(Hayashi, 2012)
“The grandson of immigrant plantation workers, the young man who had been barred from service as an "enemy alien," had won his nation's highest honors and risen to the heights of political power.” |
The Nisei soldiers were considered heroes in Hawaii. This helped ambitious veterans get elected to the territorial legislature. After Hawaii became a state in 1959, Inouye was elected to the U.S. Congress. This impacted politics in Hawaii because the veterans were Democrats and old plantation Hawaii was Republican.
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“The apology and compensation that Reagan conveyed to the American's of Japanese ancestry was discussed at our home… Uncle Nash was angry… this was not proper consideration for the loss of grandpa and what the family was put through… my dad and uncle Nash decided to accept the money because they know that this would be the only compensation they would see.”-Lynette Tahara Kim about her father Yoshiyuki “Fat” Tahara of the 442nd RCT, 2016 |
"Rarely has a nation been so well served by a people it has so ill-treated... They risked their lives, above and beyond the call of duty. And in so doing, they did more than defend America; in the fact of painful prejudice, they helped to define America at its best.” |
“Some of the Texas delegation assisted in the effort to secure redress and reparations in the House of Representatives. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 provided redress & reparations to Japanese Americans that were incarcerated in WWII and still living at the time the bill was funded. In the effort to secure redress stories about the WWII experience including the story of the 442nd began to be shared.” |