FULLERTON — On Aug. 18 at the Rotary Club of Fullerton, Frank Kawase, past president, introduced special guest speaker Yoshio (Yosh) Nakamura (age 96) to share his experiences as an incarcerated teenager and a member of the Japanese American 442ndRegimental Combat Team.
As an active high school junior, Yosh felt the negative impact of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japanese Imperial forces. On Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, under which all persons of Japanese ancestry were removed from the Pacific Coast.
Yosh described his experience being sent to the Tulare Assembly Center. His most humiliating experience was being watched by local residents while routed to the train through a phalanx of soldiers armed with fixed bayonets. From Tulare he was sent to the Gila concentration camp in Arizona and then reported for active Army duty. He was assigned to the 442ndRegimental Combat Team and saw military action in France and Italy.
Yosh shared his scary experience when the 442ndwas called to mount a full-scale assault climbing Mt. Folgorito to break the Gothic Line, where the Germans had fortified observation posts. In total darkness and silence, loaded with gear, they were guided by anti-fascist Italians along a path planted with German land mines. They were in contact with each other by touching the backpacks of men in front of them.
During a rest period, his buddy Tak was discovered missing. He had fallen off the trail carrying a 50-pound mortar base plate on his back. Hearing a whisper, Yosh and another crawled back and found him planted with his base plate under him. At daybreak the exhausted 442ndRCT/100thBattalion wiped out the observation posts, which allowed the troops in the Po Valley to finally advance.
The “Go For Broke” spirit enabled the men to ignore the word “impossible” and the 442ndRCT/100thBattalion became the most highly decorated unit in the history of the U.S. armed forces for its size and length of service.
After military service under the GI Bill, Yosh attended the University of Southern California and began his career as an educator, artist, community leader and activist.
During WWII, constitutional rights were suspended under the guise of military necessity. We had Japanese faces but American hearts. Yosh’s faith and hope came to pass with the passage of HR 442, an apology for the incarceration and treatment of Americans of Japanese ancestry by both houses of the U.S. Congress and signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. This made Yosh proud that a great country can admit a wrong and apologize.
On Nov. 2, 2011, Yosh with other “Go For Broke” veterans were invited to the nation’s capital and presented with the Congressional Gold Medal. What he remembered most was the politeness of the Republican and Democratic leaders to each other and their many kind words.
Yosh displayed many personal items: Congressional Gold Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation ribbon with a gold leaf cluster, the Bronze Star Medal, the French Legion of Merit Medal, two books about WWII veterans that included Yosh, and “Go For Broke” postage stamps,
He concluded that now is a good time to let America know the sacrifices and contributions made by Japanese Americans, thus focusing positive light on all Asian Americans and all Americans.
Apple celebrates the march of technology in grandiose new adCane toad sausages are a thing that exists because AustraliaLittle boy proposes to his classmate with his mom's diamond ringArguments over the true colour of these stupid flip flops can now ceaseMuslim man verbally harassed in Starbucks shares harrowing experience onlineVin Scully had the most delightful reaction to his White House honorVin Scully had the most delightful reaction to his White House honorTwitter has spoken and it gives 'The Grand Tour' a glowing reviewAndy Murray proves 2016 isn't all bad, receives congrats from J.K. RowlingBaby monkey finds a home on a bunch of goats, and yes it's very cute China has 1.079 billion netizens and an internet penetration rate of 76.4% · TechNode Best coffee machine deal: Save $150 on Breville Barista Express Nio CEO says EV firm’s forthcoming phone is comparable with Android flagship devices · TechNode Realme Buds Air5 launched in China, featuring 50dB ANC · TechNode Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor enters Indonesia · TechNode How to play 'The Last of Us' games after watching the show wE’rE a rEPuBLiC nOt A dEMoCRacY NYT mini crossword answers for April 28, 2025 The Spectacular Desert Shein takes 1/3 stake in Forever 21 operator Sparc Group · TechNode
0.1497s , 9969.1484375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【isteri curang di pejabat cerita lucah】Enter to watch online.442nd Vet Addresses Rotary Club of Fullerton,