Fighting For America: Nisei Soldiers by Lawrence Matsuda and Matt Sasaki

In Fighting For America: Nisei Soldiers, six Nisei soldiers from the Pacific Northwest are profiled. All six men are now deceased. These are Army medics Jimmie Kanaya and Tosh Yasutake, Army Infantrymen Frank Nishimura and Turk Suzuki, Army Infantry Sergeant Shiro Kashino and Military Intelligence Roy Matsumoto. All were members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) or MIS.

First profiled is Shiro Kashino's experiences. He was born in 1922 in Seattle, Washington, the sixth child of Bujinosuke Kashino and Hatsume Oda. His family had lived in Denver, Colorado but moved to Seattle. Shiro was raised by his older siblings from the age of thirteen, after the deaths of his mother in 1934 and his father in 1935. 

A good athlete, Shiro received a football scholarship to Willamette University in Oregon but he never attended. Shiro delayed attending to work and earn money first and then Pear Harbor happened. Shiro ended up at Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho. He volunteered for the 442 RCT in 1943 and "fought in all the major battles of the European campaigns."

The second profile is of Frank Nishimura who was born in 1924 in Seattle, Washington to Ritoji and Kiku Nishimura. Frank had five older siblings: Toshimi, Shizuko, Hiromi, Yuki and Toyo. HIs parents brought and sold hotels through a Jewish attorney as Japanese nationals could not purchase land in Washington state.

Frank attended Cascade and Bailey Gatzert School. Like many Japanese children he attended the Japanese Community Language School after regular school. In the fall of 1938, he was enrolled at Broadway High School. Frank was a newspaper carrier for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He delivered papers in his 1937 Plymouth automobile that he had purchased used.

Life was carefree and good for Frank and his friends: they went to various beaches to clam and picnic. They also attended the annual Japanese Community Day at Seattle's Playland Amusement Park. But life took a drastic change on December 7, 1941.

Jimmie Kanaya was born on October 3, 1920 to parents who were farmers in Clackamas, Oregon. He enlisted in the U.S. Army when he was twenty-years-old and became a medic. In 1942 when Japanese and Japanese-Americans were sent to concentrations camps, Jimmie accompanied his family to the temporary detention center, Portland Assembly Center. However, because he was in his U.S. Army uniform, he wasn't allowed in with his parents, brother and sister.

He was stationed at Camp Crowder upon completing his medic training, then transferred to Camp Shelby in Mississippi. From there Jimmie was assigned as a medic to the all Japanese-American 442 RCT. As part of the 34th Infantry Division, Jimmie saw action in Italy and then in France with the 36th Infantry Division. He was captured by the Germans in the Vosges Mountains while attempting to evacuate wounded soldiers. Jimmie was taken to a prisoner of war camp for officers, Oflag 64 which was located in Szubin, Poland. When the Red Army occupied Poland and German forces fled, Jimmie and the other prisoners were marched four hundred miles to Hammelburg, Germany and another camp. The death march was done in subzero temperatures in deep snow.

The fourth profile is that of Roy Hiroshi Matsumoto who served with the 5307th Composite Unit in Burma as a Military Intelligence Service language interpreter. This unit was nicknamed Merrill's Marauders after Brigadier General Frank Merrill.

Roy was born in Laguna, California on May 1, 1913. He was sent to Hiroshima, Japan to attend Japanese school when he was eight-years-old. When Roy was seventeen, he and his brother returned to the United States while his parents and family remained in Japan. After graduating from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 1933, Roy worked at a Japanese grocery stroy where he learned many different Japanese dialects. 

After Pearl Harbor, Roy was sent to the concentration camp at Jerome, Arkansas. He volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army as a Japanese language specialist. Merrill's Marauders was tasked with opening the Burma Road connecting India and China.

