The fight honor of 2 FEB. 19:MAR. 4, 2010 LEITERS/WHAT'S INSIDE PACIFIC !!ill CITlZEN ............ ~ .............. ~ ........................................................•................................... : ..................... ~ : ~ . PACIfiC II CmZEN : ' :F§ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. HOWTO REACH US E-mail: [email protected] was an inconvenient truth for .: Online: www.pacificcitizen.org An Open Letter you to mention. Tel:(800) 966-6157 You can continue forever to : Fax: (213) 620-1768 to John Tateishi try to make Ehren Watada look ; Mail: 250E.FirstStreet.Suite 301 honorable, and with many, you :' Los Angeles, .CA 90012 . In your column entitled, "About will succeed. However, for the : STAFF Honor," (Feb. 5-18) I find it inter­ vast majority of people who : Executive Editor Caroline Y. Aoyagi-Stom esting that you would spend the have serve'd in America's armed : first six paragraphs of your col­ forces, there will never be any- : Assistant Editor Lynda Lin umn praising the Nisei vets, thing honorable about abandon- : believing that this sets up the ing your soldiers as they prepare : Reporter One of the options Metro presented was a below ground plan. comparison to Ehren Watada with to deploy into combat, in viola- : NaleaJ. Ko this group of incredible heroes. tion of an oath that some of us : Business Manager ~ Support the Regional Connector This makes as much sense as hold very sacred. Vacant . spending several pages talking Circulation As a longtime visitor to Little Tokyo, I have seen how bad the traffic and about the greatness of President CHIP LAROUCHE : Eva Lau-ling parking can get in the downtown area. In fact, this traffic has become a Abraham Lincoln, then compar­ Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army Retired : major barrier to myself and other Japanese Americans who wish to attend ing that to the courage of The Pacific Citizen newspaper (ISSN: events in Little Tokyo. President Richard ·Nixon. This 0030-8579) is published semi-monthly The Downtown Regional Connector will help alleviate this problem. kind of logic leap is a bit too wide Tell Us What (except once in December and January) by the Japanese American for many of us. All construction, whether it is construction of the Budokan of Los You Think Citizens League. Angeles or the Nikkei Center or a new light rail line, will require mitiga­ In your article, you mention that tion. Lt. Ehren Watada was allowed to Write to: Letters, Pacific Citizen JACL resign his commission from the 1765 Sutter St. My concern is that if the JA community does not show strong support 250 E. 1st St., Suite # 301 for .. the underground option, the MTA will likely go with the at-grade Army in September 2009. It is San Francisco, CA94115 Los Angeles, CA 90012 JACL President: Larry Oda option. By opposing both options, the JACLis standing in the way of solv­ interesting, however, that you did or e-mail: [email protected] National Director. Floyd Mon ing one of Little Tokyo's biggest problems. not mention that . Ehren Watada Letters may be edited for length was actually discharged from the Pc. BOARD OF DIRECTORS JAMES FUJITA : U.S. Army "under other than hon­ and darity. Margie Yamamoto, chairperson; Paul via e-mail ~ orable conditions." I suppose that Niwa, EDC; Lisa Hanasono, MDC; Jason Chang, CCDC; Judith Aono, NCWNPDC; Hugh Burleson, PNWDC; Jeff ltami, IDC; Cindi Harbottle, PSWDC; Sonya Kuki, Youth SUBSCRIBE Get a one-year subscription of the Pacific Citizen newspaper at: FEB. 19-MAR. 4, 2010 -_--.... www.pacfficcitizen,org or call - .. (SOO) 966-6157 Honorary Degrees Power of Words ADVERTISE' If your education were interrupted Mako Nakagawa revisits the use of To advertise in the Pacific Citizen, call because of WWII, Calif. colleges euphemism to describe the WWII (800) 966-6157 or e-mail: [email protected] may be looki29 for you. treaunent of JAs. PAGE 12 PAGE 1u LEGAL . MarkKeam No part of this publication may be repro­ Toyota Lawsuit The newly elected lawmaker keynoted duced without the express permission A JA family is suing the car company the Washi~ton, D.C, installation dinner. of the Pacific Citizen. over the death of Noriko Uno. PA(,iE 12 Editorials, news and the opinions PAGE 7' expressed by columnists other than the EfighSdhoolReundon national JACL president or national director do not necessarily reflect JACL Far East Movement Walk down memory 'Iane with other policy. Event and products advertised in The hip-hop group is moving on up in Manzanar High School alumni at their the Pacific Citizen do not carry the Ethnic Studies in ,",igh Schools the music world. summer reunion. PAGE 15 implicit endorsement of the JACL or this publication. We reserve the right to edit Educators say the pilot program will help students learn about their roots. PAGE 9 IN EVERY ISSUE . articles. Immigration Refunn JACL MEMBERS Vet8Stamp Bringing Back Mas To pass comprehensive reform legisla­ VOICES ................................ PAGE 8 Change of Address Leaders are continuing to push for a Naomi Hirahara talks inspiration in tion this year, all of JACL needs to get CALENDAR ......................... PAGE 14 involved. PAGE 13 OBITUARIES .. ..................... PAGE 15 If you've moved, please Nisei postage stamp. PAGE 3 the new Mas Arai series. PAGE 4: send new infonnation to: National JACL 1765 Sutter Sl San Francisco, CA ON- WWW.PACIFICCITIZEN.ORG 94115 More Web exclusive stories about the APA community at the click Allow 6 weeks fO( address changes. Actress Gina To avoid interruptions ·Hiraizumi in delivery. please Ghost Hunter notify your postmas­ talks about ' Joe Chin was ter to include penodi­ cals in your change APAs in once bitten by of address (USPS Hollywood. a ghost. Form 3575) PACIFIC iii CmzEN NATIONAL NEWS FEB. 19-MAR. 4, 2010 3 Campaign to "onor Nisei Veterans Won't Be Sta~ped Out • George Fujimori (above) served in the Military Intelligence Service during World War II and now volunteers at the Go For Broke Monument. Supporters say despite rejection they will con­ itself and it takes away from the internees." would be saying 'thank you' to the Nisei WWII veterans." tinue to work toward honoring Japanese Although it has been years since the campaign for a Nisei Although the Nisei veterans continue to wait for a stamp, American World War II veterans. veterans stamp began, supporters said they would continue to sailors from War World I were honored by the USPS . On fight indefinitely to honor the JAs who served in the war. Feb. 4 the USPS issued the 'Distinguished Sailors' stamps to By Nalea J. Ko ''The ~ssroots campaign to honor these veterans from commemorflte the service of William S. Sims, Arleigh A. Reporter our community will continue for as long as it takes: We have Burke, John McCloy and Doris Miller. Proponents of the actually been a campaign for about six yeats total," Nisei vets stamp said the same should be done to honor the Nisei veteran Jimmie Kanaya remembers how Issei par­ explained Wayne Osako, co-chair and coordinator .of the JAs. ents would watch their children go off to fight in World War campaign. "Stamp campaigns are ·typically a very long ''The [Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee] has in the II from behind barbed wire fences. process. We must be prepared to just keep going until the past supported similar stamps which honor veterans groups: Many, he said, displayed a blue-star flag in their front win­ Postal Service says 'yes.'" Hispanic Americans: A Proud Heritage (1984) and Buffalo dows, waiting in vain for their children to return. When they Soldiers (1994)," Osako said, adding that the stamp commit­ did not, a flag with a gold star was placed in their windows. Preserving a Legacy tee altered its policy ~ 1994. ''There was no way to fight back at being termed a"yellow Since the proposal for a Nisei vets stamp has been turned The JACL is also supporting the campaign's decision to Jap', but to enter combat and be willing to give our all for the down, supporters are now focusing their efforts on changing change the USPS policy, explained JACL National President sake of our family, reputation and our country," Kanaya the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) informal policy against Larry ada. explained about serving in WWII. "Some 800 young men in issuing stamps for individual units, branches or divisions. ''The NVSC [Nisei Veterans Stamp Committee] argument their prime gave their all so that those of us who survived can The strategy is to appeal to the postmaster general, who is that the World War II Nisei soldiers served in different . retupl to our rightful place in our society, heads held high and overrules the advisory committee, to stop using this infonnal branches of the military, and their accomplishments are without shame or remorse." policy, said Yamada. He is scheduled to make a presentation unmatched in history and are encouraging our coalition part­ Over 30,000 Japanese Americans like Kanaya served in to the National Military Veterans Alliance on Feb. 22, outlin­ ners to support the effort," ada explained in an e-mail to the WWII. The Japanese American WWII Veterans ing the strategy and asking for its members' support. Pacific Citizen. A. resolution to consider supporting the Commemorative Stamp Campaign has been pushing for "If the alliance agrees to it, then hopefully they'll sign on memorial stamp was on the February agenda for the JACL years to honor JAs like Kanaya with a commemorate postage to the letter (on their letterhead) and send a letter into the post National Board meeting. The agenda item was removed at stamp. master general," Yamada added. The letter will be copied to the request of the resolution author, ada said, and asked to be It has been a long wait for Kanaya and other Nisei veter­ the president, secretary of defense and secretary of vherans postponed and reconsidered at the convention.