Top 10 reasons to participate in a AAcomp Library Of Congress Veteran History Project Interview

 1.  Historical Legacy :  Honor 442nd RCT, 100th Battalion, Military Intelligence Service, Korean Conflict veterans. 

2.  Community Legacy :  Nisei community, Incarceration camp resettlement, and the establishment of the sansei generation.

3.  Personal Legacy:  Personal history, for the family legacy, future generations, kids, grandkids.

4.  Suehiro Exhortation:  You deserve this, regardless of where you were stationed, to honor your sacrifice and service to your country.

5.  Bob Wada Exposition:  To tell future generations that when this country was in trouble, that the Japanese Americans did their part.

6. Historical perspective:    To help current and future generations understand the Cold War and Vietnam era and the impact of the draft on personal lives.

7. Vince Okamoto Declaration:  To remind the Japanese American community and America at large that Sansei fought in the Vietnam war  and that Japanese Americans served.

8.  Library Of Congress Veterans History Project is a national record that will not be erased and will document the role and contribution of asians in the military service.

9. Recognition of struggles of physical and social issues that still exist over 50 years later,

10.  Contributions of military service was not limited to combat in Vietnam.

Jon Morris Ichinaga

We are, or at least I am, at that age where our friends are passing away.  It becomes a wave of guilt and regret, not keeping in touch, not doing enough to maintain a friendship, not taking the time for a brief conversation over the phone,  a text or a 20 minute coffee break.

I read the obituaries in the various newspapers I subscribe to, LA Times, Daily Breeze and now the Nichi Bei Times and the Rafu Shimpo.  Jon's obituary was posted today in the Rafu.  He died on New Years day.  Some things you don't know until you read the obituary.  I never knew we both had english middle names, not japanese.

Jon was a part of my life during critical times.  We were friends during my last year in California during the ninth grade.  While my dad and sister had moved up to Washington state, my mom and I were temporarily housed at a motel until I graduated Jr. High school.  It was a long walk to Marina del Rey Jr High from Washington Blvd., but half way there, I would stop by Jon's house and we would continue on.

Even at that age, Jon was a anomaly, a rebel an extremely intelligent one.  He lived in a room in the back of his parent's detached garage.  I didn't know much about his family or why he was back there at age 14,  Our bond was our daily walk to school and that our girlfriends were best buddies.  Yeah, ninth grade romance.  Mieko and Lynn were two peas in a pod, both brilliant (I was probably the dumbest of the foursome) and in a relationship with two rebels without a cause.

When I moved shortly after graduation, he kept in touch.  Ironically, we diverted to different but similar paths in high school.  He went to Beverly Hills high, I went to Fort Vancouver.  The similarity was that both had the modular class schedule that was similar to a college schedule.  The academic day was split up into modules, and classes were not scheduled as a five day a week class.  Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays classes were different than the Tues. Thurs. classes.  There were breaks in between to "enrich" our academic careers.  In other words, a lot of free time to not study.

Im not sure how we stayed in touch, but we both applied to Long Beach State.  When I moved down, he helped me find a place to rent.  A naive freshman did not think about dorms or living situation when he packed up his car and drove down shortly before the school year started.  I remember going through the classifieds with him and traveling around to see the different places to rent.  He was already in the dorm.  My memory was of him turning into a street and immediately turned the car around saying "im not letting you live in this neighborhood"

 A year later we were roommates in an apartment.  Im not sure how he put up with me, but he was usually at his girlfriend's place

Jon was hard to describe.  He was opinionated, in a good way.  When I found out he eventually went to law school, it didn't surprise me.  He could be arrogant, stubborn, abrupt, but mix that with high intelligence and compassion for the non majority, he was a force to be reckoned with.  He went on to UCLA for his masters in Social Welfare before becoming a Lawyer.

He was a good friend.  As I look back, a lot of what I see in my middle son, the lawyer, reminds me of Jon.  a little frightening, but with a great sense of comfort.  

Jon was there during my wandering lost years.  He helped anchor me, to prepare me for my future.

Not only did he get me to Long Beach State, he got me to a university that fit me, where I met my wife, where I had developed in the Christian faith, and set my path for the future in the aerospace industry.

My regrets Jon, is that I did not follow up with you, especially since you lived in Torrance.  We had a few brief encounters, but not enough, 

As a postscript, the list of these types of regrets is growing,  I hope to trim the list.

