Exhibition highlights the dilemmas of Japanese American soldiers in WWII

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, second-generation Japanese American soldiers signed up to fight for the United States in World War II even as their families were locked up in government-run internment camps and declared “alien enemies” of the state.

Decades after they returned home from the war to face more racism and discrimination, the soldiers now are being honoured in a new travelling exhibit kicking off in San Francisco called “I am an American: The Nisei Soldier Experience.” The title of the show comes from a large sign posted to a Japanese American storefront in Oakland, California, the day after Pearl Harbor.

The 1,500-square-foot (140 square-metre) exhibit features family photos, mementos and short bios of the Nisei men shared by their relatives to ensure that stories of past bravery endure for younger generations, especially as questions of nationality still persist. On display is a travel bag that belonged to Sgt. Gary Uchida, marked by drawings he made of his native Hawaii and places he went while in the Army.

The Medal of Honor awarded to Pfc. Sadao Munemori is displayed. Associated Press

There is a US Army identification card on which Oregon-born George S. Hara wrote under nationality: American. Rihachi Mayewaki made a note holder from lumber scraps while imprisoned at Jerome camp in Arkansas. It features an American bald eagle and a blue star banner with three stars, one for each son: Ben, who helped collect, evaluate and interpret enemy intelligence; Charles, who trained as a rifleman with the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team; and Hachiro, who trained as a linguist and worked as a translator.

At the bottom of the holder is written “nintai,” the Japanese word for endurance. “The father was incredibly proud he had three sons serving in the American army,” Christine Sato-Yamazaki, executive director of the National Veterans Network and co-curator of the exhibit, said last month at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the exhibit. About 33,000 Japanese Americans fought in World War II, despite the US government shipping an estimated 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry to desolate camps. Thousands were elderly or children too young to know the meaning of treason.

Staff Sgt. Robert Kuroda's Farrington High School class ring is displayed. Associated Press

Two-thirds were US citizens. Their homes and businesses were seized while they were imprisoned, often in overcrowded, wooden bunk houses in bleak locations with harsh conditions. The United States didn’t offer a formal apology until 1988.

“These soldiers wanted to prove they were loyal patriotic Americans, part of the greatest generation at that time and they were American — just like anybody else,” said Sato-Yamazaki, whose grandparents did not talk about their time in camp or at war. The garrison cap worn by her grandfather, Tech. Sgt. Dave Kawagoye, is featured in the exhibit. It contains the words “Go for Broke,” the motto of the famed 442nd.

Japanese Americans joined the 442nd Regimental Combat Team or 100th Infantry Battalion, both highly awarded yet segregated units. They also served as linguists in the Military Intelligence Service. Some 800 Nisei soldiers were killed in action. The five-year exhibit runs in San Francisco’s Presidio through August before heading off to 10 other cities, including Honolulu, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon. It is presented by the National Veterans Network, National Museum of the United States Army and the Army Historical Foundation.

People walk outside of the Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center, which is displaying the exhibit, in San Francisco. Associated Press

Among those featured in the exhibit is Staff Sgt. Robert Kuroda, who was unable to get work as a second-generation Japanese American in Hawaii solely because of his ancestry. So he signed up to fight in World War II, reasoning that if he fought for his country employers could no longer deny him a job.

On Oct. 20, 1944, Kuroda advanced through heavy enemy gunfire to take out two enemy machine gun nests after helping liberate the French town of Bruyères from Nazi occupation. He continued his assault until sniper fire killed him. He was 21.

Kuroda was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, which was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor. The medal citation noted that his “courageous actions and indomitable fighting spirit ensured the destruction of enemy resistance.” On display in the exhibit are Kuroda’s Medal of Honor and high school class ring, which was prized in his family as he was the first of nine siblings to graduate.

The ring was missing until 2021 when a metal detector hobbyist named Sébastien Roure found it buried in a forest near Bruyères. Roure worked tirelessly to return the Farrington High School class ring to the Kurodas and now, the two families visit, using an app and high school French and English to communicate. Before the exhibit, both the ring and medal had been displayed in a glass case at a cousin’s auto body shop near Honolulu. “The family just felt if we could, in our own ways, help others, the country, know the sacrifices of the previous generation and what they did for our lives, then, even better,” said Kevin Kuroda, a nephew who traveled from Hawaii for the exhibit’s opening.

Associated Press