A Tale of Courage and Valor: The Japanese American Heroes of World War II

GOODO'S: A fantastic story i knew nothing about...shines a light on our inherent racism in times of turmoil and how the persecuted American Japanese responded. Their heroism in WW2 was incredible. Billiantly written in the laconic style reminiscent of Boys In The Boat it takes you back to an America we all loved...and wish we still had.

Australia on Sep 20, 2023

Joan S.: I am a Japanese American Sansei (3rd generation born in the US.) The story was well-written describing our heroic soldiers that were put into an all Japanese unit and fought in the European Theater during World War II. I was one of the Americans that were send to Camp Minidoka, in Idaho, to be interned for three years while our men were fighting for our freedom. Their "Go for Broke," code was ever-inspiring and our hearts broke as many of our men died in a foreign land never to come home to the United States of America.
I will never forget my trip to Italy and France to walk in the footsteps of our Nisei soldiers and see where they fought for our country. This book tells the true story of the bravery of the Japanese American soldiers who fought against discrimination and proved their loyalty to the United States. They became the most decorated unit in the history of the United States Army for the length of their service.
I recommend this book to everyone who must learn about the scarifices of our Japanese Americans that died in our stead to keep our freedom. Joan Seko

United States on Aug 24, 2023

Mary E. Trimble: Facing the Mountain: An Inspiring Story of Japanese American Patriots in World War II
by Daniel James Brown is an enthralling in-depth chronicle of war-time America and the valor of American Japanese in battlefields across Europe.

Facing the Mountain tells the story of American Japanese, both first-generation and their children, and the important part they played in World War II. The story follows four
young Japanese men and their parents before, during, and after the war years.

Since Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japanese Americans in Hawaii and the American mainland had been persecuted: Buddhist temples ordered closed, Japanese-language school and community Japanese newspapers shut down, bank accounts frozen, fishermen banned from fishing, children barred from parks, turned away at theaters, shops refused service, long-time employees fired, business licenses rescinded.

Almost all Issei—first-generation Japanese men—were forced from their homes, taken without charges, with no spare clothes, without explanations of where they were going. Offspring of Issei, called Nisei, were shunned. Nearly three-fourths of the Hawaii...

United States on Jul 31, 2023

TAS: Super author tells a most important story.

United Kingdom on Nov 23, 2021

Bobby D.: This is the latest book by the author of the marvelous THE BOYS IN THE BOAT which is about the unlikely story of working-class rowers who upended the sport's elites to win the 1936 Olympic Gold metal right under Hitler's nose. Here Brown offers up a story featuring several, courageous working-class Japanese soldiers who were part of the 442nd and 522nd Army Battalion helped defeat Hitler’s troops. This they did despite anti-Japanese discrimination/racism/war hysteria and their families being locked up in American concentration camps (Brown makes it a point in his book to make sure the camps are called “concentration camps”). Like BOYS IN THE BOAT, the narrative of this book follows several families whom we meet on the brink of Pearl Harbor. They come from various locations with different family histories. Many are from Hawaii and the West Coast exclusion zone as well as Spokane, Washington. They too needed to learn to live together.
For me, the first half of the book was the most interesting as it covers the racism and unconstitutional rounding up the families; interning them without even a single consideration for law or the constitution. (Brown also follows one of the...

United States on Jun 04, 2021

隠居: 第二次世界大戦の前後の混乱期に、米国社会の中での日系人が、計り知れない苦労を乗り越えて「母国＝米国」への忠誠と家族のために生き抜いた記録。埋もれてしまいがちな普通の市民たちがいかに生きてきたかを知ることができる貴重なドキュメンタリーでした。米国移民としての日本人という立場がどういうものかを考えさせられたと同時に「アメリカ人」としての彼らを取材し記録した作者に感服です。日本語訳が出版されることを願っています、もちろん改めて読むつもりです。

Japan on May 26, 2021