80th Anniversary of 100th/442nd liberation of Bruyères/Biffontaine
The National Veteran Network live streamed on Instagram in October, the events of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Bruyères and Biffontaine along with the rescue of the Lost Battalion. Local Medal of Honor recipient James Okubo’s canteen is amongst the artifacts from the battle. It was found a decade ago in a local village communal oven.
Here is the direct link to the Instagram story of this year’s post: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17970085988655965/
NVC Newsletter Mailing Volunteers Needed
Our valued and hard-working newsletter crew has notified us that they would like to retire at the end of this year. All are in the 70’s and 80’s and they would love to help new volunteers to get up to speed over the next few months. Please email me at info@seattlenvc.org or call my mobile number at 206-953-2233 if have questions or know someone who would like to help us keep the hardcopy newsletter going!
NVC Hall and the Seattle City Council
The clean-up of the park next to NVC Hall by the city with 4x per week cleaning has had a significant effect on the park appearance and the change in the neighborhood. Let’s hope the work continues.
National Archives and Records Administration
U.S. Archivist Colleen Shogan, who leads the NARA which oversees government documents, photos and records, has instructed employees to erase references to Japanese American incarceration from education materials, and ordered the removal of Dorothea Lange’s photos of WRA incarceration camps from a planned exhibit at the National Archives Museum. JA history is not the only one being targeted for this whitewashing. As our mission includes the “historical preservation and sharing of the legacy of the Japanese American soldiers of World War II” we need to be ever vigilant on those who would work to erase the “ugly” parts of American history to have them happen all over again to others.
Tom Kometani
Personal apologies to the family of our late Past Commander, Tom Kometani. I volunteered to say a few words of remembrance at Tom’s service this past month and embarrassed myself and the NVC by missing the date. It was on my mind and on my calendar. I can only apologize to Tom’s family and thank Keith Yamaguchi for doing the flag presentation.
Tom was always one of the kindest and friendliest people at every event I attended. He was a hard-working NVC Commander, and I was impressed with his work with the JACL as part of the redress effort.
As you would expect, Tom’s kindness was inherited by his family. Susan Kometani-Dittmann, to whom I had committed, was very gracious. My sincere apologies again.