06.28.07
California county honors 442nd with ‘Go for Broke Road’
Right: Members of the 442nd return from fighting in Europe.
The superintendents of Placer County, Calif., have agreed to honor the Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team by naming a road at a local justice center “Go for Broke Road.”
“Go for broke” was the motto of the all-Japanese American World War II unit that became the most decorated fighting force for its size in U.S. history. Of the team’s 1,400 members, 24 were from Placer County, and two were on hand for the naming ceremony: Frank Kageta, 87, and Shigeo Yokote, 90.
Kageta said of the honor, “It’s an everlasting thing. And this brings back good memories.”
“The small guy is often neglected,” Yokote said. “It helps us feel that we’re part of America.”
Interestingly, the Placer County seat, Auburn, features a 22-foot-tall statue that honors another group of Asian Americans, the Chinese laborers who helped build the Central Pacific Railroad. And maybe even more interestingly, the county’s racial makeup is 89% white and only 3% Asian American, as of the 2000 Census (according to Wikipedia).
Note: For more about the 442nd, go to the Go for Broke National Education Center’s Web site.