"It's been a hard struggle," Hiroshi Arisumi, president of the memorial center and a veteran of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, said to The Maui News. "But we finally get to see the end of the project."

On Friday, Gov. Linda Lingle released a $750,000 grant for construction of a 2,100-square foot facility above the intersection of Kahului and Waiehu beach roads in Wailuku. The state grant rounds out a $1.3 million capital campaign that was started by volunteers more than 20 years ago.

"We were so thrilled," said memorial center Executive Director Barbara Watanabe. "We now have enough funding to complete the project."

The County of Maui contributed $300,000 in grant money to the project and more than $300,000 came from private donors. The memorial center's 2.02 acres were donated by Alexander & Baldwin in 1992.

The education center, the second and final phase in the memorial's master plan, will include a classroom as well as an extensive collection of books, veterans' oral histories and photographs. Once completed, it will be an important resource for community members and historians looking to delve into the history of the nisei (second generation) veterans.

The center also plans to partner with Maui schools to bring that history into the classroom, providing information and inspiration to students while securing the legacy of the nisei.

"The main purpose of the organization is to perpetuate the history of our parents," said Leonard Oka, founder of the memorial center as well as the Maui's Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans. "A lot of the opportunities of the sansei (third generation) and yonsei (fourth generation) are because of the sacrifices of the nisei."

The children of Japanese immigrants to the United States, the nisei faced discrimination during the 1940s following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Even as Japanese-American families were forced into internment camps across the U.S., the nisei proved their patriotism in the face of injustice, volunteering for the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service.

By the end of World War II, the 442nd was the most highly decorated unit of its size in Army history. After returning to the islands, many Hawaii veterans went to assume major roles in state politics and business.

"This center is sort of like a lifetime achievement award," Watanabe said. "They really transformed Hawaii and they opened up opportunities for everyone."

Dedicated to the memory of nisei soldiers, the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center was initially conceived as a museum and community center. In 2002, supporters revised their original plan, deciding instead to build an education center and intergenerational day-care facility to provide services for both the aging World War II generation and the youngsters who could be their great-grandchildren. Construction on the intergenerational center was completed last year, bringing together senior citizens in a program provided by the Maui Adult Day Care Centers with the young students of Kansha Preschool.

According to Watanabe, the day-care centers have done a great job of instilling nisei values in the youth, as the old and young are brought together for daily activities.

"It's everything we wanted it to be," she said. "As you look at the center, it's a living memorial that takes every generation into consideration."

The education center is the last piece of the memorial, finally to provide a permanent home for thousands of artifacts collected by Maui's Sons and Daughters over the years.

With a dwindling number of nisei around to enjoy the facility, the memorial center is hard at work to complete the education center.

The memorial center supporters hope to begin construction on the final phase early next year. "The education center has always been the cornerstone of the project," Oka said. "It's the light at the end of the tunnel."