WHO/WHAT: The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center will hold its annual joint memorial service honoring 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team veterans, a tradition since 2003. The Rev. Kerry Kiyohara of Makawao Hongwanji Mission will share Buddhist perspectives on why the community should never forget their debt to the Maui veterans for their service and sacrifice and the lessons to be learned from their valor and courage.
The service is held annually on the Sunday closest to Sept. 29, the day in 1943 when Sgt. Shigeo “Joe” Takata became the first AJA soldier killed in action in World War II. The names of the 100th and 442nd soldiers who were killed in action will be read during the service, along with their comrades who passed away since last year’s service.
Maui veterans of the 100th Battalion held their first service after returning from the war. The 442nd veterans joined the Valley Isle observance in 2003. The service is sponsored and organized by the Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans.
WHEN/WHERE: Sunday, Sept. 30, at 2 p.m. at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center on Go For Broke Place, off Kahului Beach Road. (The service will be held in the Oceanview Maui Adult Day Care Center on the NVMC campus.) The memorial service is open to the public. For more information, call (808) 244-6862.
