Japanese American Veterans Association

e-Advocate

Vol. 2, No. 32, April 1, 2021

President's Message 

Gerald Yamada, JAVA President

The U.S. Postal Service has announced that the “Go for Broke: Japanese American Soldiers of WWII” stamp will be unveiled at a virtual ceremony on June 3, 2021. This will be first day of issue and honors the 33,000 Japanese American men and women who served in the U.S. military during World War II. The Stamp Our Story campaign was started in 2005. It has been a long and uphill journey, but it paid off last year when the Postmaster General finally approved the “Go For Broke” stamp. JAVA along with other organizations actively supported this effort over these many years. 

With more people being vaccinated, we can now move forward to plan our activities for this year. We postponed JAVA’s annual membership meeting normally scheduled for January. We have set July 24, 2021, as the date for this year’s annual membership meeting. The Harvest Moon restaurant has permanently closed so we have found a new location. This year, we will hold our membership meeting at the Peking Gourmet Inn, 6029 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA starting at 11:30am.  We anticipate that the cost will be $30 per person. We have a full agenda. We will ask the membership to approve revisions to JAVA’s by-law to change JAVA’s election procedures. The program will also include announcing JAVA’s scholarship award recipients and winners of JAVA’s awards. We still need to identify a keynote speaker for this event. 

Originally, the JAVA evening reception at the newly opened National Museum of the U.S. Army was set for July 15, 2021. The Museum informed us that there likely will still be COVID restrictions in place in July that could limit attendance. To avoid this, we decided to move the date. The new date is Saturday, July 16, 2022. We are arranging for tours of the Museum for JAVA members and friends during the day with an evening reception with a short program. 

On March 27th, JAVA participated as a co-sponsor of the "23rd Annual and First Virtual Annual National Cherry Blossom Freedom Walk.” Since the program was virtual, I was asked to lead one of the breakout sessions instead of giving the usual welcoming remarks. My session was entitled “The Memorial and JAVA - Role of the Military in WWII and the Names on the Wall.”  We had good participation and interest in the JAVA session.

The annual Memorial Day Service at Arlington National Cemetery will be held on Sunday, May 30th. JAVA will again be a co-sponsor. 

We will hold the Day of Affirmation ceremony on July 15, 2021 at 12 noon at the National World War II Memorial which JAVA started last year. The program will again be live streamed via Facebook. This will commemorate the 75th anniversary of President Truman’s salute to the Nisei soldiers as loyal Americans.

JAVA’s annual Veterans Day Program will again be held at the National Japanese American Memorial on November 11 at 2pm. 

Thank you for your continued support of JAVA’s activities.  

23rd Annual and First Virtual Freedom Walk

JAVA Research Team

On Saturday, March 27th, the Japanese American Memorial Foundation along with JAVA and JACL-DC held the 23rd Annual and First Virtual Freedom Walk. The program which revolved around the significance of the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II kicked off with rotating images of photos taken at Freedom Walks held over the years as well as a recording of Nen Daiko Japanese Taiko Drummers. Both NJAMF Board Member Martha Watanabe and JAVA Board Member LTC Marty Herbert, USA (Ret), welcomed viewers to the unique format followed by a moving narration of the symbolism captured in the Memorial given by NJAMF Board members. David Yao, who is currently Festival Director at the Asian Pacific American Film in DC, shared his early efforts to promote the first Freedom Walk in order to raise money for the Memorial to be built. Yao also commented on the significance of the Memorial after the 9/11 attacks. In many ways, the Memorial became a sacred space for Americans to reflect on the importance of upholding civil rights for all. Next, Minister Kenchiro Mukai, Head of Chancery, Embassy of Japan, noted that the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the Mayor of Tokyo to Washington, DC, as a gesture of the growing friendship between the two countries continues to affirm the affinity today. Minister Mukai remarked that as a Japanese citizen he feels a special pride in the story of Japanese Americans. Although it is a painful story - one of sacrifice and service - it is also an uplifting and inspiring story. Secretary Norman Mineta also spoke, telling his painful story of family internment but his unremitting pride in being an American.

