GFBNEC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that educates the public on the valor of Japanese American veterans of World War II and their contributions to democracy. Its goal is to inspire new generations to embody the Nisei veterans’ core values of courage, sacrifice, equality, humility and patriotism. Founded in 1989, GFBNEC maintains the Go For Broke Monument and the interactive “GFBNEC’s Defining Courage Exhibition” in downtown LA, as well as extensive oral histories and archives, education and training programs and other initiatives.
“Go For Broke” was the motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an Army unit comprised of Japanese Americans from Hawai‘i and the mainland U.S.
For high-rolling gamblers in Hawai‘i in the 1940s, it was slang for “shooting the works,” or risking everything for the big win. For the Nisei soldiers, “go for broke” meant that they would put everything on the line to win the war against the Germans in Europe and the war against racial prejudice at home.
For more information, visit goforbroke.org, or call (310) 328-0907.
