Daily Archives: October 9, 2009

My grandma Bessie Karamatsu’s baby brother Roy Okubo has been in my thoughts.  Recently, at the reception for the new Consul General of Japan at the consulate I talked to Katsugo Miho, a former family court judge and a veteran of the 522nd Artillery Battery B, 442nd Regimental Combat Team with my great Uncle Roy Okubo.  I mentioned my relation to my uncle.  He responded, “Oh, he was one of my closest friends. We spent months in the trenches, you become really close.”  Tears poured out of his eyes.

I attended Filipino History Month: Hawaii’s Filipino and Filipino-American Soldiers “A Legacy of Valor and Loyalty”, opening reception at Honolulu Hale Courtyard on Friday, October 9, 2009 from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.  I was touched especially when my friend Domingo Los Banos (former Department of Education district superintendent & whose wife owns Children’s House School, which I attended preschool) made a prayer for all the Hawaii boys from the plantations who sacrificed for their country, many who passed away and are probably here tonight.  He mentioned how war is ugly and how we should avoid it.  My eyes got watery.  I am honored to have met some of these men or “boys” as they call themselves.  Like the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and 100th Infantry Battalion, I sense so much energy in these brave veterans as they have seen so much.  Domingo told me some history as he glanced at the pictures, some with him in it.  I could feel his stories just by looking at his eyes.  His eyes told me everything.