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GO FOR BROKE MONUMENT 6TH ANNIVERSARY “HONORING OUR HEROES” HIGHLIGHTS WWII LOST BATTALION CAMPAIGN
Event Featured Lt. Marty Higgins, Acting Commander of Lost Battalion & Dr. Kenneth Inada, Survivor of One of the Most Significant Battles in Military History
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (June 15, 2005) - On June 11 the Go For Broke Educational Foundation hosted “Honoring Our Heroes” 6th Anniversary Go For Broke Monument Tribute. At Saturday’s event more than 500 American World War II veterans of Japanese ancestry and their family members and friends gathered at the Go For Broke Monument to commemorate its inception. This year’s tribute recognized the heroism of the Nisei WWII veterans and brought to light one of the 10 most significant events in U.S. military history - the Rescue of the Lost Battalion. The tribute is especially fitting this year as it was 60 years ago this year that World War II ended - first with V-E Day May 1945 and then V-J Day August 1945.
"The Go For Broke Educational Foundation thanks all the veterans, family members, friends and community members who came out to pay tribute to the story of the American WWII veterans of Japanese ancestry at our annual ‘Honoring Our Heroes’ event,” said Christine Sato-Yamazaki, executive director and president, Go For Broke Educational Foundation. “Since most Nisei WWII veterans are in their early- to mid-80s, Saturday’s event was a way for us to appreciate their sacrifices of yesterday that afford us the lives we live today.”
The Go For Broke Monument is a 40-feet-wide, nine-feet-high gleaming granite sphere engraved with the names of more than 16,130 Japanese American soldiers from the segregated units: the 100th Infantry Division, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion, and 232nd Combat Engineer Company, their officers and Nisei women who served in the U.S. Military during World War II.
Traveling from Florida, the event’s keynote speaker was Captain Marty Higgins, acting commander of the 1st battalion of the 141st "Alamo Regiment" of the 36th "Texas" Division, who on October 25, 1944 found themselves surrounded by German troops in France’s Vosges forest. It took the 100th/442nd RCT, just days after liberating the town of Bruyeres and Biffontaine, six grueling days of combat to rescue the Lost Battalion. Capt. Higgins, 89, briefly talked about his experience talking about his tremendous respect for the Nisei who rescued them. Additionally, Kenneth Inaba, Ph.D., spoke about his experience as a soldier of K Company, who with I Company, 442nd RCT, were the first to reach the Lost Battalion. K Company suffered many casualties during the two weeks of fighting in France, losing all its officers with only 17 riflemen surviving. 82-year-old Dr. Inada resides in Henderson, Nevada.
The 6th anniversary featured Master of Ceremonies, Gordon Tokumatsu, general assignment reporter for KNBC-TV. This year the Educational Foundation awarded its 2005 Go For Broke Award to Mary Graybill, public relations consultant, and Bruce Kato, construction engineer. Graybill was instrumental in providing guidance to coordinate the monument design competition, working with the City of Los Angeles to ensure it was built, and managing public relations and marketing efforts. Kato was the Go For Broke Monument’s project/construction manager for more than a year, supervising the entire construction of the monument to ensure it was built and had the veterans’ approval.
Additionally, 1/185th AR Support Detachment, SMR provided color guards who posted and retired the American Flag, 100th, 442nd, and MIS colors. 2001 Nisei Week Queen Lauren Kinkade-Wong sang the National Anthem, and current 2004 Nisei Week Princess Jena Iwata and her father performed, “God Bless America” Rimban Norkaki Ito of Higashi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple and Pastor Ted Esaki of Wintersburg Presbyterian Church provided the invocation. As customary each year, the Floral Tribute portion of the program featured representatives from the six units represented on the Go For Broke Monument,
including: 100th Battalion - Mas Takahashi and son Scott Takahashi; 442nd RCT - Ocean Miyake and niece Jean Shimotsu; MIS - Ken Akune and daughter Teresa Akune; 522nd FAB - Frank Nakatani and daughter Gail Matsumura; 232nd - Kay Kiyomura and granddaughter Kristin Iizuka, and 1399th represented by Clyde Kusatsu, nephew of the late Sukeichi Kusatsu.
Following the tribute, the Educational Foundation hosted the grand opening of its Go For Broke Monument Visitor’s Center located at 361 E. First Street, in the historic area of Little Tokyo. The Visitor’s Center features interactive computer displays and small exhibit, limited resource library, and a retrospective mural painted by WWII Nisei veterans, volunteers and staff of the Go For Broke Educational Foundation. The Visitor’s Center will be open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. For more information regarding the Visitor ’s Center please call 213-625-0780 or 310-328-0907, or email VisitorCenter@goforbroke.org.
“Honoring our Heroes” took place from 10 - 11 a.m. and held at the Go For Broke Monument, located at Temple and Alameda streets in downtown Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district.
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, Resource Center, and Go For Broke Monument and Visitor’s Center. In 1989 Japanese American World War II veterans built the Go For Broke Monument, which would become 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. Today, under a new generation, the Go For Broke Educational Foundation continues to carry the torch through educational initiatives to perpetuate this important American story.
