'Go For Broke': New Stamp Honors World War II Service Of Japanese Americans
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — As Asian American Pacific Islander history month comes to a close and Memorial Day approaches, the U.S. Postal Service has unveiled a new stamp honoring the service of Japanese American World War II veterans.
The "Go For Broke" stamp was designed by Antonio Alcala and is based on a photo taken in 1944 at a railroad station in France of a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat team.
Japanese Americans who fought in World War II were particularly committed to proving themselves, even as their families were held in internment camps back home.
"For a time after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, second-generation Japanese Americans were subjected to increased scrutiny and prejudice because of their heritage," according to the U.S. Postal Service.
Some 33,000 Japanese Americans served in the U.S. Army during World War II, including as translators, interpreters and interrogators in the Pacific theater; in the 1399th Engineering Construction Battalion, and more than 100 women who joined the Women's Army Corp.
The commemorative stamp honors a regiment of second-generation Japanese Americans, also known as nisei, for becoming one of the most distinguished American fighting units of World War II. The all-Japanese American 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team's motto was "Go For Broke."
The "Go For Broke" stamp is being issued as one of the postal service's Forever stamps, and will be unveiled at the Japanese American National Museum on June 4.