Mahalo WALTER (TONAI) for those kind and generous remarks.
Aloha! I am honored and privileged to be here this morning among Hawaii's veterans. You have served your country well, with the highest dignity and integrity, and have brought honor to your families.
Each year as summer approaches, we pause to honor the memory of those who died in service to our Nation. Even though the Cold War is over, there are still reminders, past and present, that the price of peace can be very dear indeed. One reminder is right here, the Waialua Lions Club Memorial Monument, built in 1947, and overlooking Haleiwa Bay. This eighteen foot monument honors the war heroes of Waialua and Haleiwa. This tribute poignantly expresses the gratitude felt by all Americans as we remember the men and women in uniform who made the supreme sacrifice.
Each year we pause to pray for peace and to honor those who have died defending our liberties, service men and women from all generations and from all wars. But this year, Memorial Day especially recalls those Americans who helped change the course of history and helped preserve a world in which the ideals of freedom and individual rights could flourish. I speak of the 6,000 Japanese Americans who comprised the highly-secret Military Intelligence Service, or "MIS", during World War II.
As many of you may now know, the Military Intelligence Service was a secret Army organization that was established during World War II to provide Japanese language-based intelligence support to combat units primarily in the Pacific theater. MIS linguists supported our troops in the field with vital interpretation, translation, interrogation, and other intelligence services in addition to being exposed to hostilities along with other soldiers. Eventually, they were to participate in every major battle and campaign in the Pacific.
For example, they fought with Merrill's Marauders in Burma. They conducted psychological warfare for the Office of Strategic Services. They served as undercover agents in the Philippines. They worked on the Manhattan Project. They accompanied British forces in Malaya. They landed with the marines on the beaches of New Guinea and Pelelieu. They translated the famous "Z" plan outlining Japan's defensive strategy in the Pacific. They parachuted into Corregidor. They flushed enemy troops from the caves of Saipan and Iwo Jima. And, they participated in the formal surrender of Japan on board the U.S.S. Missouri.
Taken together, the MIS's contributions were considered so valuable to the war effort that General Douglas MacArthur's intelligence chief claimed that the MIS nisei saved thousands of lives and shortened the war by two years.
But the MIS's contributions to national security did not end with the surrender of Japan. After the war, many MIS members made careers in the Army or other military services, including many who helped in the Tokyo War Crimes Trials and the Occupation of Japan. Others went to other agencies, including the CIA and State Department, to help build America's postwar intelligence infrastructure.
The contributions of this secret, all-nisei service went relatively unknown for many years because MIS veterans were prohibited from talking about their activities until recently. Unlike their 100th/442nd nisei counterparts in the European theater, the contributions of the MIS to the war effort had never received the attention they deserved until earlier this month. On May 4th, twenty soldiers from Hawaii, 19 of whom served during World War II and one during the Korean War received awards for their outstanding service to our country.
I am pleased that I had a role in making this day possible, by writing legislation known as Section 523, that allowed MIS veterans to apply for awards for services performed as early as 1940 by waiving all award application deadlines. I am also pleased to have sponsored a number of MIS members for decorations under another provision of law, Section 526, that allows veterans to be considered for awards as long as they receive the endorsement of a member of Congress.
I am gratified that many MIS veterans have applied for recognition under this provision. I am even more pleased that the Army acted so quickly to approve these applications.
In the face of discrimination and injustice at home these men set aside personal considerations to defend America on foreign battlefields, even against those of their own heritage. Through their conduct, they proved that being an American is more about what an individual chooses to be than about where he or she comes from.
To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., they proved to a doubting nation that patriotism is not based on the color of one's skin but rather on the greatness of one's spirit and the quality of one's mind.
The men and women who gave their lives in service to our country were dedicated to the worthy cause of freedom, and not one of them died in vain. From colonial America to the Persian Gulf, from places such as Midway to Normandy, Inchon, and Da Nang, they fought and sacrificed so others might live in peace, free from the fear of tyranny and aggression. On this Memorial Day, our hearts should swell with thankfulness and pride as we reflect on our Nation's enduring heritage of liberty under law and on the continuing expansion of democratic ideals around the globe.
Today, inspired by the selfless actions and by the noble legacy of our Nation's war dead, let us rededicate ourselves to the unfinished work at hand. Let us renew our determination to promote respect for human rights and the rule of law, and let us pray for strength and insight as we go about that unending task.
Mahalo nui loa for allowing me to be a part of your memorial service today.
