Nisei Soldiers Break Their Silence: Coming Home to Hood River

Afterword

2 7 0 Afterword O n Memorial Day, May 31, 2011, nearly five hundred gathered at Hood River’s Idlewilde Cemetery to remember, to put the past behind them, and to move on. The headline in the Hood River News called the event “an acknowledgement of wrongs.” Veteran Shig Imai viewed it simply as “a healing moment.”1 The seed planted by local Legionnaire Bud Collins years before had borne fruit—a public acknowledgment of discrimination against Japanese Americans in the valley and a commitment to repair the unspoken yet still painful breach. From the initial plan for a bench honoring the sixteen Nisei whose names had been blotted out on the community honor roll to a large, marble monument listing all Nikkei who had served in the armed forces, the idea took shape. Ultimately, it prompted a plan to renovate the cemetery’s Walk of Honor for all valley veterans.2 Almost sixty-seven years after the deed that the community was no longer willing to ignore, Idlewilde Cemetery sexton Bob Huskey emceed a heartfelt program of music, prayer, poetry, and a portrayal of Frank Hachiya, who had sacrificed his life during World War II. Past commander Dennis Leonard and Commander Roy Elliott of Legion Post No. 22 joined U.S. Representative Greg Walden and Huskey in unveiling the monument while the names of the 140 veterans were read. Those men’s service extended from World War II to the Vietnam War. Af t e rw o r d 2 7 1 In his address, Congressman Walden underscored the depth of the injustice and the imperative to recognize it publicly: It’s hard to believe as we gather on this cool Memorial Day morning in the year 2011 that less than 70 years ago our valley was ripped apart by the heat of discriminatory passions of war. As Japanese Americans fought courageously in far-off lands and seas against the gathered forces of oppression, here at home their loved ones were rounded up and sent away to internment camps, their homes destroyed, some of their lands taken away or turned over to property caretakers. Abhorrently, the names of sixteen Japanese Americans who had selflessly served in the cause of freedom were stripped from the sacred wall erected by the American Legion at the courthouse to forever honor their bravery and their service. . . . This was not a proud chapter in the history of the Hood River valley. I know it’s an agonizing chapter that some would just as soon not reopen. But a wound as deep as this one cannot heal if it is not appropriately treated. Today we get about that healing process with the best of our ability . Nothing we say today can right the wrongs of the past. But hopefully our acknowledgement of those wrongs can help us and those to come from allowing such actions to ever occur again. Today all across our great country, Americans are gathered in public spaces just like these to recognize and remember all men and women—all Americans of every size and color and creed who have sacrificed so much for so many. I’m reminded of the poignant words of Gen. John Pershing , the Commander of the American Forces of World War I and the first chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission. He said of the fallen: “Time will not dim the glory of their deeds.” As long as we continue to gather as we are today, we can make sure his words always ring true. . . . But words alone are not enough of a tribute. That’s why we mark off the land so we can walk the hallowed grounds on which they fought and died for us. It’s why we mark off the land and build monuments in recognition of their bravery and sacrifice. So, from Arlington National Cemetery to Idlewilde Cemetery and everywhere in between, we build monuments to heal wounds. We build monuments to live up to Gen. Pershing ’s expectation that time would not dim the glory of their deeds. The monument we dedicate here today reminds us that in 1941 more than 5,000 Japanese Americans were serving in the United States mili- 2 7 2  Af t e rw o r d tary.3 Despite being summarily discharged in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, they convinced the military governor of the islands that they were...