Year 12 and Counting......

12 year anniversary of my quadruple bypass surgery (CABG)

In the Name of God

When reading the Bible,  a lot of the stories are just that, bible stories, I have seldom thought about how they occur in everyday life.  Do you really experience the story of the tax collector or how Zacchaeus    climbs a ladder to see Jesus?  A lot of the sermons treat the stories as metaphorical.   I was thinking the other day of the pharisees.  The heir-achy of the church.  The learned and holy.  I haven't heard many sermons covering the corruption or delusionment of the governing temple.  You would think that with technology and advanced knowledge that it should not occur in out modern times.

But we have many distortions that I overlook, Later Day Saints, Scientology, Universalism, etc. I always thought it would come from outside the church, through society, and the government.  Not within.  At what point does it consume and take over our basic faith.  At what point do we become self delusional and at what point do we justify everything in the name of God.  

I understand the dynamic in business.  It occurs everyday (so much for my theory on societal advancement).  Profit, greed and ego (power) often overcomes decency.  But it seems like those ingredients are ever-present and are becoming more common in the age of the megachurch.  

Justification in the name of God, discourages evaluation and review.  It labels those who question the proclamation implying a lack of faith.  It is usually followed by a reprimand of unfaithfulness and unchristian like behavior.  There are many warnings in the Bible.  Are we implored to think, evaluate, review, compare, before we leap?

I find it ironic that what is motivating me now is to read the Bible not so much for my faith in Christ, but to research and verify what I'm being taught from the pulpit. That worries me.  It also worries me that more Christians become more suspicious of the established man created church governing institutions.    

What encourages me is that many have not lost their faith, but strengthened as they move away from those established institutions, in the name of God.

Amateur Film Maker

 Then unexpected side affects of a student film maker is that you start looking at tv shows differently.  Id include movies, but as you know, I don't see a lot of them.

Im starting to observe how often they cut to a different camera, how they frame the picture with little or no headroom (thanks Cory), or the type of shot.  What I should be looking at is how they craft the show, the storyline, but that is something im not ready for, yet.  

What disturbs me as I watch season 5 of Mrs. Maisel, I spend more time watching the credits.  Yes, the acknowledgements at the end of the show.  What font are they using, what format, who they are crediting. Yes, I am getting ticked at those shows where they minimize the screen off to the side while they start the next show.  Show me the damn credits.......

Maybe I aspire to be like Chuck Lorre and have note cards at the end of the show with my thoughts of the day.  Like this blog.  I guess Im there already.  Off to watch episode 4 of Mrs. Maisel and read the credits.

Historic Japanese American church nearly loses name, legacy

Our church during the 80s and 90s.

Published June 13th in the Asian American News (ASAMNEWS.com)

 https://asamnews.com/2023/06/13/church-takeover-prevented-japanese-american-history-erasure-southern-california/?fbclid=IwAR3-OOfgXJUHfHFh-rkfDu0me0e84FhHL49u0rmxEhu7kevvW-4J2amk62k

Memorial Day 2023

 

Japanese American Vietnam Era Archives JAVEA

 Long name.  Short explanation, the Interview of Sansei (third generation JA) Veterans of the Vietnam Era.  The Vietnam Era is considered 1960 to early 1970s.  Veterans are defined as anyone that served in the armed forces during that time period.  Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Reserves, National Guard, Coast Guard, etc.  Assignment is not a factor, In country (Vietnam) stateside, other countries.

Interviews are conducted according to the Library of Congress Veteran History Project.  We record and document according to their guidelines and submit raw footage to the VHP.  They will edit and post on their website.  

The questions we ask are slightly modified to reflect the JA community.  Some were born in camp, most out of the incarceration resettlement.  We try to cover the community they grew up in, military experience and their repatriation into civilian society.  Benefits (life lessons, VA assistance, etc.), reflections.

It is our attempt to recognize a forgotten or ignored portion of our JA community. The two of us (Don Bannai and myself) are not veterans.  I missed the draft lottery by two months.  But during Vietnam whether you were drafted or fortunate to not be, you were affected. I may have followed the lottery knowing that I was not affected, but they lived it.  

The unexpected benefits of these interviews, is that it has given us a wide perspective of the war.  Some fought in Korea, some stayed stateside, some overseas in Europe, some before the escalation of the conflict.  Some in the thick of it. Each veteran has his unique story and we are trying to preserve those stories.  Already, too many have passed.  And many still struggle with the VA, PTSD and agent Orange.

