May has been a month of great events by members and guests and I especially want to mention two that stood out to me.
One is the Nisei Luncheon that had a significant additional set of guests – C Company, 100th-442nd Infantry Regiment. This is a U.S. Army Reserve unit that is based at JBLM. Yes, they share the famous unit number. The commander and XO wanted to educate their unit on the history of the WWII unit. The timing of the visit worked out so that in addition to the tour, they were able to enjoy the Nisei Luncheon hospitality as well. Keith’s article does a great job of talking about it and includes a link to a video of Charlie Company singing their unit song. Check it out!
The other event was a tour of NVC Memorial Hall that I was honored to conduct for two members of the Seattle City Council who are also veterans themselves. Rob Saka, District 1, which includes West Seattle, is an Air Force veteran, and Robert Kettle, District 7, is a Navy veteran and served in Iraq around the same time as Past Commander Walt Tanimoto.
Also attending were Rob Saka’s chief of staff, Elaine Ko, Steven Smith on Robert Kettle’s staff, and several others including Alyson Teeter, Commander, VFW Post 3063 in Ballard, which boasts Robert Kettle as a member. They were interested, knowledgeable, and took the time to hear about NVC and the generations of our vets. Linh Thai was also part of the group, and we had a discussion after the tour regarding the challenges of the neighborhood. I hope and believe that this firsthand look at the NVC as well as the local setting will be at least a part of their thinking as they make plans for Seattle.
By the time you read this, I hope you will have attended the 79th Annual Memorial Day at Lake View Cemetery.