After the formal program, participants had the opportunity to gather in virtual breakout sessions on the following topics: The Memorial and Tsuru for Solidarity; The Memorial and 9/11; The Memorial and NJAMF; The Memorial and JAVA; JACSC/NPS; HR 40; and Crane Making. JAVA President Gerald Yamada led the breakout session on The Memorial and JAVA (see remarks below). As the different breakout sessions concluded, participants were encouraged to join a general chat in a "lobby" or join a different discussion. All agreed that while they missed the beauty of the cherry blossoms and the serenity of the Memorial, the new platform offered participants a way to gather from around the country and discuss important issues.

FREEDOM WALK REMARKS

By

Gerald Yamada

President

Japanese American Veterans Association

March 27, 2021

On behalf of the Japanese American Veterans Association, I welcome you to the Annual Freedom Walk. My name is Gerald Yamada, and I am President of JAVA.  We are again proud to be a co-sponsor of this event.

The National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism in World War II and the Freedom Walk tell the American story of how the government, motivated by prejudice, illegally restricted the freedoms and equality of persons of Japanese ancestry, and how the Nisei soldiers served to restore those fundamental rights. 

The Nisei soldiers who served in World War II fought on the battlefields in Europe and in the Pacific. They fought against America’s enemies but also were fighting the war against prejudice at home. 

They put themselves in harm’s way to prove their loyalty to the United States, while their family and friends were unjustly imprisoned at home.  Those, who served, put country first. 

They restored the dignity of all persons of Japanese ancestry with their personal courage.

Since the Memorial was dedicated in 2000, JAVA has hosted every year a Veterans Day program there to honor our veterans. We especially remember the 800 Japanese Americans soldiers who died during World War II. Their names are inscribed on the granite walls of this Memorial. 

Today, we celebrate the legacy forged by the 33,000 Japanese Americans, who served in the US military during World War II. They served to restore freedom and equality as American values.  The legacy of their sacrifices, and their spirit, must be remembered and honored.

The Memorial reminds us that we must guard against racially motivated governmental policies and decisions. We must promote programs to deter hate-motivated attacks aimed at any minority group.  The war against prejudice is still on-going. 

That is why the Memorial, the Freedom Walk, and JAVA’s Veterans Day program continue to be relevant, and important, 79 years after Executive Order 9066 was signed. 

Thank you. 

LTG Bostick Publishes Book

   Lt Gen (Ret) Thomas P.  Bostick, USA.

Arlington, VA. Lt Gen (Ret) Thomas P. Bostick’s book, Winning After Losing, Building Resilient Teams is available on book stands nationally and internationally. His strong academic and professional background in government and business supports his thesis that resilience is the key to survival and ultimate success. According to Bostick, “Winning After Losing is a book of stories and lessons about resilience; stories about how leaders and their teams learned how to bounce back even stronger after a loss, then learn how to win.” In the book, he asks the tough questions and provides the best answers:

• How does a person or an organization plan for the challenges ahead?
• How do leaders absorb an impact and bend but not break?
• How do an organization and its leadership recover rapidly from an impact, then adapt to become even stronger in preparation for a future challenge?

In considering his reasons for writing Winning After Losing, Bostick stated, “there is an additional part of my personal leadership story that inspired me to write this book and sustained me through the months of research, writing, and re-writing. And that’s my background. My personal history." Bostick continued, “like so many others I grew up in a unique family. My mother was born and raised in Japan. My father was an African American soldier from Brooklyn, New York. I had one sister and three brothers – five of us growing up as ‘Army Brats’ moving from base to base, having to deal with change, and learning to value every dollar. That is where my leadership lessons really began. My father, who was an athlete and champion runner, taught me the importance of self-discipline. Because there wasn’t enough money to send five kids to college, I learned to think creatively–and that’s when I first considered the military as the way to a career. That’s also when I was introduced to my first mentor—a man who showed me how to overcome seemingly insurmountable roadblocks and started me on a lifetime of mentorship – both being mentored and becoming a mentor. So in several ways, many of my earliest lessons were foundational to both my successful careers in the military and in private industry.”

