NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By J.K. Yamamoto

ROSEVILLE—Placer County dedicated the first phase of monument honoring the Nisei soldiers of World War II on Dec. 16 at the Bill Santucci Justice Center.

County officials, veterans and their families gathered for the unveiling of plaques set in two granite boulders on the south side of a 36-foot-wide concrete compass designed by Yamasaki Landscape Design of Auburn.

One plaque tells the story of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team; the other states that the Placer County Board of Supervisors is “proud to dedicate this memorial to the men of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. May their supreme bravery, patriotism and dedication to our country never be forgotten.”

The boulders represent the struggles of the 442nd in the Vosges Mountains of France, where the Japanese American unit rescued the “Lost Battalion” of the 141st Infantry, a group of Texans trapped behind enemy lines, suffering heavy casualties in the process.

Supervisor F.C. “Rocky” Rockholm, chairman of the Board of Supervisors and representative of District 1, noted that more than 100 men from Placer County served in the 442nd, including three who were present at the ceremony: Frank Kageta, Alfred Nitta and Shigeo Yokote. He also welcomed Norman Hamada, who recently moved to Rocklin, Nisei veterans from surrounding counties, and all World War II veterans in attendance.

“It is truly my pleasure to be in your presence and thank you for the service that you rendered to our country and to honorably have served for the residents of Placer County,” Rockholm told the veterans, who received a standing ovation.

Also singled out for recognition were the project manager, Tim Arndt of the county’s Parks and Grounds Division, and the Placer County Japanese American Citizens League.

“The league is taking the lead on the second phase of the memorial, a six-foot-tall bronze statue that will depict a scene from one of the 442nd’s most famous battles,” said Rockholm. “We joined forces to create this memorial because of the 442nd’s battlefield successes and dedication to our country are one of the most remarkable, heartwarming stories of World War II. For its size and length of service, the 442nd is the most decorated unit in the entire history of the U.S. military.”

The sculpture will show a Nisei soldier helping a wounded member of the Lost Battalion. There will also be another boulder with a plaque bearing the names of Placer County residents who served in the 442nd.

“After the war, many 442nd veterans returned to Placer County and became important members of our communities,” said Rockholm. “Some of their children and grandchildren still live here and are leading citizens today.

“I wish the late Bill Santucci could be here with us today ... Bill was a good friend, my predecessor on the Board of Supervisors, and a former mayor of Roseville. He was a strong advocate for this memorial and a leading force behind another tribute to the 442nd. The street that runs north from here is Go for Broke Road, a tribute to the unit’s motto...

“Today’s ceremony is first and foremost about the 442nd, but is also a chance to remind everyone in the U.S. military, past and present, how much we appreciate their commitment to the United States of America.”

A four-man Nisei color guard brought the U.S. and California flags to the stage.

Rev. Maggie McNaught of First United Methodist Church of Loomis gave the invocation in memory of “those of the 442nd that fell during combat and those who have died since the war effort. Their spirits are here with us ... May their exemplary conduct during a time when their allegiance was held in deep suspicion remind us all of a great lesson, to treat all our neighbors with kindness and to love them as ourselves.”

Supervisors’ Statements

Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery of District 5 said the ceremony was an opportunity to “reflect upon the wrongs” visited upon Japanese Americans while celebrating those who “served the United States so valiantly at the very same time that so many of their family members were being held in internment camps.” She quoted President Franklin Roosevelt (ironically, the same president that authorized the internment) as saying, “Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race or ancestry” when he announced the formation of the 442nd.

Supervisor Robert Weygandt of District 2 recalled that when he was growing up in Lincoln, “the Japanese American community was a key thread in the fabric that made up our community. Most of the Japanese American kids that I grew up with were the children of parents who had been here for one or two generations. In that my mother was an immigrant and both of my parents actually served in the military during World War II, it was fascinating to hear and learn the stories, particularly here in Placer County, of the contributions made by the Japanese American community.”

Supervisor Kirk Uhler of District 4 decried the glorification of athletes and entertainers. “We act as if we should be in awe of them, grateful for their presence, when true heroes far too often go unsung.

This (memorial) has been too long in coming ... This will live long after us as a reminder to future generations what real heroes look like.”

The keynote speech was given by Supervisor Jim Holmes of District 3, who gave a history of the internment and the 442nd. The fact that so many volunteered for the Army from the camps shows that “in spite of the injustice and hardship endured by the Japanese American internees, they displayed remarkable patience and fortitude as unindicted exiles in their own land.”

He provided details of the heavy toll suffered by the 442nd when it rescued the Lost Battalion. “One company of 186 riflemen had only eight men standing by the time they reached the Texans; another company of 185 had only four men standing.

“The rescue of the Lost Battalion was a remarkable achievement. The United States Army has designated it as one of the top 10 battles fought by the U.S. Army in its over 230-year history.”

To illustrate the discrimination that continued back home, Holmes quoted 442nd Chaplain Hiro Higuchi. “One of his duties was to go through the pockets of soldiers killed in combat. He remembers going through the pockets of a soldier from California and finding a news clipping that told how his family farm had been burned down by racists near Auburn. There is no medal or citation high enough to honor such valor and such sacrifice.”

