Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II

The author describes his 2019 trip to locations in northern Italy where his story takes place. Reenactors of the 442nd Regiment Combat Team transported him and veterans’ relatives to the top of Monte Folgorito. Brown was amazed by “the sheer audacity” (464) of climbing this steep mountain in the middle of the night in full gear, calling the soldiers “the living embodiment of the spirit that has always animated America” including “the highest ideals of America and the Western democracies” (464). At the same time, the soldiers were also “proudly Japanese” carrying in them “a host of related beliefs and attitudes” (464), including the Bushido code of samurai warriors.

President Harry Truman attempted to right the wrongs of concentration camps with his 1948 Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act, and in 1952, the McCarran-Walter Act permitted Japanese immigrants to apply for citizenship. However, neither financial compensation nor an apology came until 1988 with the Civil Liberties Act, which acknowledged that the imprisonment of Japanese Americans was “carried out without adequate security reasons and without any acts of espionage or sabotage” (473). In the next five years, the 89,219 victims were compensated $20,000 each. It took years for the American government to publicly acknowledge the contribution of the 442nd. Eventually, 21 of its 18,000 members received the Medal of Honor, which made them “the most decorated military unit of its size and length of service in American history” (465).

Fred Shiosaki returned to Spokane where he eventually became the city chemist for the municipal government. He then became the executive director of the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority and chaired the Washington State Ecological Commission. He had two children with his wife Lily, while his brother Roy took over the Hillyard Laundry after their father’s death in 1958. Rudy Tokiwa experienced the effects of shrapnel lodged in his body for the rest of his life, using crutches to walk. He had four children and was married twice, until settling with a partner, Judy Niizawa, for the rest of his life. Rudy was one of the Nisei who convinced congressmen “to make the case” (472) for compensation.

Kats Miho earned a degree in law and worked for his brother Katsuro’s law firm. When Hawaii became a state in 1959, Kats served five terms at the Hawaii State House of Representatives, becoming State House minority leader. He married Laura Iida and had four children. Kats’s sister, Fumiye, returned to the US, becoming a Quaker, and then working in various types of social services, from orphanages to a refugee center in Tokyo. George Oiye attended Montana State University, but dropped out due to mental health conditions from the war. He married Mary Toyoda, with whom he had two children. Eventually, he graduated from the California Aero Tech Institute and pursued a career in aerospace engineering.

Sus Ito received a PhD in biology and worked at Harvard Medical School. Masao Yamada became a chaplain at the Hawaii State Hospital on Oahu. Solly Ganor moved to Israel after its formation and joined the Israeli Defense Forces. He married Pola, had two children, and lectured about surviving the Holocaust. Gordon Hirabayashi was released from prison and went on to earn a PhD in sociology. He had three children with his wife Esther Schmoe. After their divorce, Gordon relocated to Canada and became chair of the sociology department at the University of Alberta.