NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By J.K. Yamamoto--A resolution supporting a U.S. postage stamp honoring the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism has been rejected by the JACL National Council due to concerns that it would interfere with the campaign for a stamp dedicated to the Nisei military units of World War II.

The 41-37 roll-call vote took place during the 41st biennial JACL National Convention, held June 30 to July 4 at the Swissotel in Chicago. The National Council consists of representatives from JACL’s chapters.

Japanese American veterans’ organizations have been campaigning for years to persuade the U.S. Postal Service’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) to endorse a stamp recognizing the 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service and other units, but has run up against a rule barring such recognition for specific military units.

The JACL resolution, introduced by the Watsonville-Santa Cruz Chapter and approved by the Northern California-Western Nevada-Pacific District Council, concerns a commemorative stamp for the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism in Washington, D.C., which the CSAC is considering.

Dedicated in 2000 by the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation, the monument is designed to “remember forever the Japanese American history of patriotism and perseverance for posterity” and “to tell our story of service and sacrifice in protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans.”

It includes the names of the 10 main internment camps, the names of 800 Japanese American soldiers killed while serving in the U.S. military during World War II, and quotes from President Ronald Reagan, Sen. Daniel Inouye, former Rep. Norman Mineta, Rep. Robert Matsui, and JACL leader Mike Masaoka. A sculpture depicts two cranes struggling to break free from barbed wire, and a reflecting pool contains boulders representing five generations of Japanese Americans.

The resolution states that the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism stamp “provides the opportunity to educate the greater population of the United States of America about the unjust incarceration of loyal Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II” and “would enable the stories of loyalty, heroism, and strength of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service, and internees to be known throughout our nation.”

It adds that “our support of the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism commemorative stamp in no way changes or compromises our support for a Nisei veterans of World War II stamp” and that “the organizers of the Nisei veterans of World War II do not wish to stand in the way of a National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism stamp.”

The Japanese American Veterans Association came out against the resolution. In a May 7 letter to then-JACL National President Larry Oda, Gerald Yamada of the JAVA Nisei Veterans Stamp Project gave several reasons:

“NCWNPD resolution gives up the fight for the Nisei soldiers stamp before all the avenues of appeal have been exhausted … The National Military and Veterans Alliance (NMVA), representing more than 30 military, veterans and family associations, with a combined membership of over 3.5 million members, has recently written to the postmaster general urging the United States Postal Service to end using its informal policy.

“With this letter in hand, Terry Shima, JAVA executive director, and I have met with the staffs of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and Senate committees on Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, asking the committees to look into USPS’ informal policy. We are also bringing the USPS’ informal policy to the attention of our media contacts. We are hopeful that these efforts will result in the postmaster general rethinking this policy ...

“Because the proposal to substitute a NJAMP stamp was generated within the CSAC and did not come from the veterans or the Japanese American community, CSAC needs to legitimize its proposal by having some community support. The NCWNPD resolution would legitimize the CSAC proposal, which would be used to undercut the Nisei soldiers stamp proposal in future years, giving CSAC a defensible basis for rejection.

“CSAC’s current use of the informal policy is fallacious. It is arbitrarily being applied because the Nisei soldiers stamp proposal does not honor an individual sub-branch, unit or division of the military but honors World War II Nisei soldiers as a distinctive group. The Japanese American soldiers were not assigned to one sub-branch, unit or division of the military ... Along these lines, stamps have been issued to honor Hispanic veterans (issued in 1984) and [Native American] code-breaking in World War II (issued in 1992) …

“How many times have we heard that future generations stand on the shoulders of the World War II Nisei soldiers and their heroic feats of valor? Their legacy continues to benefit all of us. These soldiers have not asked much in return. However, when they do ask, we have an obligation to support them.

“They have asked for a commemorative stamp that would honor those who served to prove their loyalty to America when the government and public were suspicious of their willingness to defend the United States. We need to stand with them rather than supporting a government-generated proposal intended to undercut them. JACL should not accept second-best in honoring those who gave us so much ...

“A NJAMP stamp is not an acceptable compromise to, or substitution for, the Nisei veterans stamp proposal because the National Japanese American Memorial is not a military memorial …  [It] is a monument to the unjust and extraordinary forced evacuation and imprisonment that Japanese Americans endured during World War II. The memorial is a tribute to their patriotism and perseverance. The NCWNPD resolution, however, converts the memorial from a human rights memorial to a military memorial and dilutes America’s apology to the internees.”