A retired 3-star General with over thirty-eight years of service, Bostick commented, “Over the span of my military career, I served in many leadership roles and each one taught me valuable lessons. Sometimes these lessons were learned when serving in the trenches. Sometimes while at the Pentagon. There were lessons learned in complex public-private-partnerships. And sometimes the most important lessons were learned during seemingly impossible missions leading a platoon of thirty soldiers whose greatest mission was to pass a maintenance inspection. And finally, some of my most rewarding lessons were learned while I was leading large teams of over 1M troops and 330,000 civilians as Director of Human Resources responsible for policy for the U.S. Army to Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the largest public engineering organization in the world. Many of the lessons in this book are the result of many factors. They are the distillations of the lessons I learned alone and with others. They are the strategies our teams employed and the tactics we tested. And finally, they are the successes and even failures our teams experienced. That is the Army part of this leadership book.”

LTG Bostick's career also included time in the private sector where he "served as the Chief Operating Officer of a publicly traded bioengineering company with multiple biotech companies and R&D divisions." He noted that "these companies and divisions with over one thousand employees–700 with advanced degrees, focused on health, energy, environment, and food," had goals that were unalike and at the same time alike. "The skills in leading teams to achieve success in fulfilling their mission are very similar whether it be in sales, in research, in new product development, or in mergers and acquisitions.”

A member of JAVA, LTG Bostick has shared his knowledge and wisdom as the principal speaker at JAVA and other Japanese American community events in the Washington, DC, area.

March 29: National Vietnam War Veterans Day

Mark Hashimoto

Nominated for Major General

BGen Mark A. Hashimoto, USMCR. Photo: U.S. Marine Corps.

Wade Ishimoto

On March 4, 2020, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III nominated Marine Corps Reserve Brigadier General Mark A. Hashimoto for appointment to the rank of major general. Hashimoto is currently serving as Commanding General, Force Headquarters Group, U.S. Marine Forces Reserve, New Orleans, Louisiana.  BGen Hashimoto was born and raised in Honolulu where he graduated from Punahou School. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University and a Master of Business Administration from UCLA.  He was commissioned as a Marine Corps officer through the Officer Candidate Class Ground Program in 1992. 

BGen Hashimoto served on active duty as an Infantry officer from 1992 to 1998 and then transferred to the Marine Corps Reserves. He has had three assignments with Force Reconnaissance units and has had other assignments in Hawaii, San Bruno, CA, and Quantico, VA. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 2018 and his first general officer assignment was as the Deputy Commanding General, Marine Forces Pacific (Mobilization). He is a graduate of the USMC Amphibious Warfare School Non-Resident Program, the USMC Command and Staff College Distance Education Program, the Air War College Distance Learning Program, and the Join Forces Staff College Advanced Joint Professional Military Education program. 

In his civilian life, Mr. Hashimoto is a member of the Senior Executive Service and is the Executive Director, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific. As Executive Director he is a key strategic leader who provides leadership, managerial direction, and program expertise for all Marine Forces Pacific command functions. He is also his agency’s lead for the Defense Policy Review Initiative and human capital management.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Sye Seichi Terauchi Served in WW II, Korean and Vietnam Wars

CWO4 Sye Seichi Terauchi, U.S. Army. Photo: Terauchi Family.

Lahaina, Maui.  CWO4 Sye Seichi Terauchi served in the 100th Infantry Battalion during World War II, and also served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars over a 30-year career, retiring in January 1971. Thrice wounded in action in the Italian campaign, Terauchi was sent home after the Monte Cassino campaign. After Terauchi's discharge, he studied auto repair in Colorado and then returned home to repair his neighbors’ cars in Waipahu, HI. In 1997, he moved to Oregon to live with his son's family. He died at age 95 and is interred at the Willamette (Oregon) National Cemetery.

