Remembering those who have suffered

I am very proud of my community for welcoming the statue commemorating the suffering and sacrifice of the WW II Comfort Women donated by our Korean Sister City organization. I hope it is the first of several such memorials to man’s inhumanity to man placed in our Central Park so that Glendale residents and visitors from around the globe recognize our commitment to truthful documentation of past atrocities. It is only by facing injustice that we can overcome it.

I disagree with those who say it is anti-Japanese. It is anti-kidnapping, -abduction and -rape. And in a broader sense, it is anti-war.

Consider that many Glendale residents worked with our neighbors in Los Angeles to recognize the U.S. violation of the human rights of legal resident aliens and U.S. citizens, mostly of Japanese ancestry, during the same era by researching the history of the former Tuna Camp Detention Station in Tujunga. The Los Angeles City Council recently designated an acre of land at the site, now the Verdugo Hills Golf Course, to commemorate those who passed through the facility.

If you weren’t part of the crowd at the Comfort Women statue unveiling, I urge you to go visit and read the plaque. Although there is no memorial yet at the Tuna Camp Detention Station, it is also worth a visit. You can sit under the same oak trees that witnessed the confusion of innocent people caught up in a war’s collateral damage. Those of us who enjoy constitutional protections should be mindful of those who have had their rights violated. Perhaps with understanding we can do better at non-violent conflict resolution in the future.

Sharon Weisman
La Crescenta