Pictured are a sampling of the more than 100 Japanese American veterans who served during the Vietnam War and recorded oral histories for the Japanese American Vietnam Era Archives. Pictured are a sampling of the more than 100 Japanese American veterans who served during the Vietnam War and recorded oral histories for the Japanese American Vietnam Era Archives.
Top row, l-r, with links to individual Library of Congress videos: Dennis Ishiki, tinyurl.com/mvfe5j2u • Kazuo Hosozawa, tinyurl.com/23b47wa9 • Gilbert Ishizu, tinyurl.com/3x7zfenr • Michael M. Nozawa, tinyurl.com/knbc92ue • Eugene Yano, tinyurl.com/ynrvzdjs
Middle row, l-r, with links to individual videos: Dave D. Iwata, tinyurl.com/29sa5aja • Jimmy Iwaki, tinyurl.com/yk7m654m • Chris Segawa, tinyurl.com/vmmzkx3u • Seitaro Miyano, tinyurl.com/yhkce4ev • Miles Ueda, tinyurl.com/4t2ymz3r
Bottom row, l-r, with links to individual videos: Hiroyuki Christopher Taga, tinyurl.com/3kj35xzu • Kenneth Kengo Kaino, tinyurl.com/nh7wrea7 • William Hideo Kamio, tinyurl.com/ye2pr5n5 • Yukikazu Ozaki, tinyurl.com/uc83sfsc • Donald Yoshitada, tinyurl.com/43u48w7p • Don Suehiro, tinyurl.com/y2e8ytvt
Oral history project records reflections,
recollections of (mostly) Sansei servicemen.
By George Toshio Johnston, Senior Editor
Raw, revealing and reflective. Candid, crude and cathartic. Add to that insightful, rueful and nostalgic.
Those are some adjectives that come to mind when viewing and listening to the dozens of recorded-on-video oral histories of Japanese American men who served in the military during the Vietnam War. Those videos are produced by Japanese American Vietnam Era Archives/Asian American Community Media Project and reside within the Library of Congress American Folklife Center’s Veterans History Project Collection.
Although a part of the aforementioned and much larger Veterans History Project, the focus of this particular aspect — mostly Sansei or Sansei adjacent — from JAVEA was inspired by similar oral history projects from other Japanese American community nonprofits like Densho and Go for Broke National Education Center.
Other JA Veterans news: Keeping the Aloha Spirit Alive (Nov. 1, 2024)
Other JA Veterans news: BBC to Tell 442 Saga as a Podcast (Nov. 1, 2024)
Important as GFBNEC’s Hanashi oral history project is, for example, its focus was on Nisei vets who served during World War II, either as members of the Military Intelligence Service or the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team. The two principals behind JAVEA — Don Bannai and George Wada, both also Sansei — began the undertaking knowing that members of their generation who had served during or survived the Vietnam War also had stories, recollections and ruminations that needed to be recorded for posterity. After all, many in that cohort are now in their 70s and 80s.
Japanese American Vietnam Era Archives co-founders George Wada and Don Bannai. In November 2022, they began the oral history project that comprised recording Japanese Americans and others in that age range who served in the military during the Vietnam War. More than 100 interviews have been conducted. (Photo: George Toshio Johnston)
“These guys were the ones that established the Sansei culture,” said Wada. “When I came along in the ’70s, there was Asian American studies, dances and all this other stuff. They were the ones that created all that.” Compared with compiling a record of the Nisei generation, however, getting the story of this slice of the Sansei was lacking, he said. “These guys were pretty much ignored.”
Fortunately, there were a couple of extant entities that helped JAVEA get off the ground. One was Visual Communications’ Digital Histories initiative, which began in 2003 as a means to support “underserved, ethnic-minority seniors in the Los Angeles-based Asian Pacific American community” by helping to train participants in the fundamentals of documentary filmmaking using modern technology. One of the benefits of VC’s Digital Histories, according to Bannai, is that it gives people like George and himself the opportunity to learn about the tools and craft of making the videos.
