My last blog "Art Lessons #2: The Ripple Effect" shared a lesson my grandma passed to her kids, and I received the story from my Dad’s older sister. These two beloved family members were not the only older adults in my childhood universe who took the time to share just how we might practice our inherent responsibilities to each other in their own personal ways.
Gentle instruction by example was the hallmark of each teacher. Another particularly unforgettable instructor was the late Dr. Minoru Masuda (1915-1980) a professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington in Seattle.
At the outbreak of World War II, Dr. Masuda, was a newly married Seattle resident who had just earned his MA in the field of pharmacology. Following a short stay at the Puyallup Assembly Center and Minadoka Relocation Center in Idaho, the future professor and civil rights activist was recruited by the U.S. Army directly from the wartime interment camp and spent the rest of his military career as a medic with the hard-fighting segregated, celebrated and much decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
The late Dr. Minoru Masuda. Photograph taken during public activities on Sunday, November 25, 1978, connected with the first annual Day of Rememberance in Seattle & Puyallup, WA. (Photo courtesy of Yaz Yambe, copyright 1978.)
Service, Patroitism, Humanity & Character
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team whose motto was "Go For Broke," was an all Asian-American unit put together during World War II and comprised mainly of Japanese-Americans from the islands Hawaii (whose families were not herded into desert internment camps) but included in its numbers a smaller but significant population of mainland soldiers like the doctor who were recruited from behind barbed wire fences.
By the duration of the war, some 14,000 men had become members of the 442nd and fought with considerable distinction on the battlefields in North Africa, Italy, southern France and Germany while becoming the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of the U.S. Army, according to the team's educational website at: www.Goforbroke.org.
Middle aged and older readers may surely recall following the turbulent anti-war protests of the 60’s, there was a growing concern among the adult population most of whom who had lived through the Great Depression and World War II, that patriotic values they had held so dearly appeared to be increasing lacking in sizeable segments of the younger generation. The advent of our nation’s Bicentennial in 1976 offered members of the Seattle Japanese-American community an equal chance to celebrate the evolution and continuation of this great experiment in democracy with the rest of the country.
To that end, a veterans group within the local Japanese-American community, known as the Seattle Nisei Veterans Committee, Inc., took the initiative to sponsor a good old-fashioned essay contest for area young people which would combine traditional values of encouraging those who sought opportunities in higher education and promote taking a moment or two moment to consider the legacy of the many military men from the community who gave their lives or were willing to give their lives to ensure this chance for future generations.
Entrants were asked to submit their thoughts about the linkage of sacrifice, ethnicity and love of country under a title: “What the Bicentennial Means to Me as a Japanese-American.” Professor Masuda was asked to serve as one of the judges. I was somewhat familiar with his name prior to the contest from occasional articles in the newspaper, as his interests in the community were not limited to the area of psychiatry.
The Hopeful Contestant
I entered the essay contest pounding my heart out on the stubborn keys of a second-hand gray Underwood manual typewriter my folks had purchased for me to assist with my pursuit of a major in journalism at the UW’s School of Communications. At the time I had entertained the belief my chances were relatively enhanced by the modest size of this competition and equally no-doubt humble pool of young people who’d be taking time back then to write about patriotism, permitting me to possibly making a good show among the top three papers.
When the finallists were announced, my name was not listed among the favored few. A form letter mailed to all participants invited everyone to celebrate with the Nisei Veterans the accomplishments of the winners who had been invited to read their victorious compositions for all to enjoy.
Mindful that further knowledge of the competition would be instructive if I should enter another essay competition, I determined to go to the meeeting and learn what I could. I was blown away when I discovered that my biggest error in judgement was to have put far too much weight on approaching the essay from a personal viewpoint...
(to be continued)
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