Proponents Disappointed

Mas and Marcia Hashimoto of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL, who pushed for the resolution, expressed disappointment with the outcome. They noted that when the delegates voted by raising their cards and being counted, the resolution was ahead, but when it went to a roll-call vote, some changed their minds.

Mrs. Hashimoto explained the chapter’s reasons for bringing up the resolution: “We heard that the Citizen Stamp Committee had made a proposal for a Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism commemorative stamp. When we heard that, we couldn’t stay silent … so we wrote a letter of support for it right away. Then we thought the district should know about this, so then we brought forth the resolution to the district, and the district supported it. And then we felt that we should bring it to the National Council.”

She stressed that the resolution is not in opposition to JAVA’s proposed stamp. “We supported the Nisei veterans’ stamp from the outset. We still do. Mas and I personally, our chapter, a hundred percent, we support the veterans’ stamp. But the [CSAC] proposal [for the veterans’ stamp] was tabled, so then we felt it could be tabled indefinitely.”

Mrs. Hashimoto added that if JACL members had not been notified about the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism stamp, “people will say, ‘Why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you let us know?’ That was another reason we brought it to the National Council, just to let everyone know that that’s a possibility.

“Stamps for 2011 and 2012 have been chosen and already announced,” Mr. Hashimoto noted. “So we’re looking three years down the line. That would be the year 2013 … That would be the 25th silver anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 [the redress bill]. What a great time to have the dedication of the stamp in Washington, D.C. at the Memorial to Patriotism …

“This proposal by the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee is so magnificent, is so wonderful and so generous. They’re thinking of us. They’re thoughtful. It would have been a major celebration of the entire Japanese American community in the United States … This has a broad scope that involves every person of Japanese heritage in the United States from the beginning.”

That stamp could lead to others honoring the Issei pioneers, the Nisei veterans and others, he added.

“This is a disappointment, but it’s not the end,” Hashimoto said.

Marielle Tsukamoto of Florin JACL was among those who spoke against the resolution. Having discussed the issue with Yamada, she said, “In his opinion and the opinion of some others, the Nisei stamp issue is not really dead. It is a Postal Service committee and there are other ways that we could try to influence that group, probably like a political way of doing it.”

While acknowledging that the CSAC “has already indicated that there’s very little influence from the outside, that they don’t really listen to the public,” Tsukamoto stressed that the Nisei vets have important allies. “There are other groups like the Tuskegee Airmen [a group of African American pilots] who are saying that this policy may be outdated … They did get their name on a stamp because they recognized an individual pilot who was then mentioned as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, which is kind of interesting.

“They’ll put [fictional characters like] Bart Simpson on a stamp, they’ll put individuals on a stamp, but they won’t recognize a military group. I think they recognized the lady baseball players. So there’s some question as to the policies of this committee. And there are efforts that are being made now to see if there’s a way to contact some of the members individually or other ways to try to influence the decision on the stamp.”

Regarding the possibility that the monument’s crane sculpture will be depicted on the proposed stamp, Tsukamoto said, “The [National Japanese American] Memorial Foundation people were not in favor of using that symbol in exchange for the veterans’ stamp. Then you’re going to have a memorial picture that is seen as an image that’s supposed to represent the honor and courage and valor of the veterans, but is not meant for that purpose, so you’ve changed the intent of the memorial and put a different face on it ...

“Stamps are very powerful teaching tool … To memorialize the courage, the valor and the tremendous sacrifice of the veterans … if you don’t have an image of a Nisei veteran on the stamp, then what’s the image that’s going to be displayed? What’s the symbol that Americans will see? They’ll see a monument with a bird ... That’s not the right image.”

She added, “I wasn’t sure that this was the time to make that statement, to pass that resolution. If we could give JAVA and the other veterans’ groups a little bit more time, and if the committee has already said they’re not influenced by outside groups anyway, then it would be okay to wait. The issue can come up next year again …  One year is not that much of a wait.”

Although JACL’s national conventions have been held every other year until now, the decision has been made to hold them every year, starting with the 2011 convention in Los Angeles.