By Linda Tamura.
This is a compelling story of courage, community, endurance, and reparation. It shares the experiences of Japanese Americans who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, fighting on the front lines in Italy and France, serving as linguists in the South Pacific, and working as cooks and medics.
The soldiers were from Hood River, Oregon, where their families were landowners and fruit growers. Town leaders, including veterans groups, attempted to prevent their return after the war and stripped their names from the local war memorial. All of the soldiers were American citizens, but their parents were Japanese immigrants and had been imprisoned in camps as a consequence of Executive Order 9066. The racist homecoming reception that the Hood River Japanese American soldiers received was decried across the nation.
Paper: 346 pp.
Read our interview with Linda Tamura about this book on DiscoverNikkei.org.
