We must remember Pearl Harbor

Thank you Lt. USNR, Stanley C. Parks for your letter about Pearl Harbor and World War II (“Why Americans must never forget Pearl Harbor,” Dec. 15). Indeed, Pearl Harbor must never be forgotten.

My dad was a young volunteer in the United States Army in Hawaii at the time of Pearl Harbor. He was Japanese American, born in Hawaii, which was then a United States territory. He was on guard duty that morning, December 7, 1941, and saw the Japanese planes flying and saw the bombs drop. His loyalty was to the United States of America. He was prepared to defend Hawaii against Japan .

He and his Army buddies were Japanese Americans. They were taken to Wisconsin and Mississippi for overseas training and deployed to Italy and France to fight for America. They were the 100th Infantry Battalion, all Nisei (second-generation Japanese American). The 100th Infantry Battalion joined with the 442nd Infantry Regiment (the famous “Go For Broke” regiment). This regiment rescued the Texas 77th Division troop in France (the Lost Battalion).

Many Nisei soldiers lost their lives during the war. My dad was wounded. They were all heroes and were awarded the Purple Heart and other medals.

While all this was happening, thousands of Japanese Americans on the west coast of the United States were being imprisoned in internment camps in Idaho, Wyoming, Arkansas, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and California. My relatives were some of those imprisoned. Many of the men in the internment camps volunteered to join the United States Army, did their basic training and became the 442nd Infantry Regiment.

So yes, we must never forget Pearl Harbor and December 7, 1941.

Patti Nosaka Osebold

Spokane