The United States Postal Service has issued a commemorative stamp titled Go for Broke: Japanese American Soldiers of WWII that will be available beginning June 3, 2021. The Postal Service announced:
With this commemorative stamp, the Postal Service recognizes the contributions of Japanese American soldiers, some 33,000 altogether, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
For a time, these second-generation Japanese Americans, known as Nisei, were denied the opportunity to fight despite being American citizens. Many were forcibly removed to incarceration camps for fear their loyalty lay with the country of their parents rather than the country in which they were born and raised.
They were, however, eventually formed into what became one of the most distinguished American fighting units of World War II: the all-Japanese American 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Thousands of other Nisei served as translators, interpreters, and interrogators in the Pacific Theater for the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), nearly a thousand served in the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion, and more than 100 Nisei women joined the Women’s Army Corp.
The stamp art is based on a photograph of a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, whose motto was “Go for Broke.” The photograph was taken in 1944 at a railroad station in France. The stamp was printed in the intaglio print method. The color scheme of the stamp is patriotic, and the type runs up the side in a manner suggestive of the vertical style in which Japanese text was traditionally written. The stamp was designed by art director Antonio Alcalá.
Our friends at Stamp Our Story have led the campaign to honor the Nisei veterans through a commemorative stamp for over 15 years, and have submitted formal requests for a “Go For Broke” stamp in various forms since 2005. “The issuance of this stamp is a culmination of over 15 years of work by Stamp Our Story campaign founders Fusa Takahashi, Aiko O. King, the late Chiz Ohira, and the many individuals who have helped over the years,” said Wayne Osako, co-chair of the Stamp Our Story campaign. Friends of Minidoka was able to garner the support of Representative Mike Simpson and Senators Mike Crapo and James Risch for the stamp in 2017, when the delegation submitted a letter to the Post Master General in support of a stamp to honor the Nisei soldiers.
Stamps and commemorative first day covers and digital postmarks are available for preorder and will be available for purchase June 3rd at https://store.usps.com
As part of our 2021 virtual education series in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Minidoka National Historic Site, the National Park Service and Friends of Minidoka invite you to join on Sunday, June 13th, for a special program to dedicate the Go for Broke stamp and commemorate the rich legacy of Idaho’s Japanese American soldiers who served in the US Army during WWII amidst intense racial prejudice and war hysteria.
This program is brought to you by Friends of Minidoka and the National Park Service in partnership with Boise State University School of Public Service, ACLU of Idaho, The Community Library, the Boise City Department of Arts and History, and the Japanese American Citizens League and produced by Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages.
Join the livestream on the Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages Youtube channel! Share and RSVP to the event on facebook.