invited guests, including veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion and Military Intelligence Service.
Oct 10 — 442nd Veterans Club Quarterly Social. For club members, spouses and widows, and invited guests, including veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion and Military Intelligence Service.
November 7 — 12th Annual Nisei Vet-erans Memorial Center Fundraising Dinner, Elleair Ballroom, Maui Beach Hotel. Keynote speaker: Historian Eric Saul. More details coming soon.
December 5 — 63rd Chrysanthemum Festival, Velma McWayne Santos Community Center in Wailuku; doors open at 4:30 p.m. Sponsored by Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans. Proceeds fund historical preservation activities and scholarships for high school seniors who want to go to college. More details to come.
CalendarNVMCthe
of Upcoming Events
Pukalani Ace donates mowerKalima O Maui is contracted to cut the grass once a month at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center. Donald Ito is a retired insurance man who, with board member David Fukuda, volunteers to do weekly maintenance of the NVMC campus. Ito wanted to keep the grass short in between the Kalima visits, particularly in the court-yard area where the Kansha Preschool children play. Board member Paul Mizoguchi offered to help acquire a lawnmower and asked that Ito pick out something at Ace Hardware in Pukalani. The store is a franchise in the HouseMart company, which is owned by Mizogu-chi’s family. It turned out that the lawnmower we chose had to be brought in from the Mainland. The Pukalani Ace Hardware offered to bring it in and donate it to the center. This is not the first time we have received help from the Pukalani Ace manager, Manasseh Ribidoux. We also received a paint donation from the store when we repaired a wooden signpost in our parking lot. We picked up the battery-operated mower in December, and it’s been doing well ever since.
Manasseh Ribidoux (second from right), manager of the Pukalani Ace Hardware, poses with the lawnmower his store donated to the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center. The NVMC is represented by (from left) Donald Ito and board members David Fukuda and Hideo Kawahara.
SAVEdateTHE
14 – June 2015
The director and screenwriter of “Go for Broke! Memories of Hawaii Japanese Ni-seis” was bearing gifts when he stopped on Maui after his award-winning documentary was featured during the Honolulu Festival Internationally Acclaimed Movies segment of the 21st Annual Honolulu Festival.
Hiroyuki Matsumoto of Kyushu, Japan, visited the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center on March 10, bringing with him the pro-ceeds from the movie sales at the festival. He presented the gift to Kansha Preschool, which is part of the NVMC’s Intergenera-tional Center along with the Maui Adult Day Care Centers’ Ocean View facility.
Matsumoto has been providing financial support to Kansha through his documen-tary since 2012.
“Kansha Preschool is extremely grate-ful to Mr. Matsumoto for his continued support and generosity,” said Emi George, Kansha Preschool board president. “His documentary allows us to pass on the stories of the Nisei veterans to our keiki and for generations to come.”
“Go for Broke! Memories of Hawaii Japanese Niseis” is a collection of veterans’ recollections that tell the story of Hawaii’s second-generation Japanese Americans and the soldiers who served in World War II.
Matsumoto presented the gift during a visit to the Educational Center.
While at the center, he viewed and filmed its exhibits and displays, and he created video footage of the NVMC campus.
He also conducted interviews with Hi-roshi Arisumi, who is president emeritus of
the NVMC board, and Kyle Watanabe, his-torical preservation and education program coordinator for the Center.
In addition to donating proceeds from the screening and sales of the documentary to Kansha Preschool, Matsumoto also gives DVDs of the documentary to Kansha to sell, including at the Education Center.
Watanabe thanked Matsumoto for mak-ing the movie available to exhibit visitors.
“The movie is an excellent resource for one to start learning about the rich history
of the Nisei veterans,” Watanabe stated. “Hiroyuki’s movie and continuing efforts help to support our mission of perpetuating the Nisei veterans’ legacy.”
“Go for Broke! Memories of Hawaii Japanese Niseis” is available on DVD at the Education Center for $15.
Mail orders, with a $5 postage fee, can be requested through email at [email protected].
A limited number of Japanese language versions are available.
INTERGENERATIONAL CENTERPart of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center’s
mission is to perpetuate the veterans’ legacy through education and continuing service to all generations.
At the NVMC Intergenerational Center, Kansha Preschool children and their “grandpas and grandmas” at Maui Adult Day Care Centers’
Ocean View facility maintain a loving connection as they share the courtyard and other facilities.