The interviews are in 20 minute segments, and if at any time they don't feel comfortable with a question, we move on.  Many have said, they have not told these stories to their family, or talked with other veterans.  We hope it helps them move on and provide a history for their grandchildren.

God of Film Making

 I have written about a recent takeover of our old church.  I have volunteered to document the churches congregations reaction to the recent events.  To be honest, it is difficult to keep my emotions suppressed, but in order to help those displaced, I need to maintain neutrality.  In order to tell the story, it has to unfold on it's own and not prompted or directed.  

This I my own philosophy when interviewing people.  Whether it is the Sansei Veterans or displaced church members, the neutrality and inquisitiveness seems to be my most valued trait.  People must trust that they will not be manipulated. 

But with that philosophy, comes an internal burden.  It becomes emotionally draining.  If I do two or three interviews a day, I come home exhausted, both physically and emotionally and requires at least a day of down time. 

Neutrality also comes into play when editing the footage.  Does it reflect their mood and did it alter their views, does it accurately reflect the context of the whole interview.  That is the ultimate burden of trust.  Lets hope that it is maintained.  That is not to say the end product will be liked by all, but you let the chips fall where land without disturbing them.

Editors can be the God of filmaking.  We can manipulate, create, to our pleasure.  The goal for me is to minimize my editorial bias.  Wish me luck.

Fear of Success

Recently my picture, or I should say a photo from my latest film has been chosen as the representative of the Digital Histories Senior video class set of films for this year's LA Asian Pacific Film Festival.  My film is on my observations of aging and has a picture of me examining myself in my bathroom mirror. For anyone looking up the program, they will see that picture.  Autographs in the lobby after the showing.  I pay you.

https://festival.vcmedia.org/2023/programs/digital-histories-2023/

After  six years of film making, my latest film has been chosen at a few film festivals.  Nichibei in the Bay Area, Disorient in Eugene, Or, and at the Gardena JCI.  Now you would think this is a validation of my film creativity and work, but it is more a matter of timing and luck.

Most film festivals have a theme and my film last year on a Santa Clara Judge and his flag signing project honoring WWII Japanese American Incarcerees happen to fit in.  I can honestly say it is more of the subject vs the film itself.  It is usually shown in a shorts program with other short films.  They are wonderful films, created by talented film makers.  After viewing them my wife looks at me and says "you need to up your game" and I agree.

There is always a fear, of not of failure, but of the fall from success.  There is always the fear of when walking assuredly, of tripping. Let's hope the perspective keeps me grounded.  

Influences

When friends start talking about major influences in their lives, I tend to drift off into the background.  Mine are not usually the norm.  People have shared famous presidents, major philosophers, biblical authors, etc.  These are mine.

Mad Magazine.  Memories of M&S pharmacy on Centinela, back in the corner of the store where the comic books were displayed.  Plus mom would put one in my Christmas stocking every year.

Paul Conrad, political cartoonist for the LA Times.  I loved his drawing style and wit.  A lot of my cynical view of politics were formed by his cartoons.

Get Smart, Buck Henry and Mel Brooks, TV show of the late sixties.  Absurdity can be hilarious. I Want to build my own cone of silence.

Smothers Brothers Comedy hour,  While friends religiously watched Laugh In, I was glued to Sunday nights at 9pm.  Not only did I love the satire, but also the music, not so much the bickering between the two brothers.  I always was fascinated by the photo montage backed by Mason Williams' Classical Gas.

Gary Trudeau, Doonesbury,  I don't agree with his politics, but love his satire.  He reflects the times we live in.

Gary Larson, the Far Side,  Self explanatory.  Must be all that rain in Seattle.

Modern Christian Terminology

 A hostile takeover in the name of God.

A hostile takeover is a type of acquisition where a company (the acquirer) takes control of another company (the target company) without the approval or consent of the target company's board of directors. In other words, the target company's management is not in favor of the takeover, hence the term "hostile".

Cornell University 

hostile takeover | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute

This is a new one on me.  There are at times the secular business world intersects with the religious.  Recently my former church, Anaheim Free Methodist was taken over by the Pacific Coast Japanese Free Methodist conference and given over to another church.  This was without warning or consent of the AFM board.  Notice was given on a Sunday and taken affect on that same day.  Staff was relieved of their duties, finances taken over and new pastor assigned.  It is now the North Campus of the Voice Church.  https://www.voice.church/secondlocation

Needless to say, the former congregation is not happy.  The question is, if it is labeled the will of God by the denomination leadership, is it?  