His children are Geraldine Terauchi of Hawaii; Terence Terauchi of Los Angeles; Roderick Terauchi of El Cerrito, CA; Gregory Terauchi of Gresham, OR and Bryan Terauchi of Hawaii.  There are six grandchildren.

On January 16, 1996, Terauchi sent a two-page letter to his children, presented below, which described his military career and was accompanied by a warm personal note. Terauchi’s letter includes the high points of his assignment as an infantryman with the 100th in Italy, as an operations sergeant with the 69th Field Artillery Battalion in Korea, and as operations sergeant at Headquarters, 3rd Brigade, 1st Air Cavalry Division in South Vietnam.

Terauchi's personal letters and memorabilia will be archived at the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, where they will be available for national and international researchers, film makers, LOC book writers and exhibits. JAVA offers its respectful hand salute to Sgt Maj Terauchi for a job well done. 

[Ed Note: We wish to thank the Terauchi family for allowing the e-Advocate to print this story of a most remarkable and patriotic Nisei.]  

Go For Broke Stamp Dedications

Image of PFC Shiroku “Whitey” Yamamoto of Ninole, HI on Go For Broke Forever Stamp to be release on June 3, 2021. 

Wayne Osako, Co-Chair, Stamp Our Story Campaign

“Always be proud of your heritage.” -Fusa Takahashi (93), Stamp Our Story Founder/Co Chair, and Go For Broke veteran widow.

The U.S. Postal Service has announced that the official release date of the Go For Broke Japanese American Soldiers of World War II Forever Stamp is Thursday, June 3rd, 2021. The first city of issue for the stamp will be Los Angeles, California, where Ms. Takahashi and her friends started the stamp campaign in 2005.

The little stamp with a big story cannot come soon enough for its supporters, especially in light of the rise in anti-Asian American violence and hate crimes.

The USPS is currently working with the Stamp Our Story Campaign and community partners that rallied for the stamp such as the Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA), Go For Broke National Education Center (GFBNEC), Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), National Japanese American Memorial Foundation (NJAMF), Nisei Veterans Legacy, and Friends of Minidoka, among many others. The goal is to collaborate and assist the USPS in a community-based national rollout for the stamp. 

A USPS national video dedication is being made, and special regional stamp dedications are being developed across the nation to commemorate the inspiring American legacy of the Go For Broke Soldiers.

Stamp Our Story is the coalition of family and friends of the Nisei soldiers that backed the proposal for the Go For Broke Soldiers Stamp, and includes the many organizations that have supported the cause. Nisei is the term for American citizens whose parents immigrated from Japan. The effort was started in 2005 by three California Nisei women who each endured incarceration in U.S. detention camps during the war: Fusa Takahashi (93) of Granite Bay, Aiko O. King (93) of Camarillo, and the late Chiz Ohira of Gardena. Two of the women are widows of U.S. Army Go For Broke veterans of the war. Ms. Takahashi ’s husband, Kazuo, was a Military Intelligence Service veteran from San Francisco, California. Ms. Ohira ’s husband, Ted, was a 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team veteran from Makaweli, Hawaii.

“In the past, our founders have each expressed their wish that the stamp bring people and organizations together to remember and to honor what the Go For Broke Soldiers accomplished, and to be reminded of their American legacy that impacts us all today,” said Stamp Our Story Co-Chair Wayne Osako, who has been helping the campaign founders since 2006, and has a number of Nisei relatives who served in the 100th/442nd RCT, MIS, and WAC.

Some dedications are planned to be virtual, and some in-person, though limited due to the ongoing pandemic. Outreach to communities is currently being conducted to see if there is interest in developing local events. Ceremony planning is already underway in Hawaii, California, Oregon, Idaho, and Texas. Those interested are encouraged to reach out to their local affiliated veterans organizations that may already be in contact with Stamp Our Story. If not, they can get more information at www.StampOurStory.org. 

