Nisei veterans, "Not in vain"

History can remind us of past struggles, accomplishments and triumphs, as the Northwest African American Museum proved on its opening day last Saturday.

It can also serve to inspire new generations of young people and provide a role model of courage and rectitude in the face of unfathomable duress.Such will be the case with the reopening today of the Nisei Veterans Hall in Seattle, following a $2.5 million renovation.

Japanese-American soldiers were part of the "Greatest Generation" of World War II, even as their families were incarcerated in internment camps in the desert reaches of the United States. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, comprised mainly of Japanese-American enlistees, reportedly was the most-decorated unit for its size in U.S. military history. Some 9,500 Purple Hearts were awarded to its members.

Yet, when they returned home, they faced lingering animosity from misplaced anger stemming from the war in the Pacific. One soldier, allowed to join a Veterans of Foreign Wars group in Idaho, was shunned by a VFW unit when he moved to Seattle, because of his Japanese ancestry, according to a news story by Seattle Times reporter Susan Gilmore.

It was out of this circumstance that the Nisei Veterans Hall was born in the International District/Chinatown: a center to welcome second-generation Japanese Americans returning from fighting for the U.S. in the European theater.

Carol Narasaki, whose late father Richard was a member of the 442nd, summed up his patriotism and that of so many of his fellow combatants: "He really loved his country. ... " Though he knew the U.S. was making a constitutional mistake with incarceration, "he still wanted to fight for it," she said.

The newly renovated hall, which will be dedicated at 1 p.m. this afternoon at 1212 S. King St., will continue to be a place for veterans and their families to socialize, and to share the lessons of their World War II experiences. An estimated 220 former soldiers, most in their 80s, are in the Seattle area. Counting family members, the number grows to 900.

As with the rest of the "Greatest Generation," an era is passing. Now is the time to honor those who are still living and let them know their heroism was not in vain.