Minnesotans honor the state’s Japanese American veterans
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Generations of military veterans gathered at Fort Snelling’s cemetery today to honor Minnesota’s Japanese American veterans — including 99 people who are buried there.
Many of those 99 trained here, too. Fort Snelling was home to a linguistics school, where about 6,000 people were trained in Japanese language. Those linguists went on to break codes and serve on the front lines, a role that military officials said was crucial in bringing the end to the war.
Edwin “Bud” Nakasone was one of those linguists. As a teenager living in Hawaii, he witnessed the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Soon after — on Christmas Eve, 1947 — he made the move from Hawaii to Minnesota.
He attended today’s ceremony with his son, Paul Nakasone, a retired army general and the former director of the National Security Agency.
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Paul Nakasone wants to recognize stories like his father’s more — particularly given the prejudice and discrimination that Japanese Americans faced, even as they entered the military.
“Sometimes, those are stories we don’t talk a lot about,” Nakasone said.
Former Navy officer Toufong Lor wants to lift up those stories, too. He’s in the process of constructing a veteran’s memorial park in Cannon Falls, where he says he’d like to build a memorial to the Japanese American soldiers who served in World War II.
Lor’s father was recruited to the U.S. military while living in Laos in the 1960s. Lor credits the Japanese American soldiers for paving the way for other Asian Americans, in the military and in civilian life.
“Our Hmong Americans are stepping up because of that foundation, and I’m just really honored that we have veterans before me,” Lor said.
The Japanese American Veterans Memorial program hosted the event ahead of Memorial Day. Lor said he hopes to see more like it, honoring both next week’s holiday and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May.
