Asianweek, News Report, Posted: Oct 31, 2011

 Lawson Sakai, a Nisei-American veteran who fought in World War II as a member of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, will receive his Congressional Gold Medal from the United States Congress on November 2nd at the Capitol in Washington DC. He is one of the Japanese American soldiers who will be recognized for their 442nd Regiment services during World War II, including those who participated in the 100th Infantry Battalion and the Military Intelligence service.

The 442nd Infantry Regiment primarily consists of Nisei-Americans from Japanese concentration camps fighting in Europe, a squad known for their heroic and lengthy services in United States military history.

“It’s very good to be recognized by the government,” said Sakai. “This means somebody or some people have recognized that this was not done ago, and even though it’s quite late at least they’re doing it.”

Japanese Americans were not recognized for their World War II services by the US government because they suffered racial discrimination during that time period. “We lost our citizenship,” recalled Sakai. “They took away our rights to serve in the military, and called us aliens.”

This racial discrimination left Japanese Americans with few options: to volunteer as a member of the 442nd regiment or stay in Internment camps. Lawson Sakai chose to volunteer in the 442nd regiment.

“This [was] the only way the US government will recognize the Japanese people,” he said. Read more here.