Remembrances of War and Unsung Heroes

The Long Beach Naval Station, home port to many of the ships damaged at Pearl Harbor 50 years ago, held a memorial service Wednesday for those who lost their lives in the Japanese attack that sparked the entry of the United States into World War II. The battleships that bore the brunt of the attack, including the Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada and West Virginia, were sent from Long Beach to Hawaii in 1940 by President Roosevelt as a deterrent to war.

“One of the forgotten stories of Pearl Harbor is the great kindness the people of Long Beach showed to the widows of Pearl Harbor: donations of food, delays in collecting rent and other payments, and help in getting jobs at local aircraft plants,” said Rear Adm. Alvar R. Gomez, commander of the Naval Surface Group Long Beach.

Also Wednesday, Japanese-American veterans of World War II met in Little Tokyo with survivors of the Dachau concentration camp. The Japanese-American 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, a detached unit of the much-decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team, was among the American forces that liberated the Nazi death camp on April 29, 1945.

The event was aimed at drawing attention to the positive contributions of the Japanese-American community on the eve of the Pearl Harbor anniversary. “I am a loyal American,” said Clarence Matsumura of San Gabriel, a 522nd veteran. “I did not bomb Pearl Harbor.” About 33,000 soldiers of Japanese ancestry served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II, the veterans said.