Speech #880053881

As General Devers remarked in his tribute. the "American soldier known but to God" of World War II might well be an American of Japanese ancestry. The third was the wreath ceremony at the Masthead of the Battleship Maine Monument. where Mrs. Nawa Munemori. a naturalized citizen and the mother of the only Nisei Congressional Medal of Honor winner in World War II. paid floral recognition to the 7 Japanese who are remembered among the 144 officers and men who died when this U.S. battleship was sunk in Havana Harbor. Cuba. in April 1898. These seven Japanese are the first known of their ancestry to have died in the defense of our countrys freedom and ideals. And their death more than half a century ago serves to remind us of how long those of the Japanese race have served our Nation well in time of peril and crisis. It may also be appropriate at this time to recall that Mrs. Munemori and thousands of other Gold Star parents of Japanese ancestry. and others of Japanese nationality lawfully admitted to this country for permanent residence. could not become naturalized citizens of our country until after her son was awarded the nations highest decoration for valor posthumously. and thousands of other Japanese American GIs fought. and many died. in World War II to prove that good citizenship. like Americanism. is not a matter of race or ancestry but of the mind and the heart. The privilege of becoming naturalized citizens. incidentally. was not extended to those of the Japanese race until 1952. with the enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act of that year. The fourth and final event was the visitations to the individual graves of the 21 American soldiers of Japanese ancestry. representative of the more than 600 Japanese Americans who were killed in action in World War II. who lie in hallowed ground in honored glory in the National Cemetery at Arlington. Twenty of those who are interred at Arlington were killed in action with the 442d Regimental Combat Team.