MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE TO REMEMBER THOSE BURIED OVERSEAS
Since 2008, special floral tributes have been distributed to 39 members of the 100th/442nd and MIS interred in European cemeteries, primarily in Florence, Italy and Epinal, France, through the Floral Tribute Fund first started by attorney/appraiser Ronald Yamada. In 2004, Yamada visited the Epinal American Military Cemetery and was disturbed by the fact that so few graves were adorned with flowers on Memorial Day. "I was saddened to think that these fallen were seemingly forgotten," said Yamada, son of the late 442nd RCT veteran Eiro Yamada.
Yamada contacted family and friends who might be interested in donating to the ABMC Flower Fund. "The outpouring of support was overwhelming. So much so that a perpetual fund has been established to ensure that these men are never again forgotten," said Yamada. Today, the Floral Tribute Fund is being administered through the Go For Broke National Education Center.
Today floral tributes are laid at graves in the Sicily-Rome and Florence cemeteries in Italy, and at the Lorraine and Epinal cemeteries in France. In addition, flowers are presented at the "Walls of the Missing" in honor of a 442nd soldier at the Netherlands American Cemetery and a member of the Military Intelligence Service at the Manila American Cemetery.
Donations can be made payable to the Go For Broke National Education Center with the notation "Floral Tribute Fund." Additionally, individual floral tributes can be requested directly through the American Battle Monuments website www.abmc.gov/services/index.php.
