PPALM AND AAGEN LUNCHEON LESSONS IN COURAGE AND CITIZENSHIP

PPALM AND AAGEN LUNCHEON LESSONS IN COURAGE AND CITIZENSHIP






PPALM AND AAGEN LUNCHEON


PPALM AND AAGEN LUNCHEON


LESSONS IN COURAGE AND CITIZENSHIP:

THE JAPANESE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE DURING WWII


March 30, 2013

11:30 AM to 1:30 PM

Fort Myer Officers Club, Arlington, VA



Hear about loyalty and perseverance from three Japanese Americans who lived through a time when the US government took away the constitutional rights of citizens because of their ethnicity – unprecedented and not to be repeated – and the legacy of this experience.


PROGRAM


11:30 Lunch


12:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks

Huong Pham and Sumiye Okubo, AAGEN


Introduction of Panelists

Noriko Sanefuji, Moderator


Panelists

Mary Murakami

Grant Ichikawa

Terry Shima


Q&A


1:00 Closing Remarks and Awards

MC Antonio Taguba, PPALM













PARTICIPANTS


Grant Ichikawa (114 James Dr, SW, Vienna, VA 22180; [email protected]; 703-938-5857) was born and raised in Suisun Valley, California. He graduated from the University of California in Berkeley in May 1941. Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, Grant and his family were incarcerated in a concentration camp. In November 1942 he volunteered from the Camp to enroll in the 6-month US Army Military Intelligence Service (MIS) Language School. Following graduation, he was sent to Brisbane, Australia and assigned to the Allied Translations and Interpretation Service (ATIS). He participated in the Philippine liberation. Immediately following Emperor Hirohito's announcement of Japan’s surrender, Lt. Ichikawa talked 250 armed Japanese soldiers to surrender their weapons. There were 3,000 Japanese Americans who served in the Asia Pacific War in every combat unit as front line interrogators/translators, in the rear echelon as translators, as communications interceptors and in the Special Forces to operate behind enemy lines. Subsequent to his honorable discharge and return to civilian life, he was recalled to active duty during the Korean War to serve in the MIS. Following his discharge for the second time, he was assigned to the US Consulate General in Surabaya and the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. In April 1975 he served in Saigon and was among the last to leave aboard a helicopter from the Embassy rooftop. On November 2, 2011 the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, John Boehner, awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the 100th Battalion, 442nd RCT, and the MIS. Ichikawa received the medal on behalf of MIS.


Mary Tamaki Murakami (6921 Pyle Rd, Bethesda, MD 20817; [email protected], 301-320-5511) was born in Los Angeles, California. She and her family were incarcerated in the Topaz, Utah Internment Camp. A graduate of University of California, Berkeley, she has a lifetime public health laboratory certification and had a medical technologist license in California. She served as senior microbiologist for the Los Angeles County and Medical Technologist at Stanford Palo Alto Hospital before coming to the Washington, DC area where she worked for the Arlington County Public Health Lab in 1957. She was the Office Manager of the dental office of Dr. Raymond S. Murakami, her husband, in Washington, DC from 1974-2004.


Terry Shima (415 Russell Ave, #1005, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; [email protected]; 301-987-6746) was born in Laupahoehoe, Hawaii. He was drafted into the US Army on October 12, 1944 and trained at Camp Blanding, Florida, as a replacement for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated Japanese American infantry unit. He arrived in Italy on VE Day, 1945 and joined the 442nd at the Garda Airport in northern Italy and was assigned to its Public Relations Office. He succeeded T/4 Mike M. Masaoka as head of 442nd PRO when he left Italy in Summer 1945. When the 442nd returned as a unit to the USA in June 1946, Shima returned with the unit to handle public relations in New York City, Washington, DC, and Honolulu. The 442nd RCT was given a huge welcome by New York City. They marched down Constitution Avenue and was reviewed by President Harry Truman at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, and they received another huge welcome in Honolulu for the deactivation of colors. The significance of the presidential review was that President Truman affirmed Nisei loyalty, which was questioned by America during WW II. Shima graduated cum laude from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He received the W. Coleman Nevils Gold Medal for the highest achievement in the field of US Foreign Relations. He attended Georgetown University Graduate School and subsequently served in the US Foreign Service. In November 2011 the US Congress awarded the Congressional Gold medal collectively to the 442nd RCT, the 100th Battalion and the Military Intelligence Service. On February 15, 2013 he received the Presidential Citizens Medal at the White House from President Obama. The former Executive Director of the Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA), Shima is now Chair of its Outreach and Education Committee.


Noriko Sanefuji, Smithsonian Institution, Asian Pacific American Collection, Curatorial Assistant. …….
















Directions to Fort Myer: http://www.jbmhhmwr.com/index/Maps_and_Directions.html





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