TORRANCE TRIBUNE May 28, 2015 Page 7 TerriAnn in Torrance Resilience for the Ages By TerriAnn Ferren Photos by TerriAnn Ferren Resilience is the ability to bounce back or to recover strength. When we are hit hard by James Makoto Ogawa. a challenge in our lives, how do we react? During WWII, Japanese Americans served their country in the armed forces with pride and integrity. “Go For Broke” was their rallying cry, and last week, I had the opportunity to again hear the stories of four amazing and very special men who, in spite of the way they were treated, rose up and conquered with dignity and grace. Last Thursday, the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored, as part of their Legendary Luncheon Series, a special event honoring guests who served in the Japanese American units of WWII. Attendees, included Torrance Mayor Pat Furey; Council Member Michael Griffiths; Council Member Heidi Ann Ashcraft; Council Member Geoff Rizzo; former Torrance Council Member and Former State Assemblyman George Nakano; retired US Army Colonel Chaplain Milton Herring; and former Council Member and representing David Hadley, Tom Brewer. The event was sponsored by Green Hills Memorial Park and Green Ink Marketing, and by the Go For Broke National Education Center. (See Torrance Tribune October 9, 2014.) Students representing Torrance High School, North High School, West High School and South High School, escorted the honored guests into the room. After the pledge, led by George Nakano, and the invocation led by Milton Herring, David Ono’s incredibly moving and informative documentary, Japanese American Heroes – WWII, was shown. Although I had seen bits of this documentary, this was the first time I saw it in its entirety and encourage everyone to go on-line and watch this moving, and brilliant film. It explains the story of Japanese Americans before, during, and after WWII. Steve Sato, who is featured in the documentary, was introduced by President and CEO of the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce, Donna Duperron and told the story of the resilience and perseverance of his 24-year-old mother, who lost her husband 70 years ago when he was killed fighting in Italy. Steve then spoke of his mother’s grief when she sat him down and said, “Maybe we should die too.” But that was a turning point and she became a person of great strength and determination because that brave young mother turned her despair and grief into hope when Steve said his mom told him, “We need to live a long life. We need to live dad’s share of life too because he was taken away so prematurely. And we need to honor dad’s memory…” Steve Sato’s mother lived a life filled with hope, which epitomizes resiliency, and she later even served in local government in Lihu’e, Kauai. Steve then introduced Don Nose, President of the Go For Broke Education Center, who introduced special guests Honda, Coca Cola, and Exxon Mobil. Don Nose said the Go For Broke organization stands for, “Take the wisdoms of an historic generation, but specifically using the Japanese American WWII Veterans, to enlighten and encourage the youth of today to inspire to greater heights. And clearly resilience is one of the foundational concepts.” Don Nose spoke of several factors, which enabled Japanese American units of WWII to be so incredibly successful - so successful they are the most decorated units in the military. Once again resilience was a major factor in their success along with the cohesiveness of the men. They shared a number of key factors, which are not only true within a military unit, but also true in business. The first point is these men shared a ‘common cause.’ The second factor was, ‘camaraderie.’ Adding to these fundamentals, Don spoke of ‘shared cultural values, duty/ obligation to others and intestinal fortitude,’ and ‘don’t bring shame upon your family.’ All these cultural values can be used in business. At this point, I was reminded of the Torrance business that exemplifies this sort of cohesiveness. Phenomenex truly runs and lives by these principles. (See Torrance Tribune, April 9, 2015). Don then introduced the honored guests who took seats on the stage for questions and answers. Honored guests were: Isamu (Ralph) Kaneshiro, MIS (Military Intelligence Service) who was stationed in the Philippines and helped interrogate POWs; Masao Takahashi, who served with Company C in the 100th Battalion in France and Italy; James Makoto Ogawa, who served in Company C, in the 442 Regimental Combat Team in Italy and France; and Ken Akune, who served in the MIS and in Burma and China (attached to the State Department) during the war and ended up in the occupation of Japan. Ken Akune, born on July 3, 1923, began his story, “I was incarcerated in Colorado in 1942 and what really bothered me most was I had classmates outside the camp who were joining the military. And here we were, I am of the age for draft but they put us in a classification 4-C - enemy agent, undesirable service. On Dec. 12, in 1942, my brother came by and said they were recruiting a team – we didn’t know what it was and he was going to see if we could join. I said if you are going then I am going also.” Ken explained as a young boy of 10 years old, after his mother died, his father sent him back to Japan to be raised by his grandmother. Ken stayed in Japan 4 1/2 years and returned to the United States when he was 15, fluent in Japanese. “It is very easy to say you are loyal to a country but it takes more than that. You’ve got to be willing to serve the country so without hesitation my brother and I went, we passed and we went into this military language school for 6 months,” said Ken. He also said that he had to serve during the entire war plus 6 months, and that is exactly what he did. Masao Takahashi, born on August 9, 1924, said, “My brother volunteered from camp but my dad didn’t want both of us to volunteer. One day they said you could leave camp so I went to Detroit and my draft board in Don Nose, President of the Go For Broke Education Center. Donna Duperron, President and CEO of the Torrance Chamber of Commerce. Isamu (Ralph) Kaneshiro. Kenjiro (Ken) Akune. Former City Council Member and Former State Assemblyman George Nakano, and and Steve Sato. See TerriAnn, page 8
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