Farewell to Manzanar

Each spring when I teach 9th grade, we read Farewell to Manzanar, and students study heroes of the 442nd combat team and write a newspaper article about personal stories of sacrifice.

The 442nd Infantry Regiment were 2nd generation soldiers of Japanese ancestry (Nisei), whose families were imprisoned in American prisons during WWII just because of their ethnicity.

Wait a moment!! USA would not let them become citizens, AND they were imprisoned, AND lost everything (house, job, freedoms) during the war, being held without trial?

Could you volunteer to fight FOR the country who held your entire family in camps for years?

18,000 men did, and valiantly served, earning 4000 Purple Hearts, 21 medals of honor, and unprecedented 7 presidential unit citations.

One of the most well-known of the 442nd soldiers, Daniel Inouye, later became US Senator of Hawaii from 1963-2012. A humble man of courage, character, and a singular spirit of peace and good will, Inouye’s wisdom was forged through trials and he lived with a decided optimism.

I am grateful for these lessons of determination and resilience, forgiveness and grit Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston demonstrated in her powerful memoir, and how others have illuminated for us to learn.