Goro Sumida

Goro Sumida of the 100th Infantry Battalion and Representative Jon Riki Karamatsu at the 125th Anniversary of the Kanyaku Imin at Iolani Palace on Saturday, June 5, 2010.

I am with my friend Goro Sumida of the 100th Infantry Battalion. One of my favorite memories with him was a night before one of the anniversary dinners honoring the 100th and 442 in I believe 2007. I was with Goro, Robert Arakaki, and the veterans drinking and singing karaoke at Hanagasa Inn. When I sang, “Shimauta” they went nuts, cheering and some of them dancing along side a couple of waitresses. At a get-together recently, he told me, “You know why we are alive? Because we were not afraid to die. You could die anytime. That’s why we went go for broke. Even now, you can die anytime.”