Tosh Yasutake's father Jack left Japan in 1907 when he was sixteen-years-old to live in San Francisco. He did not wish to be a farmer like his father. Jack attended high school and then Stanford University studying engineering. He left his university studies in the U.S. travelling to Japan to marry Hideko Shiraki in 1918, and returning to the States after the marriage where he was hired as a translator for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Their first son, Seiichi, was born in 1920. Tosh was the second oldest of four boys: he was born in 1922, followed by his brother Mitsuye born a year later in Japan and the youngest brother Joe who was born in 1932. 

Because Jack and Hideko were Japanese Nationals, they were not allowed by law to purchase land in Washington State, so they had an INS secretary do so for them. Tosh attended Beacon Hill School, then Cleveland High School and was studying science at the University of Washington when Pear Harbor happened in December of 1941. The very next day, FBI agents came to the Yasutake home for Jack who was not at home. Jack was arrested at the Japanese poetry club meeting he was attending and incarcerated in various concentrations camps. At this time Tosh left his studies at the university.

The entire family including Jack were incarcerated at Minidoka War Relocation Center concentration camp. In April, 1942, Tosh and his siblings along with their mother Hideko were taken from the Seattle area to the WCCA Puyallup Assembly Center.

Teruyuki "Turk" Suzuki was born in 1923. Unlike the other Nisei profiled in Fighting for America, both his parents were college graduates and Christians educated in Japan. Turk's father had also served in the Japanese Navy prior to the war. The Suzuki's immigrated to Seattle and operated a hotel called the Spring Lodge Hotel located near the downtown library. Turk and his friends loved to play in the area.

Teruyuki got his nickname from a good friend, Willie who could not pronounce his name. Turk's four siblings were also given American names when they entered school. All the Suzuki children walked to Baily Gatzert School located east of Japantown.

Even though Turk's parents could not become American citizens (this wasn't possible until 1952), his father stressed to him that he was an American citizen. Like Tosh's father Jack, Turk's father was also arrested after Pearl Harbor and taken to the INS building. And like Turk, Tosh also joined the 442nd all Japanese-American RCT.

Discussion

Fighting For America is an intimate look at the war from the perspective of six Japanese American soldiers and their families. Fighting For America is divided into six chapters, each featuring the biography of one of six Nisei soldiers. What started as a graphic novel on Nisei veteran Shiro Kashino, quickly expanded into a project that included the "personal war accounts of other Nisei veterans Frank Nishimura, Jimmie Kanaya, Turk Suzuki, Roy Matsumoto, and Tosh Yasutake."  Each chapter begins with an Introduction, followed by a series of graphic novel panels detailing some aspect of each soldier's life based on their personal experiences and closing with an Epilogue about their life in the post-war period as well as photographs of the men . Each account tells of the incarceration of their families and their combat experiences as part of the most decorated unit for their size in U.S. history. 

In the Introduction, author Lawrence Matsuda writes, "Approximately 14,000 Nisei or second generation Japanese Americans fought as members of the 442 Regimental Combat Team (RCT) during World War II against Germany and Italy. The 442 RCT consisted of three infantry battalions (originally 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 442 Infantry, and later the 100th Infantry Battalion in place of the 1st.), the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, the 232 Engineer Company, an anti-tank company, cannon company, service company, medical detachment, headquarters companies, and the 206 Army Band." 

For the six men profiled in Fighting For America, life as teenagers and young adults was filled with school, sports and jobs. However, their parents bore the brunt of the discrimination so common at that time: they could not become American citizens and couldn't own property. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, life changed quickly and drastically: fathers were jailed, they lost their homes, businesses and possessions, school ended and they were forced into concentration camps with guards and barbed wire.

Nisei volunteered from the mainland United States and Hawai'i. Most from the mainland volunteered after being incarcerated in concentration camps. They would go on to fight in France, liberating towns and in Italy overtaking German positions blocking the Allies path into Europe. That the Nisei would volunteer to fight for a country that treated them and their families so terribly is all the more remarkable and reflects the loyalty, patriotism, and bravery of these men and their families. As Matsuda writes in his Foreword, "The story must never be forgotten for it was their heroics that opened the doors for future generations of Japanese Americans."

