In a hushed White House ceremony in June 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded our nation's highest military honor, the Medal of Honor, to 20 Japanese American veterans whose heroic actions took place almost 60 years earlier.
In presenting these awards, he noted, "Rarely has a nation been so well-served by a people it has so ill-treated. For their numbers and length of service, the Japanese Americans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, including the 100th Infantry Battalion, became the most decorated unit in American military history. By the end of the war, America's military leaders in Europe all wanted these men under their command. Their motto was "Go For Broke." They risked it all to win it all."
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to educate the public about the responsibilities, challenges, and rights of American citizenship by using the life stories of the Japanese American soldiers of World War II.
ORAL HISTORIES AND EDUCATION
Through the generous support of our community, we have recorded the life stories of over 1,150 of these veterans; taught over 3,000 educators in Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Texas, Maryland and Virginia; reached over 100,000 students through our teacher trainings and web-based digital curriculum; and welcomed over 100,000 visitors to the Go For Broke Monument near downtown Los Angeles.
GO FOR BROKE MONUMENT
The Go For Broke National Education Center designed and built the Go For Broke Monument, the first of its kind in the mainland United States to commemorate the heroic role of the segregated Japanese American units of World War II, including the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company, and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion.
