July 2019
On Saturday, July 27, 2019, I was fortunate to attend the Nisei Veterans Summer Special held at the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans Education Center. There were some Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) in attendance as well as their children, grandchildren, or other relatives and friends. As I toured the center and then sat down to listen to the speakers and the reading of “Okaasan”, I was struck by a similarity between the 100th Infantry Battalion and the Kiwanis. The Kiwanis Mission is that “Kiwanis empowers communities to improve the world by making lasting differences in the lives of children.” I think the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team “improved the world by making lasting differences in the lives of children” when they fought gallantly and became “the most decorated unit for its size and length of service.” These soldiers fought “...two wars, the war against the Germans in Europe and the war against racial prejudice in America.” These soldiers battled against all odds to improve the world for future generations, like ours, so we can live, work, and enjoy the freedoms that did not exist prior to the war. These soldiers truly made lasting differences and although we are not at war, we, the Kiwanis, continue tirelessly to “empower communities to improve the world by making lasting differences in the lives of children,” one community and one child at a time.
~ Judy Watanabe