Ms. Takahashi, campaign founder, shared the following statement to supporters: “We thank all of you who have supported the stamp campaign over the past 15 years. It took the support from many, many organizations and individuals to make this stamp become a reality. We invite you to celebrate the stamp with us when it comes out. And remember to always be proud of your heritage. As Nisei, it’s what our parents taught us that made these soldiers give their best. Thank you!”

The USPS named the stamp after the “Go For Broke” motto of the U.S. Army ’s 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), but which now commonly refers to all of the American men and women of Japanese heritage who served in the war. Most served in the 100th/442nd RCT, Military Intelligence Service (MIS), 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion, Women ’s Army Corps (WAC), Cadet Nurse Corps, and Army Nurse Corps.  

Find more information at www.StampOurStory.org. We also encourage you to visit the websites of our coalition partners, who have extensive resources on the Go For Broke Soldiers.

Site Manager Says Much Work Ahead of Honouliuli's Reopening

Hanako Wakatsuki, National Park Service Photo: Honolulu StarAdvertiser.

By William Code

Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Reprinted with Permission

March 31, 2021

Honouliuli National Historic Site has its first superintendent, but the generally slow pace of planning within the National Park Service means it might take five or more years before construction of visitor services could even start at the wartime internment camp that held Japanese Americans.

Hanako Wakatsuki has been acting chief of interpretation at the USS Arizona Memorial and acting site manager for Honouliuli, which is on Oahu, since late last year.

Wakatsuki has a personal connection to Japanese internment during World War Il: Several generations of her family were incarcerated at the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California.

"Hanako brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to this position," acting NPS Regional Director Linda Walker said in a release. "Her work at Japanese American confinement sites managed by the park service, coupled with her experience as a regional adviser for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make her well suited for this position."

On Friday, meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii introduced legislation that would promote public education about Japanese American internment during the war, The bill would permanently reauthorize the Japanese American Confinement Sites program with $38 million in annual funding to preserve internment camps across the country — including Honouliuli, according to a release.

The Japanese American Confinement Education Act eliminates a 2021 sunset provision of current preservation legislation, Schatz said. Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii is a co-sponsor.

"The internment of Japanese-American citizens remains one of the darkest and most shameful periods in our history," Schatz said,

Honouliuli Internment Camp was the largest and longest-used incarceration facility in Hawaii during World War ll. Run by the U.S. Army in a gulch and called Jigoku-Dani, or Hell Valley, by the Japanese Americans held there, the Kunia camp held about 400 internees and 4,000 prisoners of war from 1943 to 1945.

The 160-acre internment camp had 175 buildings, 14 guard towers and over 400 tents. The majority of Honouliuli's civilian internees were American citizens — predominately Japanese Americans — who were suspected of disloyalty, the Park Service said. They were community, business and religious leaders. Some German Americans and other nationalities also were interned.

As a POW camp, Honouliuli held enemy soldiers and labor conscripts from Japan, Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan and Italy.

The facility has come to symbolize Hawaii's role in the discrimination that was directed at Japanese Americans in Hawaii after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor and America's entry into World War ll.

In designating Honouliuli as a national monument in 2015, then-President Barack Obama said, "Going forward, (Honouliuli) is going to be a monument to a painful part of our history so that we don't repeat the mistakes of the past.

Concrete foundations that in some cases were covered by several feet of earth are the main remnants of the former camp, now a weedy and overgrown, mosquito- filled place.

Wakatsuki said the public will eventually be asked what they'd like to see at the site, and that process will lead to a general management plan. Public access roads to the site still have to be worked out, she said.

"We need to address the access issue before we could go into the general management plan," she said. Being superintendent of Honouliuli is Wakatsuki's full-time job, and right now she's a staff of one.

"But we're anticipating hiring a few additional employees," and the Park Service will utilize interns, she said.

Nate Gyotoku, president and executive director of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, which has taken groups out to Honouliuli and has an exhibit in its education center, said, "I believe that things will move faster with a permanent superintendent there. Hanako has experience with Japanese American incarceration sites, which is also exciting. We recently had our first call together, and it sounds like there is progress."

