During World War II, my father, Toshikazu (Tosh) Okamoto, served in the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most highly decorated military unit in American history. Stories of 442nd RCT, 100th Battalion and Military Intelligence Service, all-Japanese American military units are legendary. Most of these Nisei soldiers volunteered or were drafted into military service from incarceration camps where they and their families were detained by the U.S. government. Their heroic actions and risks they took were fueled, in part, by their fierce desire to prove they were loyal Americans and not the enemy.

Before we skip ahead, I want to pause and reiterate.

Most Nisei who served in the U.S. military during World War II

did so while their families were incarcerated by the U.S. government.

After World War II when the camps were closed, soldiers returned from the war, married and started families, Nisei Veterans Committee (NVC) activities filled my childhood: my girl scout troop was sponsored by NVC; family vacations were often to Nisei Vets reunions in Hawaii, California, Oregon or hosted in Seattle; I was the NVC delegate to Washington Girls State, a one-week conference sponsored by the American Legion; an NVC scholarship supported my college expenses; and I looked forward to annual events like the Memorial Day service at Lakeview Cemetery, summer picnics, bazaars, and the NVC Christmas party (with a Japanese American Santa Claus!).

An additional complication in my father’s family, as was the case in many other Japanese American families pre-World War II. His older siblings were born in the U.S., went to school in Japan, returned home as young adults, and had gotten jobs, married, and were starting their families. His older brother was drafted into the Army and was stationed at Fort Lewis awaiting basic training. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, he was discharged; he and his wife were sent to an incarceration camp and later he was classified as an enemy alien.

It makes sense to me, as it did to my dad later why his older siblings refused to sign the Loyalty Questionaire. The Japanese Americans who took this action were sent to Tule Lake, the high security segregation center.

So on this Veterans Day 2022, I want to honor those Nisei, like my dad, who volunteered or were drafted from camps to serve in the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, 100th Battalion & Military Intelligence Service, and those who served and gave their lives in the Korean War, Vietnam War and other conflicts. I also want to honor those Nisei who answered “No No” on the loyalty questionnaire and as a result were sent to the high security camp at Tule Lake, and the Nisei who refused to be drafted into the army from camps while their parents were still incarcerated and were sent to prison at McNeil Island Penitentiary.

I’ve heard some folks express skepticism and criticism of preferred pronouns being added as identifiers. (My unconfirmed guess is that many of these skeptics may also be from the “lightly seasoned” generation.) I have a friend who’s working for a non-profit with proud organizational pronouncements that “diversity enriches all of our lives” and “the value and importance of adapting to a changing world”. My friend reported the controversy that erupted in a board/management meeting regarding including preferred pronouns as identifiers and how bewildering that was.

It seems right for an individual to let others know how they prefer to be addressed or referred to and for others to respect that. My first name is “Susan”, and I don’t like it when people presume it’s OK to call me “Sue” or the deadly “Susie-Q”. (Caveat: my family members call me “Su”, “Aunty Su” or the little ones have called me “Su Su”, but in my mind and when they spell out my shortened name, it’s without the ‘e’ at the end!)

I remember when “GIRLS” and “LADIES” were presumed to be perfectly OK when addressing groups of females: in the workplace, community organizations, churches, etc., even if those being addressed were well past puberty or wearing jeans & sweatshirts just like their male counterparts. Doing a little research, I see that “lady” was loaded with all kinds of connotations of class and social status. The terminology switched from “lady/ladies” to “woman/women” the early 1900’s and definitely during the Women’s Liberation movement in the 1960’s. More recently “female” is being used as well as the question asked whether gender needs to be part of an individual’s description (e.g. “female physician”). I’m relieved and happy about these changes as I always felt like there was something demeaning about how females were being labelled and addressed.

So, back to preferred pronouns. “They/Them/Theirs” is a new one being used and discussed. I like that 1) It’s not gender specific and 2) It recognizes the communal aspect of our identities. I’ll end with this wonderful quote.

“The Triune God was the original singular ‘they’“

–Rev. Dr. Joyce Del Rosario, Evolving Faith 2022

Recently, something I’ve heard or read rolls around in my head and body; it feels like the Spirit is prodding or poking me: gently and persistently. Last week I participated in the Evolving Faith conference www.evolvingfaith.com where I heard powerful speakers and a modeling of faith that woke up something new in me. The Evolving Faith home page greets us:

“Welcome home, questioner and doubter. Question-asker, status-quo upender, church kid, Bible nerd, rebel, yes, you. You wonderer, spiritual refugee, weary one, idealistic cynic and disappointed disciple.“

The Spirit has been busy, amplifying, emphasizing, stirring, OK… poking me toward some kind of action/response. As I write this, my inner critic is saying, “Well, duh, Susan.” Getting going on this blog was from one of Her pokes. Each week, I will be sharing a gem from speakers, readings, discussions, reflections that have been prodding me.

-Alma Zaragoza Petty, @thedoczp, author of “Chingona: Owning Your Inner Badass for Healing & Justice”

“Being a fearless Chingona is knowing your story, to break cycles of intergenerational trauma and to own our own epistomologies.

We can take all the space we deserve to heal and love one another”