Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts chronicles the history of Japanese American Nisei soldiers from the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service who served during World War II to prove their loyalty to the nation that had disowned them.

Japanese American soldiers of the 100th and 442nd fought in eight brutal campaigns across Europe, receiving thousands of medals for heroism, while thousands more joined the Military Intelligence Service as language and intelligence specialists. However, their battles were not finished when the war ended. The Nisei veterans returned to fight pervasive racism back home where they proved to be just as successful. With their help, hundreds of anti-Asian laws were struck down.

First displayed at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, Go For Broke shows how instrumental these soldiers were in the Japanese American fight for justice both overseas and at home. The Japanese American National Museum is pleased to present this exhibition and the remarkable legacy of our Nisei veterans. The photographs in this exhibition are supplemented by artifacts from the Museum’s permanent collection and a special Guide by Cell audio tour with narration by Nisei veterans, courtesy of the Go For Broke National Education Center’s Hanashi Oral History Program.

In addition, A Flicker in Eternity, a film that chronicles the life of Stanley Hayami behind barbed wire and as a soldier in the 442nd RCT, will be screened continuously in the Terasaki Orientation Theater. The film was produced by Ann Kaneko, Joanne Oppenheim, and Sharon Yamato, and is based on his diary which is part of the Museum’s collection.