[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 25, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3915-S3917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
50TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL SERVICE OF THE 442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM
Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, on March 25, 2001, I returned to my home
State of Hawaii to attend the 50th Anniversary Memorial Service of the
442nd Regimental Combat Team at the National Memorial Cemetery of the
Pacific. The memorial address was presented by Mr. H. David Burge,
Director of the Spark M. Matsunaga Veterans Affairs Medical & Regional
Office Center in Honolulu.
I was moved and impressed by his remarks, and I wish to share them
with the American people. I ask that Mr. Burge's address be part of the
Record.
The remarks follow:
I am very honored to be the first speaker in the 21st
century at the 442nd Veterans Club's 58th Anniversary
Memorial Service here at the National Memorial Cemetery of
the Pacific.
This morning is time to remember and pay special tribute to
boyhood friends and classmates lost in battle, dear friends
and loved ones no longer with us, and cherished members of
the 442nd who continue to serve as good family and community
elders and leaders. As we enter the new millennium, this is a
time for members, families, and friends of the 442nd to
reflect on the past, to celebrate the present, and to
contemplate the future.
Our men of the 442nd are testament to the joys, heartache,
and major accomplishments of the 20th century both here in
Hawaii and the Nation. To reflect on the past, let's roll the
clock back to the 1940s and see that period through snapshots
familiar to many of you.
In 1940, the U.S. Government felt that war with Japan was
imminent. As such, Japanese Americans were released and
banned from employment at Pearl Harbor and other military
bases in Hawaii without explanation or justification. Despite
these early warning signs, Japanese Americans in Hawaii did
not feel an acute sense of crisis. While Japanese American
bashing was increasing on the mainland, most people in Hawaii
where all groups were minorities had no animosity towards
their Japanese neighbors.
My mother's 1941 McKinley High School Black and Gold
Yearbook, published six months before the attack on Pearl
Harbor, provides a glimpse into the daily activities,
beliefs, and values of young Nisei in Hawaii prior to the
outbreak of World War II. In this regard, let me share with
you the introduction section of the yearbook:
In 1941, we find our sports-minded typical McKinley boy
standing five feet, six inches in height weighing 124 pounds
with naturally straight hair and brown eyes. The typical
McKinley girl is a petite lassie, five ft., one inch in
height, weighing a dainty 97 pounds, has black hair and is
brown-eyed. Both are Americans of Japanese ancestry.
Their trim figures and fresh complexions are accounted for
by their nine hours of sleep each night and their daily glass
of milk. Typical boy usually buys his lunch outside the
school. Not so typical girl. She knows the importance of a
healthy meal and depends on the school cafeteria for it.
The typical boy looks forward to weekend social activities.
He considers school dances tops and goes to as many of the
class, student body, and club dances as he possibly can, but
give jitter-bugging and waltzing only slight nod. He usually
goes stag to dances because of the small size of his
pocketbook. His favorite recreations are football, listening
to the radio, and going to movies with his friends.''
In general, the description of the typical Nisei student at
McKinley could have been a description of a typical student
at any American high school at that time. This is not
surprising since these high school students truly believed
that they were Americans and acted accordingly.
The Nisei students were heavily influenced by the McKinley
faculty almost entirely from the mainland with a heavy
concentration from the midwest. Their principal, Dr. Miles
Carey, indicated that his primary objective was in his words,
``helping our young people to develop those attitudes,
dispositions, and abilities which we call the democratic way
of living together.''
[[Page S3916]]
The results of a student survey included in the yearbook
reflected how strongly these young students embraced these
democratic beliefs. Moved by the growing crisis in Europe,
the Nisei students believed that the honor of the United
States should always be defended, even if it meant going to
war. They believed that common people should have more say in
the government. They also believed that all races were
mentally equal. It was also noteworthy that the Nisei
students firmly believed that the Hawaiian Islands would
be more efficiently run when they attained voting age.
My final observation in reviewing the yearbook was the
dedication page. It underscored the foundation for the Nisei
student's core values. It read, ``Respectfully dedicated to
our parents and the excellent home influence given us.''