Group visits by the cultural center to the site haven't occurred during the coronavirus pandemic, and its education center is open in a limited capacity, he said.

Wakatsuki also worked at Minidoka National Historic Site and Tule Lake National Monument, both former mainland internment camps.

[Ed Note: Thank you to Wade Ishimoto for recommending this article and to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser for granting permission to reprint.]

The 2021 JAVA Memorial Scholarship Program is Open!

  Celebrating the Legacy of World War II Nisei Military Service 

Applications Due: April 30, 2021

The Japanese American Veterans Association announces its annual Memorial Scholarship Program for 2021. The scholarships will benefit a range of graduating high school seniors, undergraduate students, and post-graduate and professional education students. 

The scholarships include The Senator Daniel K. Inouye Memorial Scholarship ($3,000) honoring the late U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye’s iconic career of military and civilian public service; the JAVA Founder’s Scholarship ($3,000), which is awarded in memory of JAVA’s founder, Colonel Sunao Phil Ishio, USAR,  his wife Constance, and their son Douglas Ishio; the Kiyoko Tsuboi Taubkin Legacy Scholarship ($2,000),  a tribute to Ms. Kiyoko Tsuboi Taubkin, a longtime supporter of JAVA; and JAVA Memorial Scholarships ($1,500), honoring Nisei veterans, JAVA  members and/or their family members. The 2021 JAVA Memorial Scholarships are:

• Dr. Americo Bugliani Scholarship in honor of his liberator, Paul Sakamoto, 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd RCT veteran.

• Tak and Carolyn Furumoto Scholarship in honor of Sam Kiyoto Furumoto, Tak’s late father, whose tenacity, industry, and positive attitude continue to inspire and shape Tak and his family today.
  

• Ranger Grant Hirabayashi Scholarship in honor of Ranger Grant Jiro Hirabayashi, MIS veteran.

• Colonel Jimmie Kanaya Scholarship in honor of Colonel Jimmie Kanaya, a three-war veteran – WW II, Korean, and Vietnam.

• Mitsugi Kasai Scholarship in honor of CWO 4 Mitsugi Murakami Kasai, MIS veteran.

• Ben Kuroki Scholarship in honor of Sergeant Ben Kuroki, a gunner in the US Army Air Corps, 505th Bombardment Group.

• Matsui Scholarship in honor of Victor Matsui, MIS veteran, and wife Teru.

• Colonel Virgil R. Miller Scholarship in honor of Colonel Virgil R. Miller Scholarship, Commander of the 442nd RCT, who led the Nisei soldiers in their rescue of the Texas "Lost Battalion" in the Vosges Mountains of France during WWII.

• Robert Nakamoto Scholarship in honor of past JAVA President and Korean War veteran, Bob Nakamoto.

• Betty Shima Scholarship in honor of Betty Fujita Shima, lifelong partner of 442nd RCT veteran, Terry Shima.

• Shirey Scholarship in honor of Major Orville Shirey, 442nd RCT veteran, and wife Maud Shirey.

Descendants of those who served in the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service, the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion, or other United States military unit, including the Women’s Army Corps or Army Nurses Corps are eligible and encouraged to apply. 

Current members of JAVA whose membership began prior to April 1, 2019, are eligible and encouraged to apply. Children of current JAVA members are also eligible and encouraged to apply if the applicant’s parent or guardian was a member of JAVA prior to April 1, 2019. 

Past or present members of the Army’s 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry (USAR),  are eligible and encouraged to apply for the Senator Daniel K. Inouye Memorial Scholarship. Applicants should demonstrate their lifelong commitment to public and uniformed service leadership for the nation.

Applicants should first review published rules and forms. Applications and supporting documents must be electronically submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on Friday, April 30, 2021, to javascholarship222@gmail.com. Applications not received by that date or that fail to meet the submission requirements will NOT be considered. Applicants will be notified of a decision by early June 2021. Awards will be presented at a JAVA scholarship awards ceremony on July 17, 2021. 

