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Contact: Diane Tanaka
310-222-5709

GO FOR BROKE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION OPENS RESOURCE CENTER AT TORRANCE OFFICE

First of its Kind Focused on the WWII Japanese American Veterans -- Making Accessible Coveted Oral Histories, Rare Photos, Personal Documents, and more!

TORRANCE, Calif.-(February 5, 2004) - The Go For Broke Educational Foundation is excited to announce today the opening of its anticipated Resource Center in Torrance. The Educational Foundation’s new Resource Center is the only center dedicated to educate the public - especially teachers and students - about the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, and other Japanese American units of World War II.

The jewel of the Resource Center is its Web-based Oral History Video Archive showcasing 120 interviews of WWII Japanese American veterans from across the nation. The interviews, which were conducted by the Educational Foundation’s Hanashi Oral History Program, are keyword searchable and viewed on the Resource Center’s computer stations. This is the first time the public has been able to access any of the broadcast-quality Hanashi archive, which currently total more than 400 interviews. These interviews are some of the last primary sources of Japanese American WWII veteran information.

Patrons to the Resource Center can read its collection of out-of-print and uncommon books and reference materials, archival photo, personal essays and journals, as well as rare books on the Japanese American experience and other segregated units of World War II. Additionally, hard-to-find documentaries, films, and video presentations on the veteran experience and incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII may also be viewed at center.

To assist patrons, the Resource Center’s knowledgeable staff provides research help to Educational Foundation members, students, teachers and the general public (fees may be applicable) on individual veterans, units and battles. Because staff is in contact with many Japanese American veterans of WWII, in some cases information can be provided about other veterans, the unit and battles not typically cited or in print.

Other services the Resource Center offers, include: photo replication - Educational Foundation private collection and public domain photos available; speaker’s bureau - schools and other nonprofit institutions may request veteran speakers in the Southern California region; Oral History Video Archive - duplication based on usage requirements and policies and other video footage available. Fees and access restrictions may apply.

The Resource Center is open to visitors by appointment only. Please call (310) 328-0907 or email resource@goforbroke.org in advance to schedule an appointment. Admission is free.

The Resource Center is located at 370 Amapola Avenue, Suite #110, Torrance, California 90501 or email resource@goforbroke.org.

For those unable to visit the Resource Center, www.GoForBroke.org has been completely redesigned with original content and interactive programs and has been re-launched today to coincide with the Resource Center opening. The highlight of the Web site is its Learning Center section with separate teacher and student areas, complete with video presentations, lesson plans, and student activities - everything needed to teach the story in the classroom. Moreover, the Oral History Video Archive will be accessible, as well as a complete historical section, 40 additional video clips of veteran interviews, photos, special interactive features and virtual veteran experiences.

The Go For Broke Educational Foundation institutes educational programs focused on the heroism and history of the Japanese American soldiers of World War II, as well as the forced evacuation and incarceration of Japanese Americans and civil liberties issues raised by those events. Currently the Educational Foundation’s programs include An American Story Teacher Training Program, Hanashi Oral History Program, www.GoForBroke.org educational Web site, and Resource Center.

In 1989 Japanese American World War II veterans established the 100th/442nd/MIS WWII Memorial Foundation to build the Go For Broke Monument, which today is an eternal tribute to the heroics of the segregated Japanese American units: 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, MIS (Military Intelligence Service) and the many other men and women who served overseas during World War II. The Monument is located in the Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles at Temple and Alameda Streets.