Six months after publication of that yearbook, on the
morning of December 7, 1941, the lives of these young Nisei
were forever changed as they became part of one of America's
most dramatic stories--a story of shameful treatment by our
government, a story of heroic feats on the battlefield, a
story of major accomplishments in business and government
after the war, and finally a story of full vindication and
pride for all Americans of Japanese ancestry.
Just prior to the enemy attack on Hawaii, Washington
emphasized the danger of sabotage by the local Japanese
population to local military commanders. Follow on actions to
cluster aircraft in the middle of airfield to guard against
such local sabotage resulted in easy targets for attacking
enemy aircraft and needless destruction of most American
aircraft on the ground at Hickam, Wheeler, Bellows and Ford
Island.
After the attack, Hawaii Territorial Governor Poindexter
told President Roosevelt that what he feared most was
sabotage by the large Japanese community. Subsequently, 1,000
innocent Japanese Americans--Buddhist priests, language
school teachers, civic and business leaders, fishermen, and
judo instructors--were arrested and detained in tents on Sand
Island. A number of these individuals and their families,
without any proof and without any due process, were
subsequently transported to prisoner of war camps on the
mainland.
Secretary of Navy Frank Knox who visited Hawaii the week
following the attack reported to the President and Congress
that the devastation at Pearl Harbor was the most effective
fifth column work that had come out of any war in history.
His sensational and totally unfounded assessment that
Japanese Americans in Hawaii had aided the enemy attack hit
the headlines in newspapers across America, and significantly
fueled anti-Japanese American sentiment. The follow on rumors
of sabotage and espionage emanating from Hawaii, although
untrue, were used by West Coast groups to demand and justify
the wholesale internment of Japanese American families living
in California, Oregon, and Washington into concentration
camps in remote areas far from their homes.
Immediately after the attack, at a time that Hawaii was
still very vulnerable to another raid and possible occupation
by enemy forces, 317 Japanese American members of the Hawaii
Territorial Guard were involuntarily discharged without any
explanation. In addition, 2,000 Japanese American soldiers
already on active duty were recalled to Schofield Army
Barracks, stripped of their weapons, and separated from their
non-Japanese buddies and under orders from Washington, they
were shipped to the interior of the mainland for security
reasons. Finally, Japanese Americans were declared ineligible
for military service and classified as enemy aliens. All of
these unthinkable actions occurred at a time that every able-
bodied man was needed to defend Hawaii.
The ultimate act of wartime hysteria in Hawaii occurred in
February 1942 when President Roosevelt ordered the evacuation
and internment of all Japanese Americans in Hawaii in
concentration camps on the mainland. Fortunately, the
military was unable to carry out the President's order since
there were not enough ships to conduct such a massive
evacuation and the evacuation of such a large number of
workers would have crippled the islands. As such, the
evacuation orders were delayed several times and finally
abandoned in 1943.
Could any of us today who did not experience this war time
hysteria truly understand and appreciate the impact of these
outrageous actions on Japanese American families, especially
young Nisei family members? Hawaii's Nisei truly believed
they were Americans. They were equally offended by the
vicious attack on their homeland and equally ready to serve
their country. As just teenagers the rejection and hostility
vented towards them and their families by their own
government were beyond comprehension.
But perhaps unconsciously they responded in a very Japanese
way by doing the only thing they could under such extreme
circumstances that is stepping forward. Stepping forward with
loyalty and courage in order to honor their families and to
demonstrate to their fellow countrymen that they were worthy
Americans. While there was more than sufficient justification
for turning inward and refusing to support the government
that had treated them so brutally and unfairly, Nisei young
men demanded the right to fight.
As we know today, the Nisei achieved their objective but at
a very high price. The 100th Infantry Battalion led the way
and after nine long months of bitter fighting from Salerno to
Anzio was joined in Rome by the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Thereafter the two Japanese American units remained as one
through the bloody fighting in northern Italy and France to
the end of the war.
Bill Mauldin, the Stars and Stripes cartoonist who created
the beloved infantry characters Willie and Joe, described the
Nisei unit as follows:
``No combat unit in the army could exceed the Japanese
Americans in loyalty, hard work, courage and sacrifice.
Hardly a man of them hadn't been decorated at least twice,
and their casualty lists were appalling. When they were in
the line, they worked harder than anybody else. As far as the
army was concerned, the Nisei could do no wrong. We were
proud to be wearing the same uniform.''
