[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 16, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2886-H2887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ``GO FOR BROKE'' STAMP RELEASE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. 
Case) for half of the time until 10 p.m., which is 9\1/2\ minutes.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 
5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Hawaii?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues for so many to 
recognize and honor a stamp just issued by the U.S. Postal Service 
that, with stunning simplicity, remembers, recognizes, and honors one 
of the most remarkable and inspirational stories in the whole of our 
country's history.
  It is a story of tragedy, perseverance, and triumph that is so 
quintessentially American, that goes so deeply to our essence, and that 
offers the most fundamental lessons that we must never forget. And that 
is the point of this stamp, that we never forget the story of the 
Japanese-American soldiers of World War II and their famous motto, 
which is its own lesson: ``Go for broke.''
  For many of us, the story is well-known and has instructed and 
inspired our own lives. But for a growing number of our fellow citizens 
of our country and world it is not. So permit me just a brief 
retelling.
  As World War II loomed, Americans of Japanese ancestry were beginning 
their third generation, or nisei, in substantial communities, yet they 
remained largely marginalized because of their race. In Hawaii, they 
constituted over one-third of our population, yet largely still labored 
on plantations or worked in small businesses. The same was true on the 
West Coast, from Washington through Oregon to San Diego.
  Some nisei saw war with Japan coming and sought to enlist in our 
armed services, but they were largely denied out of race and suspicion, 
and sought to prove themselves through service in the Guard or in 
Hawaii, the Varsity Victory Volunteers.

[[Page H2887]]

  Pearl Harbor changed everything. Infamously, over 100,000 Japanese 
were interned for their race, an indelible stain on our national 
fabric. After years of Japanese Americans pushing to be allowed to 
prove their loyalty by enlisting and fighting, the military finally 
relented with the 100th Infantry Battalion; the 442nd in the military 
intelligence service; and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion.
  The rest, as they say, is legend. The 100th and 442nd fought their 
way through Sicily, through France and Italy, and ended up with the 
highest number of decorations for their length of service in the 
history of our military. We honored them in 2010 with our Congressional 
Gold Medal.
  But was that enough?
  Would it all be remembered?
  Three Japanese-American women in California, who themselves had been 
incarcerated--Fusa Takahashi, Chiz Ohira, and Aiko King--thought not, 
and they fought a 16-year effort to gain approval of this beautiful 
stamp from the U.S. Postal Service, impeccably designed by Antonio 
Alcala. It was issued just weeks ago.
  The design is taken from a 1944 photo in the field of 442nd Private 
First Class Shiroku ``Whitey'' Yamamoto, a nisei born and raised in the 
plantation village of Ninole on the Hamakua coast of my home island of 
Hawaii.
  It is such a fitting tribute, so appropriate. To look into his eyes, 
Mr. Speaker, you see fatigue; you see commitment; but most of all, you 
see gaman, perseverance through great adversity to a better place.
  No better fitting tribute could be issued at this point than this 
stamp. I am so honored to stand with my colleagues to honor the 
issuance of this stamp in memory of the Japanese-American soldiers of 
World War II.
  I am honored to be joined by my colleagues here today who will speak 
also, many of whom labored long and hard with the rest of us towards 
the issuance of this stamp.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), 
who is the second vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific 
American Caucus and chair of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I say mahalo to my colleague, Representative 
Case, for yielding and for organizing this Special Order hour to 
commemorate the release of an historic stamp that honors the bravery 
and service of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Go for Broke 
Japanese American Soldiers of World War II Forever Stamp.
  I am a proud Japanese American, the son of a mother and father who 
were young children when executive order 9066 was signed by President 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which forced them and the rest of my family 
out of our homes and into internment camps on American soil.
  Executive order 9066 labeled Japanese Americans as enemy aliens. It 
scapegoated an entire community of Americans and questioned their 
loyalty. It was misguided, it was based on lies, and it was rooted in 
racism and fear.
  During this time, 120,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly 
imprisoned, mass-blamed for atrocities they did not commit. Their 
rights were trampled, their freedoms were curtailed, and their humanity 
was ignored.
  While our own government was carrying out the unthinkable against its 
own people, while fighting for the ideals of liberty and freedom 
abroad, young Japanese-American men stepped up to serve under our flag, 
even when our country did not want them to.
  Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese-American men of draft 
age were excluded from military service. They were considered enemy 
aliens, unfit to serve and unfit to fight for their very own country. 
Yet, in spite of this, a highly motivated group of Japanese Americans 
eager to prove their allegiance and patriotism petitioned the U.S. 
Government for their right to serve.
  President Roosevelt relented, allowing these men to form the 442nd 
Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army, a legendary, 
segregated Japanese-American fighting unit that was sent to the front 
lines of World War II, even as their families were in internment camps 
back home.

  Among these men were three of my great-uncles, including my great-
uncle Manzo ``Mon'' Takahasi, who is pictured right beside me. My 
great-uncle Mon gave his life for our country in Italy just a few weeks 
before D-day. He was 26 years old.
  Recently, I rewatched the testimony of his brother, my other great-
uncle Nobi, who recounted the story of the day that he learned that his 
brother had died in battle, in what he called the final push of the 
war.
  Mon and so many other nisei soldiers never had the opportunity to 
relish the victory that they helped secure, but their valor helped move 
our world closer to peace.
  My great-uncle Nobi also shared what it was like to serve in the 
rescue of the Lost Battalion as a member of the 442nd. The rescue of 
the Lost Battalion took place in the Vosges Mountains of France in 
October of 1944. Eight hundred men in the 442nd lost their lives in 
combat to rescue 211 men in the 141st Texas Regiment. He told a story 
of bloodshed and of the carnage that he witnessed there. He described 
the nauseating, terrible feeling after seeing dead bodies of American 
and German soldiers and helmets all around him.
  The nisei fighters believed in the promise of America. These men were 
betting on America, and they bet that America could be a more perfect, 
free, and more equal Union. In the case of my great-uncle Mon, he bet 
his life.
  I just want to say that the motto of this unit was Go for Broke, 
which means to go all in, to bet everything. This group of men bet not 
on the reality of America--the reality then was an America that let 
Japanese Americans down, that stripped them of their rights and 
interned them without reason.
  These men were in a humiliating place to have to prove their 
patriotism. They had something to prove, and they did prove it. So I 
tell the story of my great-uncles and the 442nd with great pride and a 
strong belief that, if it wasn't for them, I would not be a Member of 
Congress today.
  Did they win their bet?
  I stand as evidence that they did.

                              {time}  2150

  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. 
Kahele).
  Mr. KAHELE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Representative Case, for 
yielding to me so that I may speak on the merits of all Japanese 
Americans who served during World War II, a recognition the United 
States Postal Service captured with the recent issuance of its 2021 Go 
for Broke Japanese American soldiers of World War II commemorative 
stamp.
  Go for Broke, the motto of the brave 442nd Regimental Combat Team, 
which means give it your all, speaks to the spirit of courage, of 
patriotism and sacrifice, as well as their fight for equality for all 
people.
  The 442nd, almost entirely composed of second-generation Japanese 
Americans, or Nisei, was the most-decorated unit for its size and 
length of service in the history of the United States. Eighty years 
ago, these brave Americans were filled with dreams, aspirations, and 
hope, only to be faced with harsh discrimination and assaults on their 
character and loyalty to America.
  The Go for Broke Japanese American soldiers of World War II stamps 
are forever stamps and symbolize these men and women's undying devotion 
to their country.
  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________