Lessons Learned

 Im approaching the finishing touches on this year's film "When I'm 64". The subject is aging.  To vent somewhat, I had gone to a church to film a senior basketball league.  The original intent was to film a friend put on his braces (four, two on each leg).  It evolved as I also took footage of the group gathering at the circle for announcements and a devotion as well as them playing a game.

Two weeks later I go back to get signed releases and take a few more photos.  As I got my signatures, it occurred to me that I since I was in the church gym, I should get permission to film from the office.  When I approached the office, it was not too much of a surprise that they never had received such a request and didn't know how to approach it.

Later that afternoon, I received an email saying they did not feel comfortable with the request and denied permission.  That put me in a panic as the last 4o seconds was on the group and the devotional on where we are going as old men. I appealed to the person giving the devotional that maybe we can re record the story outside the church.  He decided to appeal to the church's pastor.

In the mean time I did what film makers should not do, is show him the film.  He was not happy with my editing.  Short story, his ending mentioned Billy Graham as the source of the story and he ended the story in prayer.  I did not include the prayer in the film.  I had originally had the part of where it was a story told by Rev. Graham.  When I showed it to my DH class, when they heard Billy Graham, they made remarks and did not bother to hear the end message.  At that time it was more important the message stay in and I took out the reference to Dr. Graham.

After viewing the film, he withdrew his appeal to the pastor as he did not like that I took out the reference to Dr. Graham and the prayer.  End of story.

There are some issues here to consider.

Film makers point of view:  They are the final editor, if they have the personal releases, they can do what they want.

Church point of view: They have the right to control what is recorded on their property.  They should have a policy to deal with modern days technology.

Story teller point of view:  Im unsure of this one, if he signs the release, he has no control.  

Reality:  There is a respect from me for the church and the storyteller on their representation.  I will not go against their final decision.

Actuality:  I made the revisions to the film removing pictures, video and voice from the game, pre game circle and devotion in the film.  Including any references to the church.  I also shredded the signed release forms.  I did find and interesting quote from Dr. Graham that I did insert at the end of the film.

                Old age may' have its limitations and challenges, but in spite of them, 

                our later years can be some of the most rewording and fulfilling of our lives.       

                                                                                                                        Billy Graham

43rd Anniversary

 

#39

 For our 39th anniversary, I was undecided on how to celebrate.  One initial thought was to see if Shohei Ohtani was pitching that night.  We had gone to see him a few weeks ago and had a great time.  He pitched on Thurs.   I looked into my usual backlog of ideas, concerts, stage plays, special events.  Nothing panned out.

Then this event notice came out from various people I know.  I was out of options, so I figured that we could always go to one of our favorite places to eat in Little Tokyo, Azay, before the showing.   We weren't too sure what this was and assumed it was a standard video showing. No one I had talked to knew what to expect.  When we go to the theater, it was a packed house as we ended up in the balcony.

If they ever do another performance, I would highly recommend seeing it. It was a combination of video, live narration and live musical performance. How to describe it after that is difficult.  When we got there, you could see a list of well known folks in the JA community and a lot of reserved seats. A podium, stool and music stand on the left, a grand piano, 8 mics on stands on the right and soon, a cellist and violinist.  Tamlyn Tomita was the MC.

After Tamlyn finished her intro, the podium was removed, David sat down on a stool, musicians and the choir came out.  And the narration and video began.  After the performance, everyone was emotionally spent and very few dry eyes.  I really don't know how to express my reactions to the performance.

David Ohno and Jeff MacIntyre did an incredible job in producing this event. The ABC owned affiliates sponsored the production.  I don't know if there will be other performances or if it will travel to other cities, but if you ever get a chance to see it, you will not regret it.  

This is the link to the program
https://definingcourageshow.com/

11 Years and Counting......

 11 years ago I had my heart surgery, quadruple bypass.  I still have a difficult time looking at the scar that has keloid up and down the center of my chest.    Just when I am successful in ignoring it, it demands attention by becoming uncontrollably itchy and soothes only with vigorous scratching  longitudinally along both sides of the scar, almost penetrating through the skin.