Director and screenwriter Hiroyuki Matsumoto (right) and Heather Kanemoto, a member of the Kansha Preschool Board of Directors, hold a copy for Matsumoto’s “Go for Broke! Memories of Hawaii Japanese Niseis.” With them is Hiroshi Arisumi, who was recently honored with the title of president emeritus of the NVMC board of directors Photo by Melanie Agrabante
AVID gives . . . againHeather Kanemoto (left), a member of the Kansha Preschool Board of Directors, accepts a check for $5,000 from Taylor Phillips, president of the King Kekaulike High School AVID program. The money is from the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc. Students in the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program had put in 100 volunteer hours, earning a $5,000 grant to a nonprofit of their choosing. The hours went to activities like Nisei Veterans Memorial Cen-ter cleanups and the Chrysanthemum Festival. This is the sixth year in which the KKHS students under teacher Jan Matsushita have worked with Kansha Preschool to provide this invaluable assistance. The check presentation was on January 29.
Documentary maker adds to preschool support
The Freedom and Liberty Trail in France traces the route taken by the 442nd Regimental Combat Team as it liberated Bruyeres and other areas of the Vosges Mountains as well as the Lost Battalion of Texas soldiers.
In March, Martial Hilaire, the president of the Freedom and Liberty Trail Associa-tion, and his family visited Maui for four days. They were in Hawaii to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the Japanese-American volunteers’ induction into the 442nd and the sister-city relationship between Bruyeres and Honolulu.
The Hilaires also visited Hawaii island in addition to attending the anniversary festivities in Honolulu March 28.
Accompanying Hilaire to Maui were his wife, Claudine, and daughters, Marjolaine and Capucine.
They arrived March 20, and that evening were guests of honor at a dinner at the Ka-hului home of Valerie and Alan Matsunaga. Helping to host the event were Howard and Pam Ikeda, Leonard Oka and Glenn Shishido. Like Valerie, they are children of veterans.
“It was a local outpouring of aloha,” Valerie reported. Gifts were exchanged, and they “talked story.” The menu was lo-cal, from laulau, mahimahi and fried dry
mein to cream puffs from T. Komoda Store & Bakery. The Hilaries brought French champagne.
Shishido was the primary contact for the Hilaires as they made arrangements for their Maui visit. Their itinerary included Lahaina, Haleakala and Iao Valley.
They also visited the Nisei Veterans Me-morial Center’s Education Center on March 22, accompanied by Howard Ikeda, Oka and Shishido.
The Freedom and Liberty Trail traces the “liberation route” of the 442nd; about 90
commemorative plaques mark key sites of the Vosges campaign.
The trail was created by Pierre Moulin. His father, Max was an intelligence office working for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, also known as the OSS. The elder Moulin was a bookseller in Bruyeres, where the French Resistance was active.
Pierre Moulin, who now lives in Hawaii, has written books in French and English and done museum exhibits about the Japanese-American soldiers who helped to liberate France.
15 – June 2015
Maui Sansei Leonard Oka (left) and Glenn Shishido accompa-nied the Hilaire family on their visit to the Education Center. The family includes (from left) sisters Marjolaine and Capucine, mother Claudine and father Martial, who is presi-dent of the Freedom and Liberty Trail As-sociation in France. Photos by Howard Ikeda
Martial Hilaire poses with his family (from left), daughter Marjolaine, wife Claudine and daughter Capucine. They are holding the “Go For Broke” street sign that has become a staple in pictures that are taken of visi-tors at the Education Center.
Bruyeres observance includes Maui visitTrail in France marks 442nd RCT ‘liberation route’; association president, family at NVMC
lest we forget our departed comrades
16 – June 2015
Kunio Kikuta, 95, of Kahului, died on April 13, 2015.
He was born on November 10, 1919, in Spreckelsville.
Mr. Kikuta was drafted in February 1942, and he served in the 317 Engineers (later to be the nucleus of the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion). When the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was formed in 1943, he volunteered for a transfer to this unit and served in Service Company.
During the war, he served as an ammuni-tion non-commissioned officer, reaching the rank of Tech 4 (sergeant), and was hon-orably discharged on November 25, 1945.
