Toshiko Ono Williams; First Japanese War Bride in U.S.
Toshiko Ono Williams, 70, who in 1950 became America’s first Japanese war bride. The Tokyo native met John E. Williams in 1946 while the American soldier was stationed in Japan. Williams arranged for his future wife to attend Athens College in Alabama in 1948, but the two were barred by federal law from marrying. The couple got help from attorney Howell Heflin--now a U.S. senator from Alabama--who pushed for passage of a bill allowing them to marry. After President Harry S. Truman signed the legislation, Williams and Miss Ono were married on July 8, 1950. On Oct. 16 in Pontiac, Mich., of undisclosed causes.
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