To celebrate, we went to an Angel Baseball game to watch Shohei Ohtani pitch and were treated to fireworks at the end of the game. As a bonus we were able to see the Disneyland fireworks over the freeway on the way home.

Even though I grew up watching games at Dodger stadium, it was a fun experience at Angel stadium.  My dad always listened to Bud Blattner over the radio so it brought back a lot of memories.  

I still remember a few things, like the nurse trying to remove my wedding ring prior to surgery, Gayle climbing onto the hospital bed to get me breathing so they could remove the tube down my throat, the amount of equipment and tubes that kept me alive and the rumbling of the portable X-ray machine coming down the hallway at 5 in the morning.

This is starting to break free the ignored memories of that event.  I was considered young at that time to have a heart attack, much less bypass surgery.  I guess I have now aged into my medical history.  It matches how I currently feel and look.

 

It's That Time Again

 Three years have passed since my last Colonoscopy, 6 years since discovering I had Colon Cancer.

I know too many folks that did not survive, I did.  This was a reminder.

You Tube Video of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny of Lead from Behind

https://youtu.be/5sXkIUZEWIo

Surprises

 Other than how Putin and Russia can get away with what they are doing to Ukraine, things continue surprise me.  Among our generation of JA, we are continuing to explore the incarceration of WWII. 

While at times we take it for granted that everyone knows about it, we find out no one really does.

This is from today's LA Times comic section from one of my favorite comic strips.

In the same edition, published was the obituary for Secretary Norm Mineta.  In my research for my films, he has come up often as a  subject of interest.  In my google image search for this year's film, I came across this photo taken by Mario Reyes of the Rafu Shimpo.  It is by far my favorite of all the photos.  This year at the Heart Mountain Pilgrimage they are to celebrate the groundbreaking of The Mineta-Simpson Institute at HeartMountain.  

You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks.... Sort of

 I was told tonight that I haven't posted in a long time..... time to catch up.

I was given lessons by my daughter in law in Facebook.  Yes I have posted a few things recently, but I didn't understand what I was doing.  Friends, accepting, Friend Requests, Public.  All the things I didn't want to take the time to figure out.  I was laughing  when I found out I had 141 friends, and that quite a few I never met.  How does that happen?  Well I found out tonight.

Old folks use Facebook, the next generation uses Instagram and who knows what the youth of today use.  I don't understand Twitter and what all the fuss is about when Trump Tweets.  Who really cares?   Apparently a lot of people do.

I also got a lesson on Facebook Messenger.  It will become another way to communicate with the grandkids other than FaceTime.  And apparently I have messages from years gone by.

But in the big picture of things, I still am a luddite when it comes to social media.  The wife and I barely keep up to keep in contact with the grandkids.  But I am slowly learning that some of these new fangled apps may be of benefit.  

Marrying Up

 Ok, I never said I was a genius.  Whenever the discussion with the wife drifts to intelligence, It is always assumed that I married up.  It takes me a longer time to figure things out where the wife seems to get things instantaneously.  She claims that the intelligence of the children are determined by the mother.  You can see where this is going.  I am unable to label any of the sons as mediocre in smarts.

I got into film making as something to keep me occupied during chemo therapy.  A friend was gracious to invite me to join him in the class.  He would drive me to chemo sessions and every week to our film class downtown.  I should add he has produced some great films.

I never thought of me being a storyteller.  I don't tell jokes, Im not a conversationalist, nor outgoing.  I hate sitting in theaters for long periods of time in the midst of strangers.  I don't see movies (yes, that means I am culturally ignorant) and have a disdain for actors who believe they are a gift of the gods for the ability to essentially lie for a living.

But then last night after my last post, it occurred to me, this blog was my way of telling stories in the short form.  This led to film making.  Their structure is the same, and are not preplanned.  They just occur.  When I create a film, they are short (thank goodness), and I admit the result of hours of research and film (interviews).  Yet when I sit down to the computer, I pretty much know how it all is going to fit.  I can remember sections of the interview from the numerous clips that I stitch together.

Now I'm not saying that I am a genius at film making (I'm not Kurasawa or Miyazaki).  Far from it.  I am an amateur student film maker with no plans to make a living out of this.  My films follow a familiar structure with an unintended message.  Yeah, I don't go in with a pre planned message in mind, but hopefully let the subject tell their story.  The film just happens.

Going back to intelligence in the marriage, her response is always "I married you".  Interpret that any way you want.