Japanese-American Veteran at the Go For Broke memorial, Los Angeles, CA
Tadd Tokuda, a volunteer guide at the Go For Broke! war memorial in Los Angeles dedicated to the Japanese-Americans who fought and served for the United States in the Second World War, points to the name of Sadao Munemori. PFC Munemori was the only Japanese-American to receive the congressional Medal of Honor during World War II.
The treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II is a shameful chapter in the history of the United States of America. The nearby Japanese-American National Museum hosts a forceful exhibition, "America's Concentration Camps", depicting the forced incarcerations of American citizens of Japanese origin.
The main text on the war memorial next to this pillar reads: Rising to the defense of their country, by the thousands they came — these young Japanese American soldiers from Hawaii, the States, America's concentration camps — to fight in Europe and in the Pacific during World War II. Looked upon with suspicion, set apart and deprived of their constitutional rights, they nevertheless remained steadfast and served with indomitable spirit and uncommon valor, for theirs was a fight to prove loyalty. This legacy will serve as a sobering reminder that never again shall any group be denied liberty and the rights of citizenship.
Also on the monument is a quote from the President of the United States when signing the reparation bill: My fellow Americans, we gather here today to right a grave wrong ... Now let me sign HR442.
— President Ronald Regan, Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
Tadd Tokuda was born in 1920 and died in 2003. Darryl Mori wrote a touching tribute to him in the October 2003 issue of "Volunteerly Speaking", the newsletter for the volunteers of the Japanese American National Museum. I am very happy that I was able to provide the illustration for that article in this picture.
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