100-Year-Old WWII Vet Served Country That Held Him Captive

At 100 years old, Ed Nakamura has lived through one of America's darkest chapters and emerged with a message of love over discrimination.

The San Pedro resident was just a high school student in Auburn, Washington when Pearl Harbor changed everything. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, forcing 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry into internment camps across America.

Nakamura's family was sent to Tule Lake Relocation Center with only the clothes on their backs. Their bank accounts were drained. Thousands of families huddled in cramped barracks through freezing winters, their entire lives stripped away because of their heritage.

After nine months imprisoned, Nakamura and his older brother got a rare chance to leave and help Idaho farmers. He finished high school there while his parents remained locked up.

Then came the knock on the door. Uncle Sam was drafting him to fight in World War II.

"Lo and behold, I was drafted," Nakamura recalled. Despite everything the government had done to his family, he answered the call to serve.

He trained at a segregated bootcamp in Mississippi reserved for Japanese Americans. He volunteered for the Army's military intelligence service and deployed to the Philippines, then post-war Japan as an interrogator.

After his honorable discharge, Nakamura came home, married his sweetheart Mary, and worked 37 years at Hughes Aircraft Company. He built a quiet, dignified life.

Why This Inspires

One year before Nakamura retired, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, formally apologizing to internment survivors. "I think it was long deserving," Nakamura said simply.

He and fellow Japanese American soldiers received the Congressional Gold Medal for their patriotism and valor overseas while fighting discrimination at home. The recognition brought him peace.

Now, as one of the few survivors left to share this history, Nakamura speaks on the Day of Remembrance each year. His message isn't about bitterness or anger.

"We should not be forgotten or ignored," he said. "It's human nature to discriminate, so we have to try to minimize that, and try to love each other best we can."

A century of life taught him that choosing love over hatred is the only path forward.