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„tv or <br /> .9°,~~ L~ <br /> COUNTY OF HAWAII STATE OF HAWAII <br /> . <br /> n•;;•„• <br /> RESOLUTION NO. 503 0~ <br /> <br /> RESOLUTION URGING THE CREATION OF A JAPANESE AMERICAN WORLD <br /> <br /> WAR II VETERANS COMMEMORATIVE STAMP. <br /> WHEREAS, over 20,000 Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJA) enlisted in the United <br /> States Army during World War II, many from "internment camps", despite the prejudice <br /> <br /> generated after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; and <br /> WHEREAS, AJA soldiers served in a number of capacities in the United States Army <br /> <br /> during the World Waz II era, both at home and abroad, many of whom were born and raised here <br /> in Hawaii County; and <br /> WHEREAS, AJA solders freed and aided victims from the Nazi German concentration <br /> camp at Dachau, even while many of these soldiers themselves had family members being <br /> detained within the United States; and <br /> WHEREAS, the 100a' Infantry and 442na Regimental Combat Team, comprised of AJA <br /> soldiers, rescued over 200 fellow American soldiers in the battle known as the "Lost Battalion", <br /> which was acknowledged to be one of the most prominent battles in United States Army history; <br /> and <br /> WHEREAS, this Regimental Combat Team of AJA soldiers, also known as the "Go for <br /> Broke" regiment, was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in United States <br /> military history; and <br /> WHEREAS, the Military Intelligence Service, comprised of AJA interpreters, linguists, <br /> and combat soldiers, and their knowledge of Japanese language and culture, was estimated by <br /> General Douglas McArthur's intelligence chief, Major General Charles A. Willoughby, to have <br /> shortened the war by at least two years and saved countless lives; and <br /> WHEREAS, AJA soldiers earned 21 Medals of Honor, an unprecedented nine <br /> Presidential Unit Citations, 9,486 Purple Hearts, and 5,200 Bronze Stazs for their sacrifices <br /> during World War II; and <br /> WHEREAS, the United States Congress would later apologize for the en masse World <br /> War II incazceration of American citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry as "a <br /> grave injustice" that grew mainly from "racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and failure of <br /> political leadership" as stated in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, signed into law by President <br /> Ronald Reagan; and <br /> WHEREAS, this resolution is in keeping with the United States Postal Service's <br /> tradition of honoring war veterans with commemorative stamps; now, therefore, , <br /> <br />