Children of 442nd may outnumber veterans at reunion
| • | Activities fill 442nd reunion week |
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
When they were young, and warriors, about 10,000 Japanese-American men fought with the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II.
Some 813 men, including some of the Caucasian officers who commanded their unit, were killed in action. The unit won about 10,000 purple hearts and 18,000 individual citations, 442nd spokesman Arnold Hiura said yesterday.
No one knows, today, on the eve of the 442nd's 60th annual reunion in Honolulu this week, how many of the survivors survive.
But everyone knows their numbers are dwindling fast. The 60th reunion is undoubtedly the last big gathering of these soldiers, whom many consider the greatest fighters of what Tom Brokaw called America's "greatest generation."
Membership of the 442nd Veterans Club today stands at 500, but not all surviving veterans are members of the club, and the total number of survivors is impossible to guess, according to executive secretary Gail Onuma.
Ten years ago, at the 50th anniversary reunion, 2,700 veterans and family members registered, according to 50th anniversary chairman George Nakasato.
This year's registration is about 1,700, including spouses and members of the Sons and Daughters of the 442. The reunion committee estimates half of the 1,700 registrants this year are veterans.
Nakasato, a member of Company F, also says that 10 years ago 165 to 170 veterans attended from his company chapter. This year, the number is less and includes more sons and daughters. They expect about 40 to 45 Company F veterans to attend.
Ten years ago, death was taking two to three members of Company F every year, Nakasato said. In recent years, the mortality has risen to 10 to 14 men per year, he said.
"As they organize these events, they are saying to one another, 'C'mon, brah, this is our last hurrah,'" Hiura said.
"There are half as many of them sitting around the planning table as there were for the 50th reunion, and most of them are in their 80s. They are very cognizant of their age and mortality, and they know this is probably their last real big reunion," he said.
"The 61st and 62nd reunions will come and go, and then ... "
But in the midst of getting together with their buddies, and accepting the accolades of their country, the aging veterans themselves are turning to honor members of the 442nd who are forever young, Hiura said.
Their project called "Echoes of Silence," launched with the help of Roy Machida and Jim Yamashita in California, and supported here by Terry Aratani, recounts the lives and deaths of the men, including their Caucasian officers, who never came home from war.
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
