{"id":220734,"date":"2024-07-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=220734"},"modified":"2024-07-11T15:58:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T15:58:27","slug":"camp-darby-honors-nisei-families-80-years-after-livornos-liberation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=220734","title":{"rendered":"Camp Darby honors Nisei families 80 years after Livorno\u2019s liberation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Staff Sgt. Michael Rosado, a military police noncommissioned officer and Installation Management Command, Europe\u2019s \u201cBest Warrior,\u201d places flowers at a memorial for Pvt. Masato \u201cCurley\u201d Nakae, of Hawaii, who earned the Medal of Honor for heroic combat actions near Pisa on August 19, 1944.
Yoko Sakato and Valerie Matsunaga, both family members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated U.S. Army unit whose troops were of Japanese descent \u2013 known as Nisei \u2013took part in the July 11 commemoration event at Camp Darby, near Pisa, Italy
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PISA, Italy \u2013 When Yoko Sakato approached Camp Darby\u2019s memorial for Pvt. Masato Nakae, she felt emotions well up as she thought about her father \u2013 a Nisei Soldier who fought in Italy during World War II.<\/p>\n

Sakato was among a group of 14 family members of Nisei veterans who visited Camp Darby July 11 to attend a Nisei commemoration event \u2013 one week before the 80th anniversary of nearby Livorno\u2019s liberation. The event honored the legacy of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated U.S. Army unit whose troops were of Japanese descent \u2013 known as Nisei.<\/p>\n

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\n Yoko Sakato and Valerie Matsunaga, both family members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated U.S. Army unit whose troops were of Japanese descent \u2013 known as Nisei \u2013 embrace at a July 11 commemoration event at Camp Darby, near Pisa, Italy
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\u201cI was feeling close to my father, close the other men that I knew growing up, the veterans,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I felt a kinship to the military guys who are here now serving to protect us. I felt gratitude and kinship.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n U.S. Army Soldiers and Italian World War II reenactors share stories at a July 11, 2024 event at Camp Darby commemoration the Nisei troops and the liberation of Livorno in World War II.
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Hundreds of U.S. Army Soldiers, U.S. Air Force personnel and Italian civilian workers attended the event. Italian WWII reenactors, wearing authentic uniforms and driving vintage vehicles from the 1940\u2019s, set up a camp nearby that gave community members a feel for the era. Some were dressed as combat infantrymen, others as officers and nurses.<\/p>\n

In 2006, the piazza near Camp Darby\u2019s post exchange was named for Pvt. Masato \u201cCurley\u201d Nakae, of Hawaii, who earned the Medal of Honor for heroic combat actions near Pisa on August 19, 1944, while serving with the 100th Infantry Battalion, a Nisei unit. His story and image are on a brass plague attached to a large white stone.<\/p>\n

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\n Staff Sgt. Michael Rosado, a military police noncommissioned officer and Installation Management Command, Europe\u2019s \u201cBest Warrior,\u201d placed flowers at a memorial for Pvt. Masato \u201cCurley\u201d Nakae, of Hawaii, who earned the Medal of Honor for heroic combat actions near Pisa on August 19, 1944.
Yoko Sakato and Valerie Matsunaga, both family members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated U.S. Army unit whose troops were of Japanese descent \u2013 known as Nisei \u2013took part in the July 11 commemoration event at Camp Darby, near Pisa, Italy
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It was there, at the memorial, that Staff Sgt. Michael Rosado, a military police noncommissioned officer and Installation Management Command, Europe\u2019s \u201cBest Warrior,\u201d brought Sakato and Valerie Matsunaga for a presentation of flowers. \u00a0Nearby, a bugler from the Italian Folgore band played \u201cIl Silenzio,\u201d which sounds similar to Taps.<\/p>\n

Sakato\u2019s father, Staff Sgt. Henry Sakato, died in 1999. He seldom spoke of the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were young, it must have been scary, but they never talked about it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\n Valerie Matsunaga, a family members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated U.S. Army unit whose troops were of Japanese descent \u2013 known as Nisei \u2013 reaches out to the memorial for Pvt. Masato \u201cCurley\u201d Nakae, of Hawaii, who earned the Medal of Honor for heroic combat actions near Pisa on August 19, 1944, while serving with the 100th Infantry Battalion.
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During his remarks, Col. Jordan Simmers, representing Maj. Gen. Todd Wasmund, the Commanding General of Southern European Task Force, Africa, encouraged the gathered crowd to think about the motto of the 442nd, \u201cGo For Broke\u201d as he detailed their valorous efforts in the liberation of Tuscany in the summer of 1944.<\/p>\n

Livorno, adjacent to Camp Darby, was liberated on July 19, 1944. Local residents will commemorate the event in the coming week. Pisa was liberated by early September, as the Nisei units moved north toward the Gothic Line, Germany\u2019s last stronghold in Italy\u2019s Apenine mountains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are honored to have the descendants of the Nisei warriors, who traveled from the U.S. \u2013 Los Angeles, Hawaii and Colorado \u2013 to be with us here today,\u201d Simmers said.<\/p>\n

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\n Col. Jordan Simmers, SETAF-AF, speaks at a July 11, 2024 event at Camp Darby commemoration the Nisei troops and the liberation of Livorno in World War II.
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Then, Roberto Simoncini, a local Italian World War II historian presented a plaque to Kirk and Joni Miyashiro with memorabilia of Sgt. Kiyoshi Iguchi, who was killed near Pisa \u2013 80 years ago to the day. Several years earlier, Simoncini received an authentic regimental patch from Kirk Miyashiro.<\/p>\n

During her remarks, U.S. Consul General in Florence Daniela Ballard said she was glad to see so many Italians in attendance, to include Camp Darby\u2019s valued civilian workforce and many local leaders from Pisa and Livorno.<\/p>\n

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\n During her remarks at the July 11 Nisei commemoration, U.S. Consul General in Florence Daniela Ballard said she was glad to see so many Italians in attendance, to include Camp Darby\u2019s valued civilian workforce and many local leaders from Pisa and Livorno.
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\u201cYour interest in today\u2019s event reminds me of how strong the bonds are between the United States and Italy,\u201d Ballard said. \u201cWe must not forget, those bonds originate from the sacrifice young American soldiers gave in fighting alongside Italy and supporting the country’s liberation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Staff Sgt. Michael Rosado, a military police noncommissioned officer and Installation Management Command, Europe\u2019s \u201cBest Warrior,\u201d places flowers at a memorial for Pvt. Masato \u201cCurley\u201d Nakae, of Hawaii, who earned the Medal of Honor for heroic combat actions near Pisa on August 19, 1944. Yoko Sakato and Valerie Matsunaga, both family members of the 442nd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220736,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=220734"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220744,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220734\/revisions\/220744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/220736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=220734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=220734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=220734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}