Special exhibit on board U.S.S. Hornet honors second-generation
Japanese-Americans
Morgan Hill – Lawson Sakai wants to preserve a little known but important part of America’s military history.
That’s why he and other South Valley residents created a special exhibit permanently on display the U.S.S. Hornet in Alameda to honor Japanese-Americans who served in the United States military during World War II.
After more than a year of work, the Friends and Family of Nisei Veterans officially opened its Nisei Veterans’ Exhibit last Saturday at a special ceremony with a crowd of about 300 guests. About 80 who attended came from the South Valley.
The inauguration was a proud moment for the 82-year-old Sakai, who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team made up entirely of Japanese-American soldiers.
“I think it was accepted really well,” Sakai said of the exhibit’s opening. “It looked good and people were surprised that there was so much to see in the exhibit rooms, even thought they’re limited in space.”
The exhibit, located in the stern of the U.S.S. Hornet, was created to educate visitors about the contributions Japanese-Americans made during World War II. About 20,000 Nisei (second-generation Japanese-Americans) fought in the 442nd in Europe and 6,000 Nisei in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) participated in American war efforts in the Pacific front, Sakai said.
“The exhibit brought back a lot of memories for people,” Sakai said of the overall response on Saturday to the U.S.S Hornet’s newest attraction. “Many (guests) personally experienced the events we display in the exhibit rooms.”
Following Pearl Harbor, many Nisei men enlisted in the U.S. Army. In 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt was so impressed by their fighting skills and loyalty to America that he formed the segregated 442nd combat team.
Many of the soldiers in the 442nd had been interned in the internment camps. Despite this injustice, they valiantly fought in eight major campaigns and suffered massive casualties. The 442nd became one of the most decorated units in U.S. military history, receiving more than 18,000 individual decorations for bravery including 21 Medals of Honor and 9,500 Purple Hearts.
Historians credit the Nisei who served in the MIS for helping to shorten the war in the Pacific as well as successfully rebuild Japan in the after-math. They worked as interpreters, linguists, and interrogators. Their involvement was kept secret for five decades until 1972 when the U.S. government released documents detailing their significant war contributions.
Paul Yokoi, 86, of Morgan Hill, was one of the Nisei veterans in the 442nd who attended Saturday’s grand opening. “It was an honor to serve with this group of men,” he said. “We had a job to do and that was it.”
In 1941 at the age of 21, Yokoi was drafted into the U.S. Army shortly before Pearl Harbor. He served for a couple of years at the Scott Air Force Base in East Saint Louis, then was reassigned to A Company in the 442nd’s 100th Battalion. After infantry training at Camp Blanding in Florida, his company was shipped to Italy and from there they traveled to France.
In France, he and comrades endured heavy fighting with the Germans. But they persisted into battle with a war cry of “Go for broke!” that became the 442nd’s motto.
“It means, give it all you got,” he explained. “I lost a lot of my buddies there.”
During one fight with the Germans, Yokoi was severely injured and lost his right knee. He spent 14 months recovering in a hospital.
Brian Shiroyama, a third-generation Japanese-American, became involved with the creation of the exhibit because he wanted to show respect for the Nisei. During World War II, many of them overcame difficulties such as racial prejudice toward Asians in America.
“This was a tremendous opportunity for me personally to contribute,” he said. “I fully recognize the hardship the second generation folks went through. They were growing up, coming into adulthood, and then there was the relocation and the families had to go and spend years in the camp. They went through a lot of difficulty that we can’t even imagine.”
The veterans who served in the 442nd and the MIS were exceptional people because, despite the prejudice they endured, they proved their loyalty to America and paved the way for Japanese-Americans to serve in the military. Shiroyama himself spent a career of 30 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a colonel.
Among the personal war stories told in the exhibit rooms is one about Richard Sakakida a Nisei who became a spy in the Philippines during World War II. He infiltrated the Japanese military and provided the U.S. military with valuable intelligence about enemy operations. The Japanese eventually captured Sakahata and put him into a prisoner of war camp where he was treated brutally.
“He eventually organized a prison break and about 500 Filipino guerrillas escaped along with him,” Sakai said. “He had so many wounds from the torture that he almost died during the escape.”
Sakahata received many awards for his bravery.
Another story in the exhibit relates the Japanese-Americans known as “Merrill’s Marauders” who parachuted behind enemy lines to fight the Japanese soldiers. One Nisei soldier named Roy Matsumoto from Los Angeles received the Legion of Merit for his courage in attacking an elite group of Japan’s Imperial Army.
“(He) knew that there was a (Japanese) attack coming and so they set up an ambush,” Sakai said. “In his American uniform, he jumped out in front of the Japanese and yelled “Charge!” And the Japanese charged up the hill straight into the ambush. There are many very interesting stories about what some of these Nisei did.”