2021 JAVA Memorial Scholarship Program Overview here.

2021 U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye Memorial Scholarship here.

2021 JAVA's Founder's Scholarship here.

2021 Kiyoko Tsuboi Taubkin Legacy Scholarship here.

2021 JAVA Memorial Scholarships here.

Scholarship information can also be found on the JAVA website: 

https://java-us.org/JAVA-Memorial-Scholarship-Program/. 

New Members

JAVA sends a warm Aloha to our new Veterans as well as new Friends of JAVA.

War Veteran

Col. Kanji Asami, USA (Ret)      

Kelly Bryant, USA

Wesley Chiu, USAF                            

James Harlan, USMC      

Roy Imamura, USA

Walter Jackson, USAF    

Christopher Kojima, USA                        

LTC Robert Mihara, USA (Ret)                             

Wayson Miyanishi, USA

Adam Muraoka, USA             

Milton Omoto, USA        

Gary Sakata, USA            

Robert Smith, USA   

Michael Takahashi, USN

Capt. Dale Uyeda, USN 

Eric Yoshida, USN

General Members

Lei Brady

William Franco

JoAnn Mori

Christopher Nakaishi

Kailee Nakaishi

Michael Shintaku

Jackie Sugai

Joji Yoshida

Friend of JAVA

Nancy Beck

Donations

JAVA offers a heartfelt thanks to our generous members and friends for their gifts, memorials, and tributes given in support of our mission, events, and scholarships. We are truly grateful.

Anonymous - In Honor of  LTC Robert Nakamura, USA (Ret)

Nancy Beck - General Support

Susan Pam Vokac Bennett - Colonel Virgil R. Miller Scholarship

Lynn Bettencourt - Ranger Grant Hirabayashi Scholarship

Lynn Bettencourt - In Honor of Terry Shima Birthday

Dr. Ann Bugliani - Dr. Americo Bugliani Scholarship

Dawn Eilenberger - 2020 Appeal 

Tak & Carolyn Furumoto - Sam Kiyoto / Tak & Carolyn Furumoto Scholarship

Kei Hirabayashi - Ranger Grant Hirabayashi Scholarship

Kei Hirabayashi - In Honor of Terry Shima's Birthday

Kei Hirabayashi - Betty Shima Scholarship

Kei Hirabayashi - Major Mike Okusa Scholarship

Julie Kuroki - Ben Kuroki Scholarship

Kathryn Miller - Colonel Virgil R. Miller Scholarship

Amy and Anthony Nakamoto-Brown - Robert Nakamoto Scholarship

Mae Nakamoto - Robert Nakamoto Scholarship

Michael Nakamoto - Robert Nakamoto Scholarship

Dr. Kenjalin Ogata - 2020 Appeal - In Appreciation for JAVA

Joanne Sakai - In Memory of father and 442nd Veteran Lawson Sakai

Robert Vokac - Colonel Virgil R. Miller Scholarship

TAPS

Hason Fujio Yanaga

August 21, 1926 - February 16, 2021

Hason "Haas" Fujio Yanaga passed away peacefully. He is survived by his wife Florence and three daughters: Naomi, Valerie, Denise and their loving families.

Hass grew up on a 160-acre farm/ranch near Ft. Lupton, Colorado with an unobstructed view of Long's Peak. Born fifth into a family of six boys, he loved the land and nature thus his favorite song was "Where the Columbines Grow," the state song. His parents were immigrants from Japan making him a "Nisei" or second generation.

In World War II, he served at General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters in the Pacific as an interpreter. His work in the Military Intelligence Service allowed him to view Hideki Tojo in his prison cell at Sugamo Prison. Hass was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his distinguished service.

He attended the University of Denver on the G.I. Bill for his B.A. and also earned a master's degree of Education. He retired from the Denver Public Schools after 32 years. During that time, he volunteered with the Aurora Human Rights Commission. He had a subsequent career in security and as a police volunteer. For sports, Hass bowled in bowling leagues, was on a senior's softball team, and played tennis. In retirement, he enjoyed gardening.

