The Veterans Memorial Court Alliance (VMCA) together with co-sponsors Go For Broke
National Education Center, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center,
Japanese American National Museum, Keiro and Little Tokyo Service Center,
announced that on Saturday, May 27, 2023 at 11:00 AM, the Annual Memorial Day
Service to honor all Japanese Americans who gave their lives in our nation’s wars, will
be held adjacent to the Japanese American National War Memorial Court (Memorial
Court) at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC), located at
244 S. San Pedro Street in the Little Tokyo District of Los Angeles, California. Our
community and nation are forever indebted to these Japanese Americans from all wars,
whose names are engraved on the four Monuments in the Memorial Court, for their
supreme sacrifice for the United States of America.
We are pleased to announce that the keynote speaker will be Hubert Yoshida. As a
child, Hubert was interned at Poston, Arizona. After growing up on a farm in
Watsonville, he graduated from the University of California in 1962. Upon graduation,
he enlisted in the Marine Corps, attended OCS and became a Marine Corps officer in
time to lead a platoon in combat in Vietnam. He was decorated for valor with two
Bronze Stars. After his service he worked for IBM, then joined Hitachi Data Systems
where he was Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. He retired in 2020 and is
the author of the book, “Operation Utah: The Die is Cast”. It is the story of the Marines
first encounter with the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), contains first-hand accounts of
the men who participated in Operation Utah and is a tribute to the 99 Marines and
Corpsmen who made the ultimate sacrifice in that battle. Master of Ceremonies will be
Les Higa, US Army Veteran and Board Member of Veterans Memorial Court Alliance.
Singing the National Anthem and God Bless America will be Helen Ota, Grateful Crane
Ensemble and VMCA Board Member.
On display inside the JACCC will be the photo exhibit of almost all of the 255 JA Heroes
who gave their lives in the Korean War. This photo tribute was created by the Japanese
American Korean War Veterans group over 20 years ago and will be available for public
viewing from 30 minutes before the service to 1 hour after.
Also participating will be representatives from the many veteran and community
organizations throughout the Southern California area. The Koyasan Buddhist Temple
Boy Scout Troop 379 and the Redondo Union High School Marine Corp Jr. ROTC will
again perform the uniformed ceremonies of the service. Representatives from the
Buddhist and Christian faiths will offer prayers to these brave men.
Mothers, Fathers and Families who are in attendance will be acknowledged.
Please check in at the registration table at the Memorial Court to confirm your
attendance. All those for whom we have an address, were invited by letter or email. If
you have not received our invitation, please contact Ken Hayashi, preferably by email:
kenneth.s.hayashi@gmail.com or by phone (310) 833-0088.
We invite fellow veterans, active duty personnel and all members of the community to
join us to remember and honor our heroes who gave their precious lives on our behalf.
If you have any other questions about the services, please contact David Miyoshi (310)
378-0615 or Ken Hayashi (323) 833-0088.
Reminder-This is a live event. We look forward to seeing you there.