For those who returned to Placer County, it was time to rebuild, Holmes said. “Howard Nakae was one of the fortunate internees to return to his ranch outside of Newcastle. The fruit trees were in good shape, the maintenance had been kept up and there was even cold milk in the refrigerator.

“Members of some of the local packing sheds helped to maintain some of the properties of internees ... Others were not so lucky and lost their property and had to begin anew ...

“Without showing signs of malice or resentment, they opened shops, worked on ranches, began landscaping businesses and nurseries. They became leaders in agriculture, business, education, government, and yes, even law enforcement. They set out once again to enjoy the freedoms that many of their sons and brothers died to preserve.

“And for that we honor these heroes today. But in a larger sense ... the true heroes are the young Japanese American soldiers that gave the ultimate sacrifice on the foreign battlefields and who rest in graveyards throughout Europe and local cemeteries here at home. Today we especially honor their memories and their sacrifice.”

Thanks From Community

Speaking on behalf of the Japanese American community was Stuart Kageta, Frank Kageta’s son and a coach at Del Oro High School in Loomis. He thanked the Board of Supervisors and the JACL for creating a monument that “will highlight the trials and challenges our parents endured during the war.”

Noting that the 442nd was nicknamed the “Purple Heart Battalion” because of its unusually high casualty rate, Kageta said, “These quiet soldiers never sought out attention or recognition ... These quiet soldiers not only battled the enemy, but they battled for the Constitution of the United States and for the rights of their children, their grandchildren and all subsequent generations.”

Assistant District Attorney Scott Owens talked about his personal connection to the project. The artist who designed the statue for the memorial, France Borka, is also a Shotokan karate instructor and was one of Owens’ mentors when he was growing up.

“Among other things, he introduced a bunch of wild teenagers to classical music, poetry and Japanese cuisine,” recalled Owens. “He also introduced us to the 442nd. He kept telling us that we needed to try to understand and capture the Japanese spirit, that we needed to run for the top of the mountain, that we needed to go for broke, not just in what we were doing at that moment, but our entire lives. One of the examples that he would use over and over was the bravery of the 442nd.”

In later years, it was Owens who urged Borka to finish something he had started — a bronze sculpture of the famed samurai Miyamoto Musashi. After designing it in the mid-1980s, Borka finally unveiled the finished statue in June 2007, just three days before the Board of Supervisors decided to honor the 442nd. Owens got involved in the project and introduced the internationally renowned artist to the county and the JACL. “I had no idea at the time it was going to be right next to my office,” Owens said of the monument.

He also remembered a meeting where he saw one Nisei veteran helping another who was having difficulty walking — a sight very similar to Borka’s design for the memorial. The Nisei soldiers had not only courage but also “commitment to the cause, compassion for their fellow soldiers, and a love of country,” and that image “encapsulated so much of what the 442nd is all about,” Owens said.

Invoking the spirit of Musashi, he said, “We have a long way to go ...We have to get this done ... Please join me in this effort to complete this project.”

Rev. Tesshi Aoyama of Placer Buddhist Church in Penryn led the gathering in meditation and recited a Buddhist blessing. “We should be gratefully indebted to them,” he said of the 100th/442nd and Military Intelligence Service.

With dozens of cameras at the ready, the unveiling of the plaques was conducted by Rockholm and veterans Kageta and Yokote.

“This Is Our Country”

Yokote, who celebrated his 93rd birthday the next day, attended Loomis Grammar School and Placer High School before the war. “My father came from Nihon (Japan) and he worked for a white family and they had a farm, so all my life my parents were farmers,” he said.

“I never thought that this would come up in Placer County because Placer County was a hotbed (of prejudice) at one time ... I’m glad it happened in my lifetime,” Yokote said of the monument.

He expressed pride in his military service. “Nobody can question my loyalty here. I might be the son of an immigrant person from Japan, but my life has always been here ... This is our country. We have no other allegiance, only to America.”

Fundraising chair Ken Tokutomi of Placer County JACL and Tokutomi & Caruthers CPAs commented, “I think the ceremony went great. It was a great turnout, we were blessed with good weather, and this will be the kickoff for major fundraising right now .... We’re going to get publicity through all the papers. I was a little disappointed none of the TV news media came out to cover it, but by and large I’m ecstatic with it.”

The original target date for completion was Memorial Day of 2011, but Tokutomi is now hoping for Veterans Day of 2010. “We’ve raised about $22,000 (of the $120,000 goal) so far, and with this kickoff like it is, I think this will be a shot in the arm with regard to fundraising ...

“We’ll do it. It’s not that large a sum and there’s a lot of people who realize what our fathers and mothers did to pave the way for us to be successful, the sacrifices they made, not only being interned but going and fighting the war. They gave us great character, a great work ethic, and it provided a great foundation for us.”

For information on how to contribute, write to Placer JACL Memorial Project, 11850 Kemper Rd., Suite D, Auburn, CA 95603; call (530) 888-1303, e-mail kentocar@sbcglobalnet or visit www.placerjacl.org