NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By John Sammon—The awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal later this year to men who fought during World War II defending a country that had stripped them of their rights and incarcerated them in detention camps will be a bitter-sweet moment.

Bitter in that it took this long to happen.

The Congressional Gold Medal is a civilian award bestowed by Congress and is given to the unit or individual who performs an outstanding act of service to the security, prosperity and national interest of the United States.

“This will be a big honor, especially for the veterans still alive, a way to pay tribute to what they went through,” said Bob McKibbin, son-in-law of a veteran of the 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team, and volunteer with the San Jose Congressional Gold Medal Committee.

Many of the old veterans have passed away and won’t be there to see it, and there are thousands who never returned from the battlefields of Europe, who gave the full measure of sacrifice. The families of these fallen soldiers will also see them honored.

In 1942, Executive Order 9066 authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for the deportation of 110,000 Japanese Americans mostly from California to internment camps at desolate, remote locations throughout the Western United States because the government perceived them to be a threat. Families lost their property, jobs, and possessions. Despite the injustice, young Japanese-American men in the camps, many of them Nisei, second generation born in America to Japanese immigrant parents, volunteered to fight against the Nazi forces occupying Europe.

In October 2010 President Barack Obama signed legislation to grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team, the 100th Infantry Battalion and Military Intelligence (MIS) units comprising approximately 20,000 Japanese Americans. The date for the medal-award ceremony to take place in Washington D.C. has yet to be announced.

The legislation is pending approval of a concurrent resolution by both houses of Congress.

McKibbin said he and other volunteers are organizing a smaller event to take place in San Jose for veterans and families of veterans who can’t attend the Washington D.C. observance. Many of them are now in their late 80s and early 90s. Local organizers are waiting to see when federal officials will schedule their observance, so that a date can be made for a local ceremony in San Jose.

“Many of our veterans and families of veterans can’t make the Washington D.C. event, so our committee wants to have a local ceremony,” McKibbin said.

A Cupertino resident retired from the County Assessor’s Office, McKibbin said the local Gold Medal Committee also includes Joe Yasutake, vice president of the Japanese American Museum in San Jose, Sandra Soto, representative for U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Jimi Yamaichi, Steve Fugita and Brian Shiroyama all with the museum as well as Henry Wadahara from the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9970. Also involved is Congressman Mike Honda, whose 15th District includes San Jose and Silicon Valley, as well as California Congresswoman Anna Eshoo.

Supporting organizations in addition to the Japanese American Museum include the San Jose chapter of the Japanese American Citizen’s League (JACL) and the VFW Post 9970.

The now-legendary motto of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, “Go for Broke,” accurately described the unit’s heroism during World War II. Fighting through Italy, Southern France and Germany, the 442nd was among the most highly decorated units of its size during the war including 21 winners of the Medal of Honor. Other Japanese American units to be honored include the Military Intelligence units sent to the Pacific Theater of the war and the 100th Infantry Battalion (men from Hawaii), who later merged into the 442nd.

Every time there was a seemingly impossible job others couldn’t do, the 442nd was called.

“The Lost Battalion was an example,” said Japanese American Museum Vice President Joe Yasutake. “There was a Texas unit that was surrounded by Germans in France and was being annihilated. Several other army groups tried to rescue them but couldn’t get through. The 442nd went in and did the job, freed 211 Texans, but also lost 190 of their own with 600 wounded.”

The 442nd participated in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, including bitter fighting on freezing hilltops in Italy and the Vosges Mountains in France in the winter 1944 in which Germans occupied the high ground and often had to be pried loose, at times in vicious hand-to-hand fighting. As a result, the unit suffered a horrific approximate 93 percent casualty rate.

“My brother was a veteran, and they’re old now and year by year there are fewer of them,” Yasutake said. “They’re heroes. They’re important to history because there had been a lot of anti-Japanese American sentiment, and these soldiers were a major influence in changing the perception of the public.”

McKibbin said he wants veterans and the families of veterans living or dead in the Santa Clara County area to respond and register so organizers will know how many will be attending the Jan Jose ceremony. Veterans or their families wishing more information and to register should go to the museum website at www.jamsj.org, or call the museum located at 535 North Fifth St. in San Jose at (408) 294-3138. They may also call the office of Congresswoman Lofgren at (408) 271-8700.

“Once, the Washington, D.C. event is scheduled, we’ll establish our local date,” McKibbin said. “It will probably be in late November.”

Sandra Soto said the importance of the ceremony to veterans and their families lies in the remembrance of their sacrifice.

“We want to assure that these veterans are recognized,” she said. “We’ll do everything we can to honor them and their families.”

The Japanese American Museum is accepting donations to help defray the cost of the purchase of the Congressional Gold Medal replicas as well as the event.