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Contact: Diane Tanaka
310-222-5709 office
“A TRADITION OF HONOR” DOCUMENTARY
TO SCREEN IN HONOLULU APRIL 5 AND BENEFIT GO FOR BROKE EDUCATIONAL
FOUNDATION ’S EDUCATION PROGRAM IN HAWAII
Go For Broke Educational Foundation’s
Acclaimed Documentary Tells The Story Of The 100th Infantry Battalion,
442nd Regimental Combat Team & Military Intelligence Service
Torrance, Calif. (March 5, 2003) - The Go For
Broke Educational Foundation is excited to announce its Hawaii
debut of “A Tradition of Honor,” an emotion-packed
documentary about the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental
Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service co-produced
by Yonseis Craig Yahata and David Yoneshige. The 82-minute documentary
will be screened Saturday, April 5, 2003 at 12:30 p.m. at the
Honolulu Academy of Arts during the 442nd RCT 60th Anniversary
Reunion. (The screening is not an official 442 Reunion activity.)
A panel session will follow with local veterans from the 100th,
442nd and MIS who are featured in the documentary. “A Tradition
of Honor” is the first documentary created from the Go For
Broke Educational Foundation’s Hanashi Oral History Program’s
video collection of World War II Nisei veteran interviews.
Tickets for the Honolulu debut must be reserved through the Educational
Foundation office by calling (310) 328-0907. The Honolulu Academy
of Arts is located at 900 South Beretania Street. Parking is $1
with validation at 1035 Kinau Street. Cost is $15 per person;
$12 for seniors, veterans, students and Go For Broke Educational
Foundation members. Net proceeds from the screening will go towards
the Go For Broke Educational Foundation’s Hawaii Education
Program.
Born and raised in Northern California, Yahata, like so many
Yonseis born to Hawaii natives (his father is from Hilo, Hawaii
and his mother from Kahului, Maui), was late in discovering the
amazing heroics and legacy of the Nisei veterans of World War
II. Yahata’s uncle, Mitsuo “Spider” Yahata was
an original 100th D Company veteran from Hilo. Not ever having
the opportunity to interview his uncle about the war experience,
Yahata became inspired to create “A Tradition of Honor”
and helped develop the Educational Foundation’s Hanashi
Oral History Program.
“When David and I set out to create this documentary, we
wanted to ensure that the veteran’s voice told the story
and that their faces would be seen. I believe we achieved this,”
said Yahata, who also directed and edited the documentary. Yahata’s
other credits include co-producing the eight-season CBS-TV series
“Diagnosis Murder” and the documentary “A Safe
Place,” which received the Southern California Documentary
Emmy Award in 1994.
“A Tradition of Honor” is different from other documentaries
produced on the Nisei veteran because it tells the stories of
the 100th, 442nd and MIS. It focuses on the human-side of war
and depicts the events of WWII through the testimonies of 55 Nisei
veterans from Hawaii and the mainland concentration camps to fight
for their homeland, America, ultimately defining what it means
to be an American. These 55 testimonies are all part of the Hanashi
Oral History Program archives.
The Hanashi Oral History Program was formed in 1998 by a group
of young Japanese Americans who wanted to ensure the stories of
the WWII Nisei soldiers were preserved. Today, Hanashi comprises
nearly 100 volunteers who have conducted more than 325 interviews
in Hawaii as well as eight other regions throughout the United
States. The goal of the Educational Foundation is to create educational
media and materials with its coveted Hanashi video footage. The
Educational Foundation, in addition to creating “A Tradition
of Honor,” is working on a Web-based video archive of these
interviews that will be a valuable resource for educators, researchers,
and students.
Additionally, “A Tradition of Honor” will be distributed
through its teacher training program in California to help educate
today’s youth about the Nisei veterans of WWII. Net proceeds
from the April 5 screening will go towards the establishment of
an education program in Hawaii that will distribute "A Tradition
of Honor" to high school students throughout the islands.
The Educational Foundation received a grant from the State of
California, California Arts Council to create “A Tradition
of Honor.”
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 West Coast 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 workshops
and curriculum development, Hanashi Oral History Program, and
select media projects, including producing “A Tradition
of Honor” documentary. For more information, go to www.goforbroke.org.
In 1989 Japanese American World War II veterans established the
100th/442nd/MIS WWII Memorial Foundation to build the Go For Broke
Monument as 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 downtown Los Angeles at Temple and Alameda
streets.
