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“A TRADITION OF HONOR” DOCUMENTARY
ON AMERICA'S MOST DECORATED MILITARY UNIT, TO BE SCREENED AT TORRANCE
CULTURAL ARTS CENTER
Veterans of the Japanese American
WWII Units to Appear with
Documentary to Discuss their Exploits
TORRANCE, Calif. (February 28, 2004)- Though
their relatives were living in U.S. concentration camps back home,
the Japanese American soldiers of the segregated 442nd Regimental
Combat Team fought so valiantly in World War II that they are
recognized as the most decorated military unit for its size and
length of service in the history of the American military.
Their story, a documentary film entitled “Tradition of
Honor,” will be screened at Torrance’s Cultural Arts
Center’s Stage Two Theatre (recently named the George Nakano
Theatre) on Friday, March 4 at 7 p.m.
The film, produced by Torrance’s Go For Broke Educational
Foundation, focuses on the human-side of the war, chronicling
its events through the testimonies of more than 40 of the Japanese
American veterans of the 100/442 Regimental Combat Team and Military
Intelligence Service (MIS). Among many other exploits in both
the Asian and European theatres, the unit was involved in the
rescue of the famous Lost Battalion and the liberation of a Dachau
concentration camp.
After the screening of the film, a panel of three South Bay residents
who are veterans of the 442nd and MIS will tell their personal
stories and answer questions. Ken Akune was an interpreter with
the Military Intelligence Service in Asia. Don Seki was wounded
while fighting in France. Ted Ohira received a Bronze Star and
Purple Heart for his service in the European theatre.
Tickets for “Tradition of Honor,” underwritten by
the Torrance Cultural Arts Center Foundation, are $10 for adults
and $5 for seniors and students and are available at the Armstrong
Theatre box office or at 310-781-7171. The Stage Two Theatre is
at the corner of Torrance and Madrona boulevards in Torrance.
“We especially encourage young people to come to this event,”
says Ritas Smith, Secretary of the Torrance Cultural Arts Center
Foundation. “It’s a chance for them to understand
that history was made by people in their own neighborhood.”
