Go for Broke Monument

The Go for Broke Monument (Japanese: 日系人部隊記念碑,[1][2] Nikkeijinbutai Kinenhi) in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California, commemorates Japanese Americans who served in the United States Army during World War II. It was created by Los Angeles architect Roger M. Yanagita whose winning design was selected over 138 other submissions from around the world.

Go for Broke Monument
34.051181°N 118.239019°W / 34.051181; -118.239019
Location355 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles, California, 90012
DesignerRoger M. Yanagita
Beginning date1991
Dedicated dateJune 5, 1999
Websitehttp://www.goforbroke.org/

Design and construction of the monument commenced in 1991 with the dedication occurring on June 5, 1999.[3] It is located at the end of North Central Street, adjacent to the Japanese American National Museum, and is surrounded on three sides by a pay-parking lot serving East Temple Street. The monument is accessible by the public at no cost.

Monument
Detail of some of the names listed on the back of the monument

The monument has a large semicircular face of polished black stone, set at an angle facing the Sun as it is perceived as traveling across the southern sky, and embracing a pole upon which the American flag flies. The monument's curved back wall lists the names of 16,126 nisei soldiers. At the foot of the flag is the shoulder flash of the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

Across the top of the face is the motto: "Go For Broke" and below that are the insignia of the segregated, all-Nisei Army units: the famed 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team, as well as lesser-known nisei units, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company, and the 1399th Engineering Construction Battalion.

"Remember Pearl Harbor!" was the unit motto of the 100th Battalion,[4] while "Go for Broke" was that of the 442nd RCT.[5] It has since been adopted as a motto for all of the Japanese-American units formed during World War II.

The monument's main feature, a large inscription on the face, describes how they served even as they were being deprived of their constitutional rights during the period of forced removal and incarceration. This inscription uses the term concentration camps to describe the facilities then officially called relocation centers. The inscription is attributed to 100th Infantry Battalion veteran Ben Tamashiro, best known for his more than 60 appearances in television advertisements for the Bank of Hawaii.[6] According to his 2004 obituary in the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin:

After a nationwide search failed to elicit an appropriate inscription, his former commanding officer — Col. Young Oak Kim, who was in charge of the project — wrote to Tamashiro, according to his daughter. The words Tamashiro sent back were the ones chosen — with a single change. Instead of "internment camps" as he had written, the inscription was changed to "concentration camps."[6]

Interpretive information is available from the Japanese American National Museum and a kiosk beside the monument. Also, the monument is often attended by veterans of the nisei units, who explain the monument and the events of World War II, and answer questions.

Main inscription

GO FOR BROKE – An American Story

Rising to the defense of their country, by the thousands they came – these young Japanese American soldiers from Hawaii, the states, America's concentration camps – to fight in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. Looked upon with suspicion, set apart and deprived of their constitutional rights, they nevertheless remained steadfast and served with indomitable spirit and uncommon valor, for theirs was a fight to prove loyalty. This legacy will serve as a sobering reminder that never again shall any group be denied liberty and the rights of citizenship. – Ben H. Tamashiro[7]

Quotations below the main inscription

"You not only fought the enemy . . . you fought prejudice and won." – President Harry S. Truman as he welcomed the 100/442 RCT home

"Never in military history did an army know as much about the enemy prior to actual engagement" – General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Pacific Theater, referring to the MIS

"My fellow Americans, we gather here today to right a grave wrong . . . now let me sign H.R. 442." – President Ronald Reagan, Civil Liberties Act of 1988

"The Nisei saved countless lives and shortened the war by two years" – Charles A. Willoughby, General MacArthur's Intelligence Officer, referring to the MIS

See also

References
  1. 安倍首相が小東京訪問：日本と日系人の絆を確認 - Rafu Shimpo
  2. 安倍総理大臣の米国訪問（結果） - 外務省
  3. "Go for Broke National Education Center - Preserving the Legacy of the Japanese American Veterans of World War II". Archived from the original on 2010-01-29. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
  4. "100th Infantry Battalion | Densho Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 2013-05-11.
  5. "442nd Regimental Combat Team | Densho Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 2014-04-25.
  6. "Ben Tamashiro, 'Harry' in Bankoh ads, dead at 86 - The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper". the.honoluluadvertiser.com.
  7. "About Us: The Monument - Inscription". Go For Broke National Education Center. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
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