Hood River, Ore., Post 22 Commander: “All veterans have earned and deserve our gratitude and respect.”
As World War II raged across the Pacific Ocean and in Europe, Legionnaires in Oregon tried to hide the heroism of Japanese-American soldiers from their community who served and fought for the United States. But on Veterans Day 2025, Hood River American Legion Post 22 led veterans, families, dignitaries and community members in long-awaited salute to their service and sacrifice, building on efforts in recent years to make amends for what transpired 81 years ago.
“All veterans have earned and deserve our gratitude and respect,” Post 22 Commander Carl Casey said in opening remarks. “We hope that we will learn from the past mistakes to ensure that they are not repeated.”
Casey was referring to the events of Nov. 29, 1944, when members of Post 22 removed the names of 16 Nisei soldiers – all U.S. citizens – from an honor roll of Hood River County residents who were serving in World War II “solely because of their Japanese heritage.” And while Tuesday’s Veterans Day service was dedicated to all Oregon Nisei veterans, Post 22 particularly “wanted to honor these 16 because of the injustice that was done to them,” Casey said. “And hopefully it will never happen again.”
The removal of the Nisei soldiers’ names was soon followed by more than 1,800 local residents signing a petition saying Japanese-Americans are not wanted in Hood River, writer and retired professor Linda Tamura told the audience packed into the River of Life Assembly Church for Tuesday’s ceremony. “But we can rise above our past.
“We wish all our grandparents and parents could actually be here today with us,” Tamura said, noting these first- and second-generation Japanese-Americans didn’t talk about the racism and hatred they faced. “They didn’t want to worry us – or maybe make us to feel less than optimistic about what our futures could hold.”
But Hood River and Oregon have changed.
“Today, we have a gift for them,” Tamura said. “We’re working together with our communities and the state of Oregon to honor our Nisei veterans. We’re addressing the adversity they faced. And we’re ready to tell stories that they were reluctant to share.”
Tamura’s father Harry served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and her uncle, Mamoru Noji, served with the Military Intelligence Service in the South Pacific. They were among the 33,000 Nisei who served in the U.S. military – 433 of whom were from Oregon, “yet not always welcome home,” said Tamura, author of “Nisei Soldiers Break Their Silence: Coming Home to Hood River.” The soldiers’ families were among 120,000 Japanese Americans who were uprooted from their West Coast homes and sent to incarceration camps.
“What my Issei (first generation) and Nisei (second generation) family endured resulted in a generational trauma that still resonates to this day,” said Eric Ballinger, a descendant and one of the ceremony speakers. “The generations in front of me, the Gosei – my daughter’s generation – inspire and motivate me to continue to share this history and to change the narrative to one of pride, honor and healing.” It’s a history that includes Ballinger’s grandfather, Harry Morioka, who served as an interpreter in with the Military Intelligence Service during World War II. And his great uncle, Shig Hinatsu, a soldier with the 442nd Infantry Regiment, was wounded during the battle to rescue the 141st “Lost Battalion” in France’s rugged Vosges Mountains in late 1944.
Tuesday’s ceremony also included tributes from former Oregon governor and Marine Corps veteran Ted Kulongoski, who highlighted the stories of two Oregon Nisei veterans who gave their lives in World War II.
Shin Sato’s family grew berries and vegetables in Bethany, Ore., when they were shipped to the Minidoka, Idaho, incarceration center after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Shin and his brother, Roy, enlisted in 1943 and were part of the highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Shin also was killed during the battle to rescue the Lost Battalion.
Frank Hachiya, who was born and raised near Hood River, also enlisted after his family was sent to Minidoka. He served with the Army’s Military Intelligence Service and was killed after interrogating a Japanese prisoner in the Philippines in January 1945. Hachiya was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star.
In addition to honoring Sato and Hachiya and their families, Kulongoski recognized all Nisei veterans and families “who endured tragedy, imprisonment and economic loss. We are grateful for their valor and their sacrifice.”
This includes Frank Nakata’s family, which was operating a fruit and vegetable stand in Portland before being shipped to Minidoka, Idaho, in 1942. Nakata was drafted into the Army after his family was released and served without hesitation.
“It was what I should do,” said Nataka, 99, who was one of the guests of honor at Post 22’s Veterans Day celebration. “It was part of my duty as an American.”
Julia Tokiwa, widow of 442nd veteran Yosh Tokiwa, also was a guest of honor Tuesday. Gary Akiyama, whose father, George was a decorated combat veteran with the 442nd, rang the Bell of Honor at the beginning of the ceremony.
George Akiyama’s name was among the 16 removed from the community honor roll in November 1944. The nation took notice. Everyone from citizens to clergy to soldiers fighting alongside Japanese-Americans overseas sent nearly 400 letters and postcards to the post, the majority condemning the act. The Nisei names were restored to the honor roll – on the front of the Hood River County Courthouse – in April 1945, seven weeks after American Legion National Commander Edward N. Scheiberling called Post 22’s actions “ill-considered and ill-advised and contrary to the ideals and purposes for which The American Legion is organized.” Post 22 publicly apologized removing the names of the 16 Japanese-American soldiers in 2023.
The History Museum of Hood River County, Japanese American Museum of Oregon, Oregon Nisei Veterans and Portland Japanese American Citizens League helped sponsor Tuesday’s ceremony. The event included the dedication of a new historical highway marker on State Highway 35 – the Oregon Nisei Veterans Memorial Highway. Fourth- and fifth-generation descendants of these Japanese-American veterans introduced the six images that appear on the new highway sign.
Ballinger and his daughter, Mia, made the case for the State of Oregon to create and install the interpretative sign while housebound with COVID two years ago. And in 2022, Ballinger – with the help of Post 22, the Bend Heroes Foundation and other advocates – persuaded the Legislature to designate the highway in honor of the state’s World War II Japanese American veterans
“In recent years, we have come so far as a community,” Mia Ballinger said in closing remarks. “We now work alongside The American Legion and we come together today to honor our veterans. We did not stay divided. We did not stay afraid of each other … For the future, this is an example of how we can come back together.”
- Honor & Remembrance