The Graybeards - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

Monument to be dedicated in memory of Japanese-
American Korean War Veterans
Korean War Memorial Monument in honor of the 247 Americans of Japanese decent killed
or missing in action in the Korean War; Imjin-Gak, Paju City, Korea.
The Japanese American Korean War
Veterans (JAKWV) have begun a
new fund drive last month to raise
$40,000-$30,000 to cover the cost of the
construction, erection and maintenance of
the JAKWV’s American of Japanese
Ancestry (AJA) Memorial Monument in
South Korea and $10,000 for the AJA
Korean War KIA/MIA booklet.
The Memorial Monument is in the
memory of the 247 Americans of Japanese
ancestry who gave their lives for the freedom
of the South Korean people during
the 1950-1953 Korean War. The monument
was erected in April of this year in
time for the June 25 50th anniversary commemoration
of the start of the Korean conflict.
It is located in Imjin-Gak resort in
Paju City, Republic of Korea, which contains
32 large and small Korean War monuments
and is spotlighted as a national unification
and security tourist site which
attracts an average of 1.2 million domestic
and foreign visitors annually.
The monument nearly disrupted the
summit meeting between the leader of
North Korea and the president of South
Korea this summer. On April 23, the North
Korea radio announced that the South
Korea government was building a war
monument close to the DMZ and was trying
to disrupt the scheduled summit meeting
of the two leaders. The announcement
was repeated all day on the radio. “It was
the first time that the South Korean president
heard about building a memorial near
the DMZ, so he sent South Korean CIA
agents to find out who was building the
monument,” related Ed Nakata, Memorial
Committee chair. “Fortunately, our monument
was completed before the radio
announcement, and to our relief, the historic
summit meeting went ahead as scheduled,”
he added.
The monument will be officially dedicated
in May, 2001. The JAKWV is planning
a “Korea Revisit Tour” then, and 100
persons have already signed up. The
JAKWV has also been assembling photographs
of the AJA’s killed and missing in
action in the Korean conflict to be included
in the proposed commemorative booklet.
John Iwamoto, 4225 Aikepa St. Lihue,
HI 96766 (Tel: 808-245-3137) and Major
Stanley E. Igawa, USA Ret., 84-965
Farrington Hwy., Apt 718B, Waianae, HI
96702 (Tel: 808-696-8998) can be contacted
for Hawaiian KIA/MIAs. Paul Ono,
16230 S. St. Andrews Pl., Apt A, Gardena,
CA 90247 (Tel: 310-532-2495) can be
contacted for those from the Mainland.
Tax deductible contributions can be made,
payable to JAKWV Memorial and sent to
the treasurer, Sam Shimoguchi, at 12557
Allin St., Los Angeles, CA 90066.
Golf Shirts, T-Shirts & Sweat Shirts for Sale
Golf Shirts, T-Shirts and Sweat Shirts for Sale
Golf shirts — $20.00 plus $3 shipping (White Only)
T-Shirts — $10.00 plus $3 shipping (White Only)
Sweat Shirts — $20 plus $5 shipping (Lt. Gray)
Patches (of logo above) – $5.00
Decals (of logo above) – $3.00
Shipping costs for 2 is $3.00
Shipping costs above 2 is $5.00
All sizes are available.
Order from or contact: Sunshine State Chapter, KWVA, P.O. Box 5298, Largo, FL
33779-5298 Telephone: 727-582-9353
January/February, 2001 Page 27