WASHINGTON — Tucked away in a secluded corner of the most sacred U.S. military burial ground, a small monument stands in a clearing surrounded by a copse of trees. Encircling it are rows of simple marble headstones marking the graves of 482 people including soldiers and their families. Although there is no discernible difference between […]
For Chen and Lew, Linsanity came too late
March 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
On a recent Sunday morning, I was glued to the boob tube watching a professional basketball game from the opening jump ball to the last waning second. Haven’t done this for years, but suddenly I too have been swept up by the global phenomenon of Linsanity. By now, everybody knows Linsanity refers to Jeremy Lin, […]
Our country’s failure to stop hazing in the military
March 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The U.S. military failed Lance Corporal Harry Lew and his grieving family, my constituents. On April 3, 2011, LCpl Lew took his own life shortly after enduring over three hours of alleged hazing and aggressive treatment from his fellow Marines. On Feb. 24, the final court-martial concluded for the third Marine charged in the Lew […]
Accounts of Nisei veterans’ valor and sacrifices
January 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
AMERICANS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY IN THE KOREAN WAR: STORIES OF THOSE WHO SERVED By Robert M. Wada (Orange, Calif.: The Paragon Agency, Publishers, 2010, 290 pp., $20, paperback) As the nation belatedly recognized Nisei members of 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service with the Congressional Gold Medal in November of […]
A salute to Nikkei military leaders
January 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
NIKKEI GENERALS AND ADMIRALS: UNITED STATES MILITARY By Ansho Mas Uchima and Minoru Shinmoto (Fullerton, Calif.: Nikkei Writers Guild Division of Japanese American Living Legacy, 2010, 134 pp., $30, paperback) This is a highly accessible and celebratory compilation of Nikkei generals and admirals, both active and retired, as well as those who served in the […]
SUS ITO: The life of an American soldier and noted biologist
November 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Susumu “Sus” Ito is renown within the medical field for his work with the gastronomical tract. Despite retiring as a professor from Harvard Medical School in 1990, the 92-year-old continues to go into the lab in Boston a few times a week to study. His work has won him recognition around the world and has […]
All’s not quiet on the ‘Homefront’
July 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I’m surprised, to say the least, that there is a total lack of condemnation about THQ’s “Homefront.” After going through a full play- through of the game’s solo mode, I wondered why no one spoke up about just how propagandistic and vile this game really is. “Homefront,” released earlier this year, tells the story of […]
JA veteran receives nation’s highest civilian honor just before passing
February 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Menlo Park, Calif. — More than 100 people witnessed a historic event Feb. 3 involving a soldier from a historic World War II unit — the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit of its size from World War II. Robert Masami Iso, 92, served in the Army and received the Bronze Star and […]
Congress passes rare bill to allow Marine widow’s immigration
December 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) — The House of Representatives, on Dec. 15, passed a private immigration bill that will pave the way for a Japanese widow of a U.S. Marine to live permanently in the United States. The bill grants permanent resident status to the woman, who now lives in the Japanese southernmost prefecture of Okinawa. As […]
New security laws in Japan
TOKYO — Is Japan abandoning its brand of pacifism to wield military power in the Asia-Pacific and beyond? This question has been raised in Japan and foreign countries since the Diet passed a set of new security laws that allows Japanese forces to take part in military conflicts globally. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution […]