This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
This year's Day of Remembrance will be the biggest in memory for Utahns of Japanese descent.
More than 900 people have already registered for a luncheon on Saturday, and organizers have had to switch locations twice to accommodate the expected crowd, said Raymond Uno, chairman of the organizing committee. The luncheon now is planned for the Grand Ballroom at Grand America Hotel.
Some 50 Japanese-American veterans of World War II will be feted and given U.S. Mint-prepared bronze replicas of the nation's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.
Only 10 Utah veterans were able to travel to Washington when the medal was bestowed on them and fellow Nisei veterans in early November. Some vets also were awarded bronze medals.
This Remembrance Day is especially significant because Feb. 19 is the 70th anniversary of the day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order sending all Japanese-Americans living along the West Coast inland. Most of the 120,000 were sent to internment camps; Topaz, near Delta, began operating in September 1942.
Japan had attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor the previous December, and the nation's leaders questioned Japanese-Americans' loyalty.
Thousands of young Japanese-American men enlisted in the U.S. military and played key roles in the European and South Pacific theaters, even as their families were sent to the camps. They were in the segregated 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team as well as the Military Intelligence Service.
Organizers from the three Utah chapters of the Japanese American Citizens League have been working for months on the luncheon, which will feature an extensive display of World War II era photographs, presented by the J. Willard Marriot Library, Special Collections.
The keynote speaker will be Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Vincent H. Okamoto, the most highly decorated Japanese American survivor of the Vietnam War, according to a Steve Fukushima, a member of the organizing committee.
"This is sort of an educational thing, not only for our [Japanese-American] community but the whole community," said Uno, a retired 3rd District judge.
Japanese-Americans sacrificed much in that period; many lost their homes, their farms and their sons to war. "The experience," said Uno, "made these people stronger and more dedicated to making sure this type of thing doesn't happen again."
The response to this year's luncheon, centered on honoring the veterans, has been "overwhelming," Uno said.
"We started at Little America, thinking if we got 400 people we would be lucky," he said. It was moved to a bigger ballroom at Grand America and then moved again to one that can accommodate 950. Organizers will cram in more tables, if necessary, to accommodate those who sign up in the final week, he said. —
Register for Utah Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony
To register or get more information about the Utah Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony, go to the Japanese American Citizens League website, http://www.jacl-utah.org or to the Utah 100th/442nd/MIS Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony page on Facebook. The National JACL Credit Union also has information, 801-424-5225.
The ceremony honoring Japanese-American veterans of World War II will be at Grand America Hotel, 555 S. Main St., in Salt Lake City on Feb. 18. An exhibit of photos will open at 11:30 a.m., the luncheon will be from noon to 1 p.m. and the program will be from 1-2:30 p.m.