HONOLULU — Hundreds of Japanese- American veterans of World War II were honored Saturday with a parade in Honolulu — nearly 70 years after they volunteered to fight for their country even as the government branded them “enemy aliens.”
About 200 veterans rode in convertibles, troop carriers and trolleys past a cheering crowd of tourists, family and residents. The event celebrates the Congressional Gold Medal the veterans received last month.
Thousands of Japanese-Americans served in World War II even as the government viewed them with suspicion because their ancestors were from the country that bombed Pearl Harbor. Some on the mainland enlisted from internment camps, where the federal government had imprisoned 110,000 Japanese-Americans.
Two-thirds of the Japanese-Americans who served were from Hawaii. Fragile health prevented many of the surviving veterans — the youngest of whom are in their 80s — from traveling to Washington, D.C., for a ceremony at which the medal was presented.
The medal recognizes the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion, which together saw some of the most brutal fighting during the war in Europe. The Associated Press