Hass was a life member of the America Legion Post 1 and Voiture 97 Forty and Eight. In the interim, he served and retired from the U.S. Coast Guard after 15 years.

Hass leaves behind wife Florence (nee Endo) Yanaga, originally from Maui, Hawaii and daughters Valerie Appelbaum married to Alan Appelbaum of Littleton, Colorado; Denise Livingston married to Steve Livingston of Denver, Colorado; and Naomi Wilsey married to David Wilsey of Needham, MA. Hason and Florence's grandsons are Gierma Livingston, Scott Wilsey, and D.J. Wisley.

Internment will be conducted with a family-only ceremony at Fort Logan National Cemetery, Denver, Colorado, where Hass was initially inducted into the U.S. Army on November 21, 1944.

[Ed Note: Hason Fujio Yanaga was a Member of JAVA. Daughter Naomi Wilsey submitted her father's obituary.]

James Nobuo Yamazaki, MD

James Nobuo Yamazaki, 590th Artillery Battalion, 106th Infantry Division.

July 6, 1916 - March 5, 2021

His extraordinary life began, July 6, 1916 in Los Angeles, born to Rev. John Misao and Mary Tsune Yamazaki. Growing up, he stayed busy with attending (and cleaning) St. Mary's Episcopal Church, school, sports, playing in the actual L.A. river, going to the beach, Boy Scouts, ROTC and even learning to play the trombone.

After a whirlwind romance, Jim married Aki Hirashiki, while at Medical Field Service School. Months later James had to leave a pregnant Aki to ship out to Europe. Captured at Battle of the Bulge, marched and bombed while transported in trains, hundreds of miles, to POW camps. He witnessed the mutilated Wereth Eleven being buried by kind Belgium farmers. Another farmer fed and sheltered him and the wounded soldiers he accompanied on their long, winter march. He survived the deprivations of camp to return to Aki but had the further hardship of learning they lost their newborn son to a heart malformation, caused by Aki having rubella during pregnancy. Unfortunately, vaccines for this had not yet been developed.

Returning to California in '51, Dr. Yamazaki became a professor for the inaugural UCLA Medical School class. He realized it would be difficult to raise his growing family on his professor's salary and opened a private pediatric practice. He will be remembered fondly for over 35 years of compassionate care. Upon his retirement, he started to work on his biography. Children of the Atomic Bomb, published in 1995.

In 2007 Jim and Aki left their Van Nuys home of 55 years to move closer to family in Washington. Their marriage would last just shy of 70 years and as Jim would say "Not just 70 years, 70 GOOD years". He was preceded in death by Aki; son, Noel; grandson, Masami; his siblings, John (Fumi), Peter (Joy) and Louise; as well as most of his generation friends. This remarkable man's life touched so many. He will be deeply missed but his life fully revered and celebrated by his son, Paul (Sara) of San Francisco; daughters, Katharine of Taos, N.M., and Caroline (Brad) Roberts of White Salmon, Wash.; grandchildren, Yuki (Andrew) Romero, Taro, Mariko, Jazmin (Austin) Krentz and Taniya; seven great-grandchildren; many nieces, nephews, cousins, his loving caregivers and countless friends of all ages.

James requested that no services be held, nor flowers or koden sent. Please honor his memory by spreading his message or a donation in support of Social Justice, Peace, Children, Arts or the Environment.

https://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?n=james-n-yamazaki&pid=198090831&fbclid=IwAR3g3qmH202kFDEFoozA-DyLcGvtq95ph0qibvUjkenxLeWTkGGfxexN3Yw 

[Ed Note: Jeff Morita submitted James Nobuo Yamazaki's obituary.]

Questions or Suggestions: Please contact Neet Ford, JAVA e-Advocate Editor, at javapotomac@gmail.com.

Japanese American Veterans Association:  Address: P.O. Box 341198, Bethesda, MD 20827 I www.java-us.org

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