GFBNEC CELEBRATES 11TH GO FOR BROKE MONUMENT ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE JUNE 5
LA City Councilwoman Jan Perry, LA Police Department Deputy Chief Terry Hara, GFBNEC Chairman Michael Ozawa with WWII Nisei veterans and Boy Scout Troop 442.
The Go For Broke National Education Center (GFBNEC) honored the 100th/442nd Veterans Association and the Military Intelligence Service Club of Southern California on June 5 at the 11th anniversary celebration of the Go For Broke Monument in Los Angeles. At the day's event an estimated 200 veterans and their family members and friends gathered to commemorate the Monument's inception 11 years ago. This year's tribute featured a keynote address by Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry, who represents the downtown Los Angeles area that includes Little Tokyo, and Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Terry Hara, who is also a GFBNEC Board Member, was master of ceremonies. Assemblyman Warren Furutani (D-55), Assemblyman Kevin De Leon (D-45) and Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel also delivered special remarks.
GFBNEC awarded its "Go For Broke" Award to the two veterans' organizations for their longtime support to build and continue to maintain the Go For Broke Monument. 100th/442nd Veterans Association President John Wakamatsu and MIS Club of Southern California President Hitoshi Sameshima accepted the awards on behalf of their organizations.
"The Go For Broke National Education Center is especially grateful to all the veterans, family members, friends and community members who supported the 'Honoring Our Heroes' tribute," said Michael Ozawa, chairman, Go For Broke National Education Center. "As we celebrate the 11th year of the Go For Broke Monument, we will continue our work to preserve the legacy of Japanese American veterans of World War II, using their life stories as real-life examples of the responsibilities, challenges and rights of citizenship."
Additionally, 1/185th AR Support Detachment, SMR, provided color guards and conducted a special commemorative flag raising ceremony. Denise Iketani, actor/writer/arts educator and Hanashi Oral History Program volunteer sang the National Anthem. Rimban Hiroshi Abiko of Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple (Nishi) and Reverend Mark Nakagawa of Centenary United Methodist Church provided the invocation. 17 members of Boy Scout Troop 442, who traveled from Bakersfield and was named in honor of the 442nd RCT, volunteered their time to make the event possible plus led the Pledge of Allegiance and closed the program with a bugle rendition of Taps.
As customary each year, the Floral Tribute portion of the program featured representatives from the six units listed on the Go For Broke Monument, including: 100th Battalion – Mas Takahashi and daughter Teresa Takahashi; 442nd RCT – Robert Ichikawa and granddaughter Kristine Ichikawa; MIS – Victor Abe and daughter Verna Abe; 522nd FAB – Lawrence Mori and daughter Kathy Nakase; 232nd – Roger Eaton, son-in-law of George Yamada; and 1399th represented by Paul Ozawa and his son Marshall Ozawa.
The Go For Broke Monument is a 40-foot-wide, nine-foot-high gleaming granite sphere located in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district. It is engraved with the names of more than 16,000 Japanese American soldiers from the segregated units of WWII: 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.