This morning we gather to remember and honor the typical
McKinley boy and other young Nisei who fell on the
battlefields in Europe. They were good and brave Americans.
They brought honor to their families and great pride to all
citizens of Hawaii. It is unfortunate that these young men
did not live to see the full measure of their ultimate
sacrifices.
The insignia of the 442nd is the Statue of Liberty hand
holding the torch of freedom. This symbol is most appropriate
because it exemplifies the unit's steadfast belief in not
only freedom for all men but also through their actions and
sacrifices on the battlefield final freedom for Japanese
Americans in the form of real acceptance by their fellow
countrymen.
When President Truman welcomed home the 100th and 442nd, he
said to them, ``You are on the way home. You fought not only
the enemy, but you fought prejudice and you have won. Keep up
that fight and we will continue to win, to make this great
Republic stand for just what the Constitution says it stands
for: the welfare of all the people all the time.''
Perhaps President Truman did not fully realize the extent
to which the Nisei veterans would take to heart his challenge
to keep up the fight to ensure the welfare of all the people
all of the time. Although the war abroad was won, Nisei
veterans continued to forge ahead on the home front after the
war to ensure that their sacrifices in battle were not made
in vain. As many can attest today much hard work was needed
at the end of the war to accomplish President Truman's goal.
The enormity of the task at hand was reflected in comments
made at that time by the U.S. Speaker of the House, Sam
Rayburn. In voicing his opposition to statehood for Hawaii he
said, ``If we give them Statehood they'll send a delegation
of Japs here.''
This inflammatory statement was made by the powerful
Speaker from Texas whose Texas Lost Battalion was rescued two
years earlier in Europe by Nisei soldiers at a cost 800 Nisei
casualties to rescue 200 Texans. Unfortunately, much work
still remained to be accomplished at home, but the Nisei
veterans, as previously demonstrated in battle, were
undaunted in their quest and pressed on with unrelenting
effort.
These veterans were firm in the conviction they expressed
in that 1941 McKinley High School survey that the Nisei
generation would, in fact, make positive improvements in
Hawaii and our nation. More than a half-century later, we
know that our Nisei veterans were more than up to the task
and, as such, we have much to celebrate today.
Today a Sansei from Kauai, Eric Shinseki, serves as Chief
of Staff of the United States Army. This general of all
generals often relates stories of personal inspiration based
on the experiences of his Nisei family members who served in
World War II the same Nisei soldiers from Hawaii who were
once designated enemy aliens and denied the opportunity to
fight for their country.
Today 22 Nisei World War II veterans are Congressional
Medal of Honor recipients. I was honored to attend the
ceremonies last year in Washington and to witness the awards
made by President Clinton. At the White House ceremony, the
President attributed the lack of proper and timely
recognition for these individuals to three factors: war-time
hysteria, racial discrimination, and a complete breakdown in
national leadership. The President went on the praise all
Japanese Americans who served in World War II despite the
error of our nation in questioning their loyalty and
wrongfully interning their families.
Today we have the names of our new Nisei Medal of Honor
recipients forever etched in stone in the Hall of Heroes at
the Pentagon. In viewing the new inscriptions, I was moved to
see these names added along side the names of other American
heroes from every war in our nation's history. I was also
proud to see great sounding American names on the wall--
Hajiro, Hayashi, Inouye, Kuroda, Muranaga, Nakae, Nakamura,
Nishimoto, Okubo, Okutsu, Ono, Otani, Sakato, and Tanouye.
Today, a Nisei is the first and only Asian American to
serve as a Cabinet member. Norman Mineta, who served as
Secretary of Commerce for President Clinton and continues to
serve today as Secretary of Transportation for President
Bush, was a youngster in California when his family was sent
to an American concentration camp. He vividly recollects how
the military police took away his favorite baseball bat
because they viewed it as a weapon.
Today, a brand new National Japanese American Memorial
proudly stands on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The
Memorial,
[[Page S3917]]
the first and only memorial dedicated to any ethnic group in
our Nation's capitol, is dedicated to Japanese American
immigrants who valiantly fought for and attained their
full rights as citizens.
When I attended the dedication ceremony for the new
Memorial last fall, I was overwhelmed by the great honor
finally bestowed upon Japanese Americans by our great nation.