Despite their tremendous personal sacrifices and patriotism for their country, many Nisei continued to experience discrimination and prejudice in the post-war period. Frank Nishimura found it difficult to purchase a home and was told he would never be hired as a welder. Shiro Kashino was certified in refrigeration and air conditioning but faced discrimination from unions in Seattle. Despite this climate of systemic racism, all six men made significant contributions to America. Turk Suzuki had a long career as an engineer and Tosh Yasutake had a distinguished career as a fish histologist. Jimmie Kanaya had a long army career reaching the rank of colonel while Roy Matsumoto became a career Army soldier. Frank Nishimura was an amazing scoutmaster and a postal worker, while Shiro Kashino worked for forty-four years in the automotive industry. 

The artwork of illustrator Matt Sasaki ably portrays the many emotions of the events experienced by the soldiers and their families, whether it be the fear and worry of impending incarceration, the joy of being with family. the desolation and anger at the lost of friends and comrades, or the terror and violence of combat.

Fighting For America serves to remind readers that the experiences of Nisei and their families during World War II demonstrate the incredible patriotism, loyalty, and self-sacrifice made for the country that treated them so badly. It also highlights the forgiveness, industriousness, humility and charity they offered the American people, in spite of that discrimination. 

Book Details:

Fighting For America: Nisei Soldiers by Lawrence Matsuda
Seattle: Chin Music Press     2023
167 pp.

My Nest of Silence by Matt Faulkner

Mari Asai, her older brother Makoto and their parents, Ichiro and Aki are living in the Manzanar prison camp in California. They were sent to the camp after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Like most other Japanese-Americans, the Asai were forced to sell their farm in Florino, California.

It's April, 1944 and with Mak turning eighteen, he's decided, against his father's wishes, to enlist in the U.S. army. After Mak leaves on a greyhound bus, Mari decides she won't talk anymore. She's angry at Mak for making this decision without talking to her and she's angry at her father for seeming not to care. But being silent hasn't been easy. Mari is hoping that being silent will bring Mak safely home, but her father feels Mari's silence is "abnormal" while Mama understands that Mari is "upset over Mak leaving." The adults at the camp see Mari's silence as insulting.

Finally after two weeks, a letter from Mak arrives. He tells her that the bus ride from Manzanar to Camp Shelby in Mississippi was long. Although he tells Mari that their drill sergeants are "not a bad bunch of fellows" they are yelled at, have their heads shaved and are sent on a five mile "hike" before bed. Mari suspects that Mak is not telling her the whole story.

Life at Manzanar consists of lots of dust and bad food, although it's not as bad as when they first arrived. Eventually, the Issei and Nisei took over cooking at the camp. But the dust and windstorms are still a problem. One of the oldest people in the camp is Oba-chan Yuki who Mari likes and who is a great storyteller. Oba-chan Yuki has a terrible cough which the constant dust makes worse. One morning after telling Mari and her mother a story, Oba-chan Yuki asks to see Mari's sketchbook. She tells them her daughter Eunice is a water colour painter who has created artwork for Reader's Digest magazine and she offers to have Mari meet Eunice.

Another letter from Mak in July, 1944 tells about the schedule at Camp Shelby and meeting boys who are from Hawai'i. He asks Mari to have Father write to him. A third letter mentions his friend Kazuo (Kaz) who is from Hawai'i and how the Hawaiian Buddhaheads and the Mainland Kotonks are at odds with one another.  But when Kaz learns that Mak's family is in a prison camp, he is proud that Mak enlisted. A fourth letter from Mak reveals that he's put in to be an army mechanic while his friend Whitey Kurasaki has been made a unit leader. 

Back in Manzanar, Mari meets Eunice who praises her artwork and invites Mari to join her art class at the camp. But during her first art class, Mari cuts her finger with a razor blade while sharpening her pencil and her father refuses to allow her to return to the class. After Oba-chan Yuki dies in her sleep, Mari falls ill with pneumonia. As she begins to recover, Mari learns that Eunice and her family have left the camp after obtaining a waiver to move to Chicago, and that baby Keiko and the other orphans have been adopted out. 

