The Nisei War Memorial Monument

This memorial on Lake View Cemetery commemorates the 56 American soldiers of Japanese origin who fought with the Americans in the Second World War. The names of those from Seattle who fell are written on the memorial. The memorial is a 21-foot column of rainbow granite from Minnesota. An American shield with the outline of breadfruit and pomegranates, symbolic of the South Pacific and Italy, form its crown. Etched above are the names of some of their major campaigns: Rome, Arno, North Apennines, Po Valley, Rhineland, Naples, Foggia, Ryukyus, Leyte, India, Burma, the Aleutian Islands and Guadalcanal. Beneath is an inscription of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ode to Americanism: Americanism is a matter of the mind and heart; Americanism is not and never was, a matter of race or ancestry. Later, 9 more names of Seattle area service members of Japanese ancestry killed in Korea, Vietnam and Granada were added to names on the memorial.