The other piece was the Buddhahead Breakfast Club (see Nov. 3, 2023, Pacific Citizen), which began two decades ago as a way for Japanese Americans who served during the Vietnam War to get together and in the present day, provided a pool of (mostly) willing subjects.
With those pieces in place, plus the timing, the trickle down of technology and the necessary teamwork between Bannai and Wada needed to produce the videos, JAVEA made its first recording in November 2022. They also had support from some members of the BBC.
“We’re incredibly fortunate that we’ve got some cheerleaders, and I’m going to single out some by name: David Miyoshi, Ken Hayashi, Chris Segawa, who are Vietnam era vets,” said Bannai. With their prompting and help, JAVEA became “official,” getting nonprofit status under the umbrella of the nonprofit Asian American Community Media Project.
According to Wada, the Library of Congress provides the framework, i.e., questions, but modified “to adjust to the Japanese American community.” For example, one question that gets asked is whether a vet spent time as a youngster “in camp,” referring to the federally run concentration camps during WWII. It turns out that many did, with some having been born in a camp.
Thus far, more than 100 sessions have been recorded, with 52 having been posted to the Library of Congress website and 46 sent and awaiting publication.
The duo also recognized the assistance of the City of Lomita, the City of Monterey Park and the Monterey Park Historic Society Museum for providing space for the recording sessions. As for the division of labor, all of the interviews have been conducted by Wada, with Bannai noting that “interviewing is more art than science.” “I’m more the technical side,” Wada said. Don, meantime, is more on the “business” side. “He’s very good with people. I’m an engineer.”
Some veterans, however, have nevertheless resisted Bannai’s requests to be recorded. “Some of them don’t want to revisit that time period because they’ve compartmentalized it,” Bannai said. “They’ve moved on.”
As noted, the timing for the JAVEA project was right. Each vet, it seems, needed to be at the right stage of life to be able to look back and reassess their lives as active duty military, including combat, from decades ago. “One of the things that is real interesting to us is how many people never talked about their experience,” Bannai said.
Adding to that, Wada said, “I would say it’s one-hundred percent cathartic for every one of them because there are common responses. ‘I’ve never talked about this before.’ ‘I’ve never explained this to my family.’ That, to me, is the most amazing part.”
Another common theme was whether to serve. “Every person, every male in that generation had to somehow deal with the draft, make a choice,” said Wada. “Do they go to school to get a deferment? Make decisions to move to Canada — or do I join the Air Force or Navy instead of going Army? Our goal is to have a complete picture of everyone in that generation.”
Bannai noted also the unspoken familial pressure some vets felt, having had fathers or uncles who served in the 442nd. For some, there was no question: They had to go to Vietnam.
Now, there is also a sense of urgency that Wada and Bannai share, knowing that “these guys are starting to pass away.”
As for their ongoing commitment to JAVEA/AACOMP, Bannai said, “We didn’t think we were going to be doing it this long.” Wada added, “We’re not spring chickens, either, right?”
At this point, they are keeping their involvement open ended. For now, though, they are continuing with producing more oral histories as word about this project disseminates across the JA Vietnam veterans community.
More videos with links: Kiyo Fukumoto, tinyurl.com/c8tez8jw • Bryan Lee Griebenow, tinyurl.com/4ece42yk • Kenneth Sadao Hayashi, tinyurl.com/52cmvfd9 • Leroy Kawai, tinyurl.com/nd782s43 • John G. Masaki, tinyurl.com/bdf85hk7 • Kenneth K. Mui, tinyurl.com/9wuau5xm • Ronald K. Murakami, tinyurl.com/4u44fcnk • Michael W. Nakasone, tinyurl.com/4mryraz8 • Gary N. Sakata, tinyurl.com/46adnz7f • Mark Ken Sasaki, tinyurl.com/47yr9rfy • Yooji Ron Shintani, tinyurl.com/46yf4wnc • Cory Shiozaki, tinyurl.com/2we78nh9 • Yasuo Steven Taketomo, tinyurl.com/bd656dnm • Ronald H. Tasaki, tinyurl.com/2s4hj3e5 • Toshiro Yoshida, tinyurl.com/mu5sjabv
