Go For Broke
Was the motto of the 442nd Infantry Regiment of the United States Army, the most decorated unit for its size in U.S. Military history. During WWII, its members were primarily of Nisei men – American-born citizens born to first generation Japanese American immigrants. For Mid-Willamette Valley veterans of this regiment, while they were giving all for their country on the battlefields of Europe, their families had been forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in camps.
Learn More about the 442nd here.
In 2017, the WHC started researching local veterans of the 442nd as part of an exhibit and partnership with the Go For Broke National Education Center (GFBNEC) in Los Angeles. Part of the work of the GFBNEC was the creation of and care for the Go For Broke Monument which commemorates the more than 16,000 Japanese American men and women who served during the war.
Research at the WHC is ongoing, but below are biographies of a few Mid-Willamette Valley members of the 442nd and other units memorialized on the Go for Broke Monument in Los Angeles.
Learn more about the Go for Broke National Education Center
Search the names on the Go for Broke Monument in Los Angeles in their Name Locator
442nd Regimental Combat Team in France. Photo Source: Army Center for Military History file Photo.
Mid-Willamette Valley Veterans of the 442nd
Oregon Statesman. January 5, 1945.
Birth: 6 Aug 1916, Logan, Colorado
Death: 10 January 1999 Salem, Marion, Oregon
Rank: Private
Burial: City View Cemetery
See George Ishida’s name in listing of personnel from Company I, 442nd here: http://www.the442.org/ under Personnel Roster.
Birth: 18 Aug 1917, Hood River, Oregon
Death: 6 July 1944, Italy KIA
Residence: Lake Labish
Rank: Private
Burial: Golden Gate National Cemetery. (Moved 1949 from Army Cemetery in Italy)
Read John Kyono Biography here.
John Kyono’s Name in National Archives Records Administration (NARA) list of Oregon War Casualties:
1936 Salem High School Yearbook Photo
Birth: 22 Oct 1918, Multnomah Co., Oregon
Death: 15 Apr 2004, Minnesota
Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
Burial: Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota
Listen to Tom Oye’s own memories through Concordia University’s Oral History Project here: https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/oral-history_ww2/171/
Birth:13 Jul 1925 Salem, Marion, Oregon
Death: 7 Aug 2007
Rank: Sergeant
Burial: City View Cemetery, Salem, Marion, Oregon
See Tom Yoshikai in Uniform here: Tom Yoshikai Uniform.https://www.willametteheritage.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=13417&action=edit#
Death: 7 Aug 2007
Enlistment Date: 23 Mar 1942, Portland, Oregon
Burial: City View Cemetery, Salem, Marion, Oregon
Mid-Willamette Valley Veterans of MIS (Military Intelligence Service)
Birth: 5 Oct 1917 Salem, Marion, Oregon
Death: 12 Aug 2004
Burial: National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl.
Birth:5 Feb 1925 Salem, Marion, Oregon
Death: 25 May 2009, Seattle, Washington
Read Obituary: https://bonneywatson.com/obituary/joe-josaku-yada/
Ko Yada, 1938 Salem High School Yearbook (Sophomore Class)
Birth: 2 Oct 1922, Salem, Marion, Oregon
Death: 7 August 2007, Oregon
Burial: Riverview Mausoleum and Crematory, Portland, Oregon
Mid-Willamette Valley Veterans of Women’s Army Corps (WAC)
Are there biographies missing? Have we made a mistake? Please let us know!
In 2013, the Grand Marshall of Kingsburg’s famous Swedish Festival was Robert Yano. Mr. Yano and his family were forced to leave their farm and were incarcerated in the Gila River, Arizona concentration camp. Mr. Yano joined the 4d Regimental Combat Team, and fought in Europe. His experiences, and those of his family, are featured along with accounts of Mats Ando, who served in the military and returned to the farm he was forced to leave with his family.
Please add the names of my sister in laws. They are picture in the book, Neisei, The Quiet American. Their names were Emiko Tanada and Rose Tanada.
They served as WACs’. Emiko’s married Ichida, and Rose’s married name was Michigami.
Hi Heidi, Thank you for connecting us with their names!