He fought in the Rome Arno, Rhineland, Po Valley and North Appennines cam-paigns. This included the battles to liberate Bruyeres and Biffontaine and the rescue of the Lost Battalion. Mr. Kikuta was one of the 18 Maui men who received the Cheva-lier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the French Legion of Honor) medal in January for his contributions toward the liberation of France during World War II.
Mr. Kikuta also earned the Bronze Star, and the American Campaign, European Af-rican Middle East and Asiatic Pacific service medals; the Good Conduct and World War II Victory medals; and the Meritorious Unit Award.
He was active in the West Maui AJA Veterans Club and the Maui 442nd Veterans Club.
Mr. Kikuta attended Lahainaluna High School, graduating in 1938. He worked for Baldwin Packers in Honolua, where he retired as a garage supervisor.
His survivors include his wife, Sugiko; two sons, Andrew (Ann) Kikuta and Wayne Kikuta; two daughters, Nora Vigil and Joy (Earl) Magarifuji; and two grandchildren, Erika and Janel Magarifuji.
Ayato Kiyomoto, 94, of Kahului died on February 6, 2015, at his residence.
He was born on April 5, 1920, in Makawao.
Mr. Kiyomoto served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Company E, and then with Company D of the 234th Engineer Special Service Regiment. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant, serving as a rifle non-commissioned officer directing 11 men in the loading, aiming and firing of rifles to destroy enemy personnel. He inspected the maintenance of each weapon, and directed
the squad in attacks and defense in combat. He also taught combat tactics, camouflage and concealment.
Mr. Kiyomoto served in the Rome Arno and Rhineland campaigns, and he received the Asiatic Pacific and the European African Middle East service medals, Good Conduct Medal, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster and the World War II Victory Medal.
He was honorably discharged on October 24, 1945.
Mr. Kiyomoto worked as a produce department manager and also owned a farm in Kula. He spent his free time as a member of the Lions Club.
He is survived by two daughters, Sharon Iwasaki and Arleen Kiyomoto; son-in-law Ray Shoemaker; and two grandchildren, Ni-cole Iwasaki and Trisha (Derric) Nishimoto.
Masanobu Sakuma, 92, of Makawao, died on February 16, 2015, at his home, under the care of Hospice Maui.
He was born on September 8, 1922, in Haliimaile.
Mr. Sakuma volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and was induct-ed on March 23, 1943. At training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, he was assigned to the Antitank Company and attached to the 2nd Battalion.
In Europe, the Antitank Company was detached from the 442nd and attached to the 517th Parachute Infantry to participate in “Operation Dragoon,” an airborne inva-sion on southern France. Mr. Sakuma was awarded the Army Airborne Glider Badge and Bronze Arrowhead Medal for this as-signment.
This mission and others in France helped him earn the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the French Legion of Honor) medal in January for his contribu-tions toward the liberation of France during World War II.
Mr. Sakuma also served in the Rome Arno, Southern France, Po Valley, North Appennines and Rhineland campaigns.
Other medals and awards that he earned were the American Campaign, European African Middle East and Asiatic Pacific ser-vice medals; the Distinguished Unit Badge; and the Good Conduct and World War II Victory medals.
After two years and nine months of service, Mr. Sakuma was discharged on December 30, 1945, and returned to Maui
to live and raise a family.He worked for Maui Land & Pineapple
Company for 50 years, retiring as a heavy equipment mechanic.
Mr. Sakuma is survived by his daugh-ters, Hazel Okamoto and Lynne Sierra; his grandchildren, Chris (Maile) Sierra and Jeanine (Eron) Riddle; and his great-grand-children, Jaden, Addison and Diesel.
Sanford Seiya Sakumoto, 91, of Kahului died on March 27, 2015, at Hale Makua in Kahului.
Mr. Sakumoto was born on November 21, 1923, in Puunene. For many years, he worked for Ameron Hawaii while also working for the County of Maui’s Depart-ment of Parks and Recreation. Many of us remember Mr. Sakumoto as a scorekeeper and as a referee and official for many youth leagues.
He was also active in the Maui AJA Veter-ans Inc. and as an associate member of the Maui 442nd Veterans Club.
Mr. Sakumoto served a total of five years of military service; the last three were after he re-enlisted as a sergeant in the 8259th Service Unit Station, Complement APO 957, Military Intelligence Service/Occupa-tion Forces in Japan. He received the Good Conduct Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Asiatic Pacific Service Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal-Japan. His date of separation from the Army was March 16,1950.
