Recently, Retired General Eric Shinseki, former U.S. Army Chief of Staff, spent two days with the
Go For Broke National Education Center. During that time, he talked about the importance of the role that every soldier plays in executing a mission and the significance of each individual's story or account to fully understand what took place. Without each soldier's eyes and ears, one can never understand what happens in the field. His words drew on the value of our Hanashi Oral History Program, as its goal is to capture as many veterans' stories as possible so that we could properly piece together the entire story of the 100/442, MIS and those who served in others units. Contributions made by veterans such as Min Sueda, who served in the 232nd Combat Engineer Company, are important pieces of the entire puzzle though rarely discussed. The 232nd supported the 100/442nd RCT by clearing roads, delivering supplies, evacuating wounded, to name a few things they did to ensure the safety of the regiment. We invite you to read the article and click on the video clip from the Hanashi archives to learn more about Min Sueda's service during World War II.

Sincerely,
Christine Sato-Yamazaki
Executive Director & President

"Preserve the Legacy" – a five-week fundraising campaign of the Go For Broke National Education Center – launched October 5 and ends November 16. Its purpose is to raise $200,000 to fund acceleration of the Hanashi Oral History Program. (See "Program Highlight" on Hanashi background.) The Hanashi program uniquely preserves the legacy of the Nisei WWII veterans – the Japanese American members of our nation's "greatest generation."

Go For Broke seeks donations to accelerate the videotaping of veteran life history interviews. These remarkable men and women are in their 80s. It's a race against time to capture and preserve their stories for future generations. As they pass on, so too, does this important chapter of American history. To date, we have 740 interviews. Our goals are to transcribe, catalogue, and capture 500 more by 2010.

Click here to donate now!

"Hanashi" means "talk" or "story" in Japanese. As the Go For Broke National Education Center's preservation initiative, the Hanashi Oral History Program records the life histories of Japanese American veterans who served in the United States military during World War II. These rich stories are used in developing educational resources and articles, such as the story in this edition of "eTorch" on 232nd Combat Engineer Company veteran Minori Sueda, and select media projects such as Go For Broke's documentary, "A Tradition of Honor," which utilized more than 40 interviews from the Hanashi archive.

The time to capture their stories is now! Nisei veterans are 80 years of age and older and their stories must be preserved. When they pass on, so will this important chapter of American history. To ensure the oral histories are diverse and representative of the entire Nisei WWII veteran story, Hanashi travels...