Japanese American soldiers honored with exhibit in San Francisco's Presidio

"SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Touring the exhibit "I am an American, The Nisei Soldier Experience," is a personal journey for curator Christine Sato-Yamazaki. Her grandfather earned a bronze star serving with the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War 2. But she believes visitors to this exhibit opening at the San Francisco's Presidio, may all leave with a similar sense of connection. And an intimate understanding, not only of who these young soldiers were, but what they were feeling."

"I had the opportunity to do a lot of oral histories with these veterans, and we would ask that question, why did you serve? You know, when your family is behind barbed wire or when your country is looking upon you with suspicion? And it's amazing because these veterans said, well, it's because I wanted to prove my loyalty to this country. You know, they were part of the Greatest Generation when everybody was stepping up,"

Christine Sato-Yamazaki curates "I am an American, The Nisei Soldier Experience" at the Presidio, drawing on personal family history and veterans' oral histories. The exhibit traces Japanese immigrant arrival in the 1890s, everyday life, and cultural connections such as Japanese American baseball players pictured with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The narrative moves to the World War II internment of thousands of Japanese Americans and the subsequent decision by many young Nisei to volunteer for military service. Veterans commonly reported enlisting to prove loyalty while families faced incarceration. The exhibit is housed in building 640, the Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center.

Read at ABC7 San Francisco