Mr. Sakumoto is survived by his wife, Akie Sakumoto, and two children, daugh-ter Frances (Warren) Takahashi and son Glenn (Lisa) Sakumoto. He also leaves two grandchildren, Tiana Sakumoto and Emi Sakumoto.
Edward K. Watanabe, 87, of Kahului died on December 20, 2014, at the Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku.
He was born on February 4, 1927, in Wailuku. He was a commercial contractor on Maui for many years.
Mr. Watanabe graduated from Military Language School at Fort Snelling, Min-nesota, in 1946. He served in the Military Intelligence Service in the wake of World War II.
Mr. Watanabe is survived by two daugh-ters, Susan (David) Baker and Amy Wata-nabe, and by three grandchildren, Jacob Baker, Aaron Baker and Emily Baker.
David Fukuda joined the board of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center in 2009 as it was in the final phases of plan-ning for the Education Center. He offered to provide nuggets of history about some of the things the Center preserves, and he now spends about five minutes before each board meeting sharing these stories. Articles by David based on these presentations are published in Okage Sama de. A veteran of the Vietnam War, David is the son of the late Major Mitsuyoshi Fukuda. A businessman for most of his adult life, David is retired; his last career was as a history teacher at King Kekaulike High School.
§In the archives of our Educa-
tion Center are oral histories and biographies, which are available to the public thanks to the decadeslong efforts of Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans and Nisei Veterans Memorial Cen-ter volunteers.
Included in this collection are summaries of interviews of the 18 Nisei veterans on Maui who received the French Legion of Honor medal in January. These interviews, which are on display during our spring exhibit at the Education Center, provide a fascinating insight into what life was like for these men growing up, during the war years and returning to Hawaii to start their families and careers.
Also in this collection is one of the earlier interviews we have on file: the iconic 100th Infantry Battalion officer Young Oak Kim, who was interviewed by Eric Saul in the 1960s.
Kim was a lieutenant of Korean-American descent from Los Angeles when he was assigned to the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), the Japanese-American unit from Hawaii. With his Mainland and non-Japanese background, Kim provides an inter-esting “outsider” look at Hawaii’s Nisei soldiers.
Upon his arrival at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, in February 1943, Kim was asked by Lieutenant Colonel Farrant Turner, the battalion commanding officer, whether Kim wished to transfer out. Turner was aware of friction between local Japanese and Koreans in Hawaii, and previously, Chinese and Filipino officers assigned to the unit had chosen to transfer out. Kim was clear in his response: “They’re Americans, I’m American, and we’re going to fight for America.”
Ironically, Kim found out that there was a Korean-American of-ficer from Hawaii, John Ko, who was in the 100th.
In the interview, Kim makes two interesting observations about the Hawaii soldiers as compared with the Mainland soldiers: one was their easygoing and friendly demeanor, and second was their absolute cleanliness.
“Our soldiers would strip and actually pay Italian women to pull water up from the well so they could take a bath” with cold water
in the cold weather. Thus, the unit had “very little trouble with disease or illness or infec-tions.” Even before the Battle of Cassino, where the men went six weeks without having access to a shower, Kim recalled they would somehow take “spit” baths (quick, short baths).
Young Oak Kim’s war record is well-known. He earned the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit and three Purple Hearts, as well as honors from Allies: the Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre from France and the Italian Bronze Medal of Military Valor.
The action he is most noted for took place on May 16, 1944, at Anzio, Italy. Kim and Private
First Class Irving Akahoshi crawled in broad daylight behind the German lines and captured two German soldiers. The information garnered from these prisoners confirmed that the path to break through the German defenses that the Allies were planning to use would not be impeded by enemy tanks.
In the interview, Kim goes into detail as he describes two battles that, in his opinion, are diametrically opposed examples of military leadership, philosophy and tactics.
The first was the battle of Belvedere, Italy, where the 100th Bat-talion earned its first Presidential Unit Citation. The unit was a well-honed combat unit focused on inflicting maximum damage on the enemy at minimum cost. The 100th incurred 11 casualties while inflicting 200 on the Germans and capturing 46 vehicles, in addition to artillery pieces and tanks. The following day, the unit killed 200 more Germans in taking the town of Sassetta.
