Learn more about the Go for Broke Monument, including why it was built and whose legacies it represents.

You fought not only the enemy...

you fought prejudice and won.

President Harry S. Truman, as he welcomed the 100/442 RCT home Inscription on GFB Monument.

The Go For Broke Monument

The Go For Broke Monument signifies the sacrifices of the American WWII soldiers of Japanese ancestry who made it their fight to prove their loyalty to their country and to secure the rights and freedoms of future generations. It stands as a tribute not only to the Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) soldiers themselves, but also to their families who endured tremendous hardship during wartime.

The Monument is engraved with the names of more than 16,000 Japanese American men and women who served during the war in the European, Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters. The Japanese American soldiers served in the military units of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company and 1399 Engineer Construction Battalion.

Located in the historic district of Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles, the Go For Broke Monument today welcomes tens of thousands of visitors from around the world each year. The Monument is free and open to the public.

History

In 1989, a group of Japanese American WWII veterans established the 100th/442nd/MIS World War II Memorial Foundation to honor their compatriots with a monument.

It would be the first of its kind on the US mainland, filling a gap in American history where many of these Japanese American soldiers remained unrecognized by the government and unknown or forgotten by most Americans.

Over the next ten years, the Foundation led a grassroots campaign to locate an appropriate site and raise funds for the monument’s construction and maintenance. Members appealed to veterans groups as well as to the national community while they worked diligently to compile information on the Japanese Americans soldiers who served during the war.

In spite of many hurdles, the Foundation persevered in its efforts to bring the Japanese American WWII veterans the recognition they deserved.

In 1998, the Foundation broke ground for the monument at the northern end of Central Avenue in the Little Tokyo district in Los Angeles, California. On June 5, 1999, the Go For Broke Monument was presented to the City of Los Angeles.

The dedication ceremony was attended by 1,500 guests, including veterans, their families and friends, business leaders and elected officials.

Located in the historic district of Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles, the Go For Broke Monument today welcomes tens of thousands of visitors from around the world each year. The Monument is free and open to the public.

The Monument, a wedge of black granite set in a circle, affirmed the critical role that the Japanese American men and women held in the war. It would ensure that their place in U.S. history was finally acknowledged, and that they themselves would always be remembered.

“The Nisei saved countless lives and shortened the war by two years.”

Major General Willoughby, General McArthur’s Intelligence Chief, referring to the MIS

Inscription on GFB Monument

A granite replica of the 442nd RCT shoulder patch, featuring a torch-bearing arm, sits in front of the semicircle while the American flag waves proudly behind it. Two clusters of granite pillars honor the Monument’s supporters, Medal of Honor recipients, and contributors. Palm trees surround the wall of names, and a kiosk on the southwest corner guides visitors in locating specific veterans.

Above each of the 30 panels inscribed with names are two insignias representing the various Divisions units and battalions within the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service were attached to throughout the war.

Design

The unique design of the Go For Broke Monument is the creation of Los Angeles architect Roger M. Yanagita and construction engineer Bruce Kato. Yanagita’s design was selected out of 138 entries submitted in a 1991 international competition.

The 40-foot-wide circular monument stands on a square of natural stone, with a checkered approach of grass and granite. A band of grass encircles the base, from which black granite rises nine feet. On the curved wall are engraved the names of 16,131 Nisei soldiers and officers who served in WWII, including 37 Japanese American women, with stars marking those killed in action. Above the names are 60 U.S. Army patches representing the units in which they served.

Prominent on the Monument is veteran Ben Tamashiro's inscription, below the Nisei soldiers' battle cry, “Go For Broke,” and insignias of key battalions— the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company and the 1399 Engineer Construction Battalion. Quotes from Presidents Truman and Reagan, General MacArthur, and Major General Willoughby follow.

My fellow Americans, we gather here today to right a grave wrong… Now let me sign HR442.

President Ronald Reagan, Civil Liberties Act of 1988

Inscription on GFB Monument

A granite replica of the 442nd RCT shoulder patch, featuring a torch-bearing arm, sits in front of the semicircle while the American flag waves proudly behind it. Two clusters of granite pillars honor the Monument’s supporters, Medal of Honor recipients, and contributors. Palm trees surround the wall of names, and a kiosk on the southwest corner guides visitors in locating specific veterans.

Above each of the 30 panels inscribed with names are two insignias representing the various Divisions units and battalions within the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service were attached to throughout the war.

Inspiration

Yanagita’s design was inspired by the accounts of Japanese American soldiers he read in Chester Tanaka’s (1982) book, Go For Broke: A Pictorial History of the Japanese American 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442d Regimental Combat Team.

Yanagita noted that many of the men had shared the experience of charging and capturing their versions of a “banzai hill,” the hill that the Japanese American soldiers took in a pivotal moment during its extraordinary rescue of the “Lost Battalion” from German forces.

interpretation

The Go For Broke Monument reflects the hilly and thickly forested terrain of the Vosges Mountains that served as the primary battleground for the Nisei in France.

While the pillars signify trees, the granite slope represents the “banzai hill” that many of them charged and overcame. The granite rise also symbolizes the uphill struggle the Nisei soldiers made to prove their national loyalty, which was challenged after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Angled towards the southwest, the Monument faces the sun as it travels across the southern sky. While the circle of grass signifies Earth, its grass and granite checkerboard base represents the lines of latitude and longitude. In its entirety, the circular base thus symbolizes “the world at war.”

The shoulder sleeve insignia features the torch of liberty. Its flame burns in remembrance of those lost in battle.

Support the Monument

Today, the Go For Broke Monument welcomes thousands of visitors year-round to honor and remember the Nisei soldiers. A Monument Maintenance Fund has been established to support the preservation of the Monument. We welcome and appreciate any and all donations to make sure that the Monument stands for generations to come.

Support the Monument

About the Monument

You fought not only the enemy...

you fought prejudice and won.

The Go For Broke Monument

History

“The Nisei saved countless lives and shortened the war by two years.”

Design

My fellow Americans, we gather here today to right a grave wrong… Now let me sign HR442.

Inspiration

interpretation

Support the Monument