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Supporters say despite rejection they will continue to work toward honoring Japanese American World War II veterans.
By Nalea J. Ko, Reporter
Published on February 19, 2010
Nisei veteran Jimmie Kanaya remembers how Issei parents would watch their children go off to fight in World War II from behind barbed wire fences.
Many, he said, displayed a blue-star flag in their front windows, waiting in vain for their children to return. When they did not, a flag with a gold star was placed in their windows.
“There was no way to fight back at being termed a ‘yellow Jap’, but to enter combat and be willing to give our all for the sake of our family, reputation and our country,” Kanaya explained about serving in WWII. “Some 800 young men in their prime gave their all so that those of us who survived can return to our rightful place in our society, heads held high and without shame or remorse.”
Over 30,000 Japanese Americans like Kanaya served in WWII. The Japanese American WWII Veterans Commemorative Stamp Campaign has been pushing for years to honor JAs like Kanaya with a commemorate postage stamp.
It has been a long wait for Kanaya and other Nisei veterans. The latest proposal for a Nisei veterans stamp was rejected. The reason: the U.S. Postal Service’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee’s policy against honoring separate military sub-branches, units or divisions.
Instead the committee, which works on behalf of the postmaster general to evaluate stamp proposals, suggested creating a stamp honoring the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism in Washington, D.C. But some supporters of the Nisei vets stamp disagree with creating a stamp to honor the memorial.
“It’s not a military memorial,” said Gerald Yamada, Nisei veterans stamp project liaison for the Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA). “So just to take a Japanese American memorial and say, ‘Let’s convert this into a military memorial’ I think diverts the purpose for the memorial itself and it takes away from the internees.”
Although it has been years since the campaign for a Nisei veterans stamp began, supporters said they would continue to fight indefinitely to honor the JAs who served in the war.
“The grassroots campaign to honor these veterans from our community will continue for as long as it takes. We have actually been a campaign for about six years total,” explained Wayne Osako, co-chair and coordinator of the campaign. “Stamp campaigns are typically a very long process. We must be prepared to just keep going until the Postal Service says ‘yes.’”
Preserving a Legacy
Since the proposal for a Nisei vets stamp has been turned down, supporters are now focusing their efforts on changing the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) informal policy against issuing stamps for individual units, branches or divisions.
The strategy is to appeal to the postmaster general, who overrules the advisory committee, to stop using this informal policy, said Yamada. He is scheduled to make a presentation to the National Military Veterans Alliance on Feb. 22, outlining the strategy and asking for its members’ support.
“If the alliance agrees to it, then hopefully they’ll sign on to the letter (on their letterhead) and send a letter into the post master general,” Yamada added. The letter will be copied to the president, secretary of defense and secretary of veterans affairs.
Some said the USPS policy unfairly excludes Nisei veterans. Ken Akune, 86, who served in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) in the Pacific said he has seen stamps honoring individuals, military branches, units and divisions. He questioned why a Nisei veterans stamp could not be made.
Akune said he could imagine what he would do with such a stamp.
“It would be nice to pass it out,” he said.
Others are also thinking about the significance of having the commemorative stamp.
“Getting a Nisei veterans stamp will mean so much to us, especially the WWII veterans, who are dying at a very fast pace,” said Grant Ichikawa, an MIS veteran. “To me, every time someone pastes the stamp on an envelope, he or she would be saying ‘thank you’ to the Nisei WWII veterans.”
Although the Nisei veterans continue to wait for a stamp, sailors from War World I were honored by the USPS. On Feb. 4 the USPS issued the ‘Distinguished Sailors’ stamps to commemorate the service of William S. Sims, Arleigh A. Burke, John McCloy and Doris Miller. Proponents of the Nisei vets stamp said the same should be done to honor the JAs.
“The [Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee] has in the past supported similar stamps which honor veterans groups: Hispanic Americans: A Proud Heritage (1984) and Buffalo Soldiers (1994),” Osako said, adding that the stamp committee altered its policy in 1994.
The JACL is also supporting the campaign’s decision to change the USPS policy, explained JACL National President Larry Oda.
“The NVSC [Nisei Veterans Stamp Committee] argument is that the World War II Nisei soldiers served in different branches of the military, and their accomplishments are unmatched in history and are encouraging our coalition partners to support the effort,” Oda explained in an e-mail to the Pacific Citizen. A resolution to consider supporting the memorial stamp was on the February agenda for the JACL National Board meeting. The agenda item was removed at the request of the resolution author, Oda said, and asked to be postponed and reconsidered at the convention.
About 50,000 stamp proposals are submitted to the stamp committee annually. Osako said he resubmitted a Nisei veterans stamp proposal Oct. 23. Supporters said they are prepared to continue the campaign indefinitely.
“I think what it may eventually, hopefully take is for the postmaster general to say, ‘No we can’t use this informal policy.’” Yamada continued, “Even though the proposal has been turned down, there’s no prohibition to resubmitting it.”
Veterans like Kanaya said they would like to see a stamp created not to honor any particular units, person or event, but to honor Nisei veterans who served during a trying time in the United States. While the campaign continues, Kanaya is already planning on what he would do with his stamps.
“I would purchase it and cherish it as a memento of a very trying period in my lifetime,” he said.
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