Contrast this with the battle for Biffontaine, which is considered a victory for the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team. Biffon-taine, a town of 300 residents, had no tactical relevance and there was no coordinated attack plan. En route to the town, critical hills that had been previously secured were abandoned, and they had to be retaken at heavy cost (200 Allied lives). It was in this town where Kim himself was taken prisoner. Despite his wounds, he managed to escape his captors.
In a lighter vein, Kim described the 100th/442nd’s occupation of Leghorn (Livorno), Italy. Lieutenant General Mark Clark had given the unit complete control of the port city, which included exclusive control of the brothel. One can imagine the number of humorous stories to emerge during this occupation.
Kim re-entered the Army during the Korean War and became the first Asian commander of a U.S. Army battalion in combat. (It wasn’t until after Germany had surrendered in World War II that my father, Mitsuyoshi Fukuda, became commanding officer of the 100th.) For
17 – June 2015
Iconic officer’s story one of the gems in archives
Lieutenant Young Oak Kim receives one of his two Silver Stars from Lieutenant General Mark Clark.
Please turn to the next page
18 – June 2015
ArmyHiroshi Arisumi Lloyd K. and
Pauline Pui-Yu Arisumi Maui Toyota Roy & Lorraine Okumura
Foundation Division
David T. and Judith Fukuda Takeo Ikeda Henry and Christine Morita Misayo Murata, in memory
of Tadao “Tad” Murata John and JoAnn Sinton Yokouchi Foundation
RegimentAlexander & Baldwin LLC Howard and Pam Ikeda Itsuyo Kusuda Mark and Frances Oka Warren and Joanne Shibuya Richard and Carole Taniguchi,
in memory of Lyman Harada and Taro “Norman” Taniguchi
Kyle I. and Colette K. Watanabe Battalion
George and Joyce Akamine, in memory of Tsutomu Tom Nagata, 100th Infantry Battalion
Raymond and Frances Hirano, in memory of Robert Hirano (442nd Regimental Combat Team)
Erika Hori Carl Kobayashi, in memory
of Harry N. Kobayashi Mitsuo and Toshie Makishi Marion H. Morikawa Ralph and Grace Murakami Alice and Fujio Sueno Elton and Sandra Wada Susan Watanabe Haruyuki Yamanaka
CompanyNora Abe,
in memory of Thomas T. Abe
Alan and Carol Arai Anonymous,
in honor of Kunio Kikuta, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Norman Kikuta, Military Intelligence Service
George and Hiroko Arine, in memory of the Reverend Masao Arine and the Reverend Torako Arine (Maui Jinsha)
Central Pacific Bank Foundation Satsuki Fukunaga Harry and Mae Furomoto Glenn and Edean GoyaWayne and Jill Gushiken Tokuro and Tsuyako Hajiro Hamai Appliance Howard and Sheryl Hamai Andrew and Betty Hirose Roen and Alisa Hirose Kenneth and Sandra Ichikawa Ralph Ichikawa Tadao Ishii Patrick and Beryl Jio Jim,
in memory of Mitsugu and Rachael Jio
Hideo and Joyce Kawahara Jerry and Sheila Kawahara Ronald Kawahara Donald and Shirley Kimizuka,
in memory of Sueo NodaYoshinobu and Irene Kodama Stephanie Kunioki, in memory
of Stan Izumigawa Kristina Lyons
and Thomas Lambert Ha‘aheo Mansfield Takashi and Eleanor O. Masuda Robert S. and Edith I. Matsumoto George and Reiko Matsunaga
Robert T. and Margaret S. Miyashiro
John Morre and Jane Ferrante Howard and Janis Nakamura Ruth Nakasone Harold and Masue Okumura Lydia Omori Futoshi and Ruth Otomo Tadashi and Tsuyono Otsu Teruo Ozai Aline Rolaff, in memory
of Tamotsu Hamaguchi and Howard Hamaguchi
Hisako Sano, in memory of Randolph Kiyoshi Ideue
Stanley T. Sato Larry and Barbara Tadakuma Susan Takamatsu, in memory
of Tadayuki Takamatsu Takamiya Market Inc. Toshiyuki Takara Tasty Crust Restaurant Harriet Tavares Doris Tosaka, in memory
of Fred T. Tosaka Tokiaki and Patricia Toyama Sharon Uno, in memory
of Shizuka and Thomas Abe Ryoko Ushiro Steven M. and Gladys Y.