As the war drags on, Mari struggles to recover from pneumonia and she becomes emotionally distraught. Mari is worried and sad. After becoming delusional in the old camouflage factory, Mari is hospitalized with a serious fever.  As the U.S. government no longer sees the Japanese as a serious threat and more people leave Manzanar, Mari's parents  argue about where to move after the war, with Father wanting to return to their hometown and Mama wanting to move East where they will be accepted. 

Meanwhile, Mak is determined to help out the war effort in a more meaningful way then driving a jeep. He begs to be sent to the front so he can help his friends Kaz and Whitey but is refused. When the lieutenant he drives for, abandons his orders to go to the front at Bruyeres, Mak and Harry decide to push on and find themselves in a deadly situation that sees them going missing and almost costs them their lives. 

At home, Mari and her parents learn only bits and pieces of what is going on overseas, further adding to Mari's stress. With a second telegram, Mari is certain Mak is dead, leading to a serious crisis. Once Mak's situation is clarified, the Asai family make a decision for their future, Mari begins to hope that life will be better.

Discussion

My Nest of Silence is a novel that combines two stories, one written in narrative prose, the other in graphic novel format. The two stories serve to contrast one another: Mari and her parents struggling to cope amid the injustice and racism of the Japanese internment, while their brother/son willingly sacrifices for the country that has treated them so badly.

The narrative story focuses on a Japanese-American family, the Asai's, sent to Manzanar prison camp and is told from the point of view of their ten-year-old daughter, Mari who decides to take a vow of silence both to punish her father and to protect her beloved brother Mak who has enlisted in the U.S. Army.  Mari's narrative exposes the reality of  life in Manzanar, showing the suffering Japanese American families endured but also highlighting their determination and resiliency in the face of racism and injustice. Mari's family who were farmers in Florin, California have lost their home and all their possessions. They live in dusty, cold barracks, surrounded by barbed wire. Even orphans and the elderly are incarcerated.

Mari struggles to cope with her older brother Mak enlisting and what seems like a lack of understanding by her father. The camp conditions, stress and worry about her brother and their future, lead her to become seriously ill. But Mari's real crisis comes when she believes a second telegram is about Mak having died and she climbs into the rafters of the old camouflage factory. She is almost seriously injured but saved by her father. 

Interspersed with Mari's narrative is Mak's story told through the use of graphic art. Mari receives  letters sent home to her by her brother Makato. These are dated and have some short text. However, the content of the letters is contradicted by what is shown in the graphic novel panels. Mak reveals the strenuous training, awful food, and the struggle to get along with the "Hawaiian Buddhaheads" who dislike the Japanese-American (Kotonk) soldiers as well as their white (haole) superiors, and the racism they encounter from other soldiers. In his letters, Mak doesn't reveal to his sister or family the dangers he and his fellow Japanese-American soldiers encounter, nor the real extent of his wounds later on. Instead, knowing the difficulties his family must deal with at Manzanar, he is positive, encouraging and humorous.

But it is the graphic novel pages that really are the novel's outstanding strength. Faulker successfully captures the sacrifice, bravery and fortitude of these young Japanese-American men, who, in spite of being imprisoned along with their families, chose to fight for their country. They put aside the injustice, the hatred and indignity shown them, and enlisted, perhaps believing in a better America in the future. Set against this sacrifice, is the suffering of their families imprisoned back home.  It is a debt as Faulkner writes in his blog, that must be remembered: 

"I believe it's essential that our country regularly express regret for what we did. That expression won’t fix the vastness of what was done to that community. But it might help. Let’s learn the history of the internment and share it with others. Let’s never forget what we did as a nation to Japanese Americans, so that we can help them heal and so that we may never do it again. Not ever again."

It is novels like My Nest of Silence that will help Americans remember, and move forward the process of healing and forgiveness that is so necessary. 

Book Details:

My Nest of Silence by Matt Faulkner
New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers    2022

373 pp.