By Celin Schoen
George Yamada, a former Hobart resident, is part of a group of 40 Japanese-American veterans from World War II who is going on an Honor Flight Trip to Washington, DC from October 31 through November 3. He is a member of the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regiment and Military Intelligence Regiment who will receive Congressional Gold Medals in a special ceremony at the Emancipation Hall in Washington’s Hilton Hotel. On September 2 of this year, President Obama had asked for special permission from Congress to award a group of these men the Congressional Gold Medal and his request was granted. All of Congress and every Senator in the country have been given invitations to join in this historic event.
More than 4,000 people are on the list to witness this historic ceremony. However there is room for only 1,250 people, and of that only 600 will be seated. An overflow room will be available for family and friends not allowed into the event for reasons of space or security, and from there they will be able to watch the live feed. A special gala dinner will be held the following day to honor the recipients. While in Washington DC the men will also attend a special WWII ceremony, with 600 veterans expected to attend.
The 442nd was made up of just Japanese or Japanese-American men. At the time it was thought to keep them all together so they could be easily watched for signs of treason, etc. However, no act of treason was ever committed by any Japanese-American in this country. The 442nd has the honor of being the most-decorated unit in the history of wars in this country to this date.
As the journey is both an Honor Flight and a Congressional Gold Medal trip combined, it is an extra-special event. In addition to the Japanese-American veterans headed to Washington, DC from Washington, Oregon, Iowa and Utah, one person will accompany each of them, and many will have family members with them as well.
George will be accompanied from Spokane by his daughters, Linda Kern and Patty Marinos, and will be met in Washington, DC by a third daughter, Cathy Rappleyea and son-in-law, Glenn Rappleyea of Hobart. The group will spend an extra two days touring DC before heading back to Spokane.
Linda confides, “We all had to jump through hoops with paperwork for the Secret Service, but we are still not sure if Obama will be awarding these medals or not, as we continue to get conflicting reports. We are hoping that these men will, in fact, receive their Congressional Gold Medals from their Commander-in-Chief, President Obama.”
After the war, George married his wife, Suzie, and the couple began their life together in Spokane. In 1953 they moved to Hobart, where he worked for the Rich Hatchery, helping to determine the sex of day-old chicks, a secret technique who was known to the Japanese and few others. He also sold insurance on the side. The couple had six children, Cathy, Linda, Jerry, Patty, John, and Greg. The family originally lived in an apartment in the home of the Taylor sisters, Ruanna and Frances, on River St., but after Greg’s birth moved to more spacious quarters in the former Episcopal rectory on Maple Ave. They moved to Spokane, WA in 1976, after the closing of the Rich hatchery.
Last year Jerry’s son, Nathan Yamada, was accepted into the first-year class of Marine ROTC’s at Arizona State University, leaving his grandfather “proud beyond words.”
George will be celebrating a birthday on November 3 — his 88th birthday. For the Japanese this is an extra special day, as it is two number 8′s together. Each 8 represents an unending line which means life, a double 8 means a good long life! (If, in fact, President Obama awards George his Congressional Gold Medal as planned, Patty is planning on asking the President to lead the Happy Birthday song for her dad!!)
More information is available on the WWW.Nationalveteransnetwork.com, or by looking up “Congressional Gold Medal.” More details about Honor Flights may be found by looking up the phrase “Honor Flights” as well.