Uyehara, in memory of Saburo Watanabe
Glenn and Nancy Watanabe Shoji and Shizuyo Yamaguchi Kiyoshi Yoda Larry S. and Joan C. Yokoyama
PlatoonMelanie Agrabante Myrtle Agrabante Rudolph and Anne Andrade Jerry Arakawa
The Boeing Company Robert and Geraldine Carroll Yasunori Deguchi Gary and Grace Fujii Lauren Gohara Richard and Eiko Hidani Asa Higuchi Lynn Hurwitz Gail Iwamoto-Hamai Dennis Koyanagi Fred and Terri Markham Akiko Mori Lynn Pilarski Charles and Jacqueline Probst Lily Sanehira Isamu Tamashiro Steven M. and Ileene Tanabe Marvin Tanaka, DDS, MS Francis and Etsuko Taomoto Marvin and Jocelyn Tengan Harold and Irene Teraoka Frederick and Arlene Toyama,
in memory of Howard and Shirley Murakami
Mark Tracy Anna Umehira Linda Unemori Gladys T. Ushijima Dwayne and Christine Wada Karen Wasano Brian Watanabe Edwin Yamada Stella Yamamoto Yaeko Yamamoto Mika Yamazaki Lester Yano and Estelle Chun
SquadDaniel and Janice Bosse Matt and Sandy Daniells Doris Gushi Lynn Kahalewai Moses Kane Douglas H. and Sadako Kodama Norman Mau Asayo and Alvin Naguwa Allison Takata-Edmiston Gerald and Sharon Tom Paul K. and Sueko K. Wong
Contributions to the NVMCFOR THE PERIOD NOVEMBER 30, 2014, THROUGH MARCH 31, 2015
Note: The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center has made every effort to present accurate information in the list of contributors. Please assist us to maintain our records correctly by calling us at 244-6862 if you notice an error. Mahalo!
Young Oak KimContinued from page 17Kim’s contributions during the Korean War, South Korea hon-ored him with its highest award, the Taeguk Order of Military
Merit. He was a colonel when he
retired from the Army.Young Oak Kim passed away
on December 29, 2005. In 2009, the Young Oak Kim Academy, a middle school in Los Angeles,
was established. The following year, the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean-American Studies was dedicated at the University of California, Riverside.
I urge you to stop by the NVMC Education Center and
peruse Colonel Kim’s and other oral histories and biographies we have available to the public. They provide an interesting insight into the experiences of Hawaii residents and the Nisei soldier during World War II.
Your tax-deductible contribution will help the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center maintain the NVMC “Living Memorial” campus and fulfill its mission of promoting understanding about the history, values
and culture of the Nisei veterans among our community’s children, families and visitors.
PLEASE SUPPORT THE NISEI VETERANS MEMORIAL CENTER
For other donation options, visit our website, www.nvmc.org. Please call NVMC at (808) 244-6862 with any questions you may have.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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GIVING to the NVMCDonor Categories
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$2,500 and over$1,000 - $2,499$500 - $999$250 - $499$100 - $249$25 - $99Up to $24
Enclosed is a check for $ , payable to NISEI VETERANS MEMORIAL CENTER, to support NVMC in its work to educate the community about the history, values and culture of the Nisei solider.
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Please mail this form to: Nisei Veterans Memorial Center, P.O. Box 216, Kahului, HI 96733
19 – June 2015
JUNE 2015
n Legion of Honor: Eighteen Nisei veterans on Maui receive the Chavalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor) for liberating France from German occupation. An exhibit about them is at the NVMC Education Center. The coverage starts on Page 1
n Service and commitment: Our Board of Directors announces that the title of president emeritus has been conferred on Hiroshi Arisumi, and Leonard Oka has been honored with the title of director emeritus. On Page 3
n “Unlikely Liberators”: The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center is planning to present an exhibit titled “Unlikely Liberators: The Story of Japanese American Soldiers of the 522nd Field Artillery and the Liberation of the Dachau Death March.” On Page 5
Shigeo Wakayama receives his medal from Pauline Carmona, the French consul general in San Francisco. Eighteen presentations were made on Maui, and with each one, she would say, “Au nor du president de la republique, je vous fais Chavalier de la Legion d’Honneur.” (On behalf of the president of the [French] republic, I bestow you as knight of the Legion of Honor.) Photo by Melanie Agrabante
Okage Sama de ...June 2015
The Nisei Veterans Memorial CenterP.O. Box 216, Kahului, HI 96733-6716