When I was young, my mother exhorted all of us to apply extra elbow grease to our final house cleaning of the year so that a spotless home would welcome the good spirits for the new year.

At GFBNEC, we took advantage of the quiet waning days of December to do likewise at our office. Our staff and Hanashi Oral History project volunteers unpacked boxes (that had been sitting patiently since our June office move), sorted, labeled, filed, cleaned and organized.

Perhaps my mother was on to something because some very good spirits have swept into our door. The year of the dragon started auspiciously as we received word from the Aratani Foundation of their generous support of our 2012 initiatives (next story).

Sadly, last year ended with news of the passing of Grant Hirabayashi. Coincidentally, we had just granted permission for a publisher to use excerpts of Mr. Hirabayashi's Hanashi interview for an upcoming textbook. His passing underscores the urgency our Hanashi Oral History project to capture the wisdom and reflections of these men before they have all passed from our midst.

To that end, long-time Hanashi volunteers will be hosting an "Introduction to Hanashi" workshop and we invite all interested to reserve a spot on either Saturday, February 11 or Sunday, February 12 for this one-day workshop (details below).

On behalf of the GFBNEC board of directors and staff, we wish all of you a prosperous and fulfilling 2012.

Warm regards,

Don Nose
President

*CORRECTION* - Sumimasen deshita (our apologies for an error)

February 2012 - In our January eTorch, we mistakenly referred to GrantHirabayashi (who passed away in November 2010), when we meant to acknowledge the recent passing of Gordon Hirabayashi, in January 2012.

Grant Hirabayashi, an MIS veteran and member of the famed Merrill’s Marauders, was a driving force of the Japanese American Veterans Association. It was always a joy to watch him in his presentation to students.

Gordon Hirabayashi will be remembered for the courage of his convictions, as he refused to submit to the order for all people of Japanese ethnicity to evacuate from the West Coast in 1942. Four decades later, he was vindicated when a US court determined that the government’s internment policies had been based on political expediency, and not a risk to national security.

Both gentlemen will long be remembered for their contributions to their country.

Our thanks to the Aratani Foundation for its generous grant of $50,000 to support our initiatives in 2012.

"We are very grateful to the Aratani Foundation for their support of our 2012 initiatives," said Don Nose. "These funds will help us to accelerate the video recording of oral histories of Nisei veterans, with an emphasis on life stories that add a unique or significantdimension to our Hanashi Oral History collection; transcribe the interviews in our Hanashi Oral History collection; and expand and enhance our educationalcurriculum."

Ever wondered what being a Hanashi volunteer is all about?

If so, please join us on Saturday, February 11 OR Sunday, February 12 (same workshop repeated), as long-time Hanashi volunteers host an "Introduction to Hanashi" workshop at our office beginning at 10 am.

The first three hours will be spent discussing the nuts and bolts of a Hanashi video shoot: how to set up the cameras and lights; the roles of the interviewer, camera person, audio person, cataloguer; the most common do's and don'ts.

After lunch we'll turn on the lights, roll the cameras and do a real-life interview of a Nisei veteran so workshop attendees can watch – and participate – in a recording session.

There's no obligation – so come and see what it's all about and decide for yourself if you would like to volunteer your time and talents to this project.

For more information, and to make reservations, please email hanashi@goforbroke.org.

On January 18th, Honolulu veterans Don Matsuda (100th), Rev. Yoshiaki Fujitani (MIS), Ron Oba (442nd), and Ted Tsukiyama (442, MIS) gathered at the 100th Infantry Battalion Clubhouse to talk via videoconferencing technology with a high school class in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Greenwich HS teacher Margarita David shared how this cross-country/cross-Pacific exchange came about:

"As November 11, 2011 approached, I considered the responsibility that all Americans have to acknowledge our veterans. So much of my insight regarding military service came from studying the Pacific War during National Endowment for the Humanities Seminars at the East West Center (in Honolulu) in the summers of 2009 and 2011.

We've been asked to get the word out that several organizations in the Los Angeles area are planning a celebration for the MIS/100/442 Veterans who were unable to attend the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony in Washington DC last year or any other regional celebration.

Planning and fund raising efforts have just started and a date and venue for the event will be announced soon.

If you are interested in attending the event, please provide your name, address, phone number, e-mail address and unit/company (or state your relationship to a Veteran such as widow, next of kin, friend, etc) to: Ms. Sandy Koyama, Ph# (310) 216-0321, e-mail: sandykoy2@yahoo.com.

Another creative product of our Hanashi Oral History collection is a soon-to-be released short film entitled "VVV: In Their Own Words" that uses clips from veteran interviews to tell the story of the formation, service, and dissolution of the Varsity Victory Volunteers.

In the hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, ROTC cadets at the University of Hawaii were called back to the campus, issued World War I rifles with five bullets and sent out to guard critical military installations throughout Oahu.

A month later, all soldiers of Japanese descent were called back to HQ and expelled from service because of their ethnicity. They petitioned the military governor of the Territory of Hawaii and were allowed to form a civilian labor battalion, nicknamed the Varsity Victory Volunteers (VVV). They dug ditches, built roads and military installations, strung barbed wire, and broke rocks in a mountain pass quarry.

Award-winning author Kristina McMorris is the daughter of a Japanese immigrant father and Caucasian American mother. Her new book, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves (scheduled for release on February 28), is a fictional account of the little-known fact that roughly 200 non-Japanese spouses voluntarily lived in incarceration centers during World War II.

In her early stages of research, Kristina explains, "I was in the midst of researching for my second novel, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, when I stumbled across the Go For Broke National Education Center's website.

"At the time, inspired by a true account, I knew my WWII love story would spotlight a Caucasian woman who, refusing to be separated from her Japanese American husband, would choose to voluntarily live in a relocation camp; and that her husband, to prove his allegiance to America, would enlist in the U.S. military. Being half Japanese myself, I was excited to explore such rare perspectives that I believe need to be told.