Think about it for a moment--America is a country of
immigrants--many waves of immigrants. And today, there is
only one memorial to honor any of these immigrants in the
shadow of our nation's Capitol--that is the Japanese American
Memorial.
And finally today, a brand new, state-of-art veteran's
medical center, named after the late Senator Spark M.
Matsunaga, now proudly serves all our veterans here in
Hawaii.
So today, I say to our Nisei veterans you have brought
great pride to your families as well as pride in their
heritage for future generations of Japanese Americans. More
importantly, you have ensured that your friends, who were
lost in battle, did not die in vain.
So at this juncture, where are our Nisei veterans headed
next? Are they declaring victory and passing the 442nd's
Statue of Liberty torch on to others?
While such action would certainly be justified, it would
not reflect the values ingrained into many Nisei by their
progressive high school teachers who exposed them to the
ideals of justice and equality and urged them to continually
reach out to others.
It is said that McKinley Principal Miles Carey got people
to do what he wanted because he treated them humanely and
considerately. If there was any fault with Dr. Carey, and
maybe it was not a fault, he was dreamer. But all of this was
due to his efforts to treat people right. And in this regard,
he did an outstanding job in getting his students to think
like him. So it is not surprising that the final chapters of
American's Nisei veterans are still being written.
Here in Hawaii, our Nisei veterans are currently developing
and endowing at the University of Hawaii a Nisei Veterans
Forum on Universal Values for a Democratic Society. The
purpose of this effort is to show current and future
generations of high school students the benefits of the
values drawn from the various ethnic groups here in Hawaii--
values similar to those of Nisei veterans that were used to
help them persevere through challenging times during their
lives. In this manner, Nisei veterans are passing on to
future generations of students the same type of beliefs and
values they were exposed to during their formative years.
On the national front, Nisei and Sansei from Hawaii and the
mainland are actively engaged in the important work of the
new Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. The
Museum is the first and only national museum dedicated to an
ethnic group in America. Through both fixed and traveling
exhibits, the Museum shares the darkest and brightest moments
for Japanese Americans with others both at home and abroad.
It is noteworthy that the City of Los Angeles currently lists
the Museum as one of seven must see attractions in its
brochures provide to tourists.
The Museum has also received a large federal grant this
year, through the sponsorship of Senator Inouye, that will
use the experiences of Japanese American veterans from World
War II, Korea, and Vietnam as the foundation for a new Center
for the Preservation of Democracy. In this manner, the
sacrifices of our Nisei veterans will be captured and used to
construct a very real and moving American story. A story that
needs to be told over and over again to current and future
generations of Americans so that no group of Americans is
ever subjected to what Japanese Americans experienced.
Well, 60 years has now passed since that Black & Gold
Yearbook of 1941. Today, the typical McKinley boy from that
time is still five ft., six inches tall, but perhaps heavier
than the then reported 124 pounds. By contrast, I know that
the typical McKinley girl from that same period is still five
ft., one inch tall, and still weighs 97 pounds.
Regarding the results of that 1941 high school survey, I
say to our Nisei veterans you successfully carried through on
your convictions. You stepped forward to defend your country
and after the war worked hard to make Hawaii and our nation
better places to live.
You are grayer and wiser than you were 60 years ago. You
still believe in honor, duty, and country and have a proven
record to show these are not just words. You are still humble
and as such will not bathe yourselves in glory although most
of us realize you deserve such honor. And perhaps more
important, you truly care about your families and all
families in America. For it is through your story that your
children, grandchildren, and future generations will cherish
and take great pride in their Japanese American heritage. And
it is through this same story that other Americans will learn
that the preservation of our democracy requires constant
vigilance and courage to not allow hysteria of any kind to
strip innocent Americans of their basic rights.
That 1941 yearbook states, ``Respectfully dedicated to our
parents and the excellent home influence given us.'' Today I
say to our Nisei veterans who died in combat, to our Nisei
veterans who returned home and are no longer with us, and to
our Nisei veterans we are blessed to still have with us: We
dedicated this service to you and the excellent influence you
have had on us.
God bless our Nisei veterans and their families, God bless
their beloved Hawaii, and God bless the great nation they
served so well both in battle and in peace.
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