2024 Day of Remembrance

LOS ANGELES, CA – Today is the Day of Remembrance, a somber day that commemorates real people and families who were unjustly imprisoned during World War II when President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. 

As JANM commemorates this anniversary, I recall my grandfather, Fred Jiro Fujioka, who helped many Southern California Issei establish their businesses and farms. I also think about my parents, William and Linda Fujioka. Dad was a 442nd Regimental Combat Team veteran; mom was a revered educator as well as a dedicated JANM volunteer and docent. Instead of lamenting everything that was lost during their families’ incarceration at Heart Mountain, they taught my brother and I to improve the world through public service.

On the 82nd anniversary of Day of Remembrance, JANM looks at how the incarceration story is urgent and relevant to fighting racism, discrimination, and othering in all its forms today. By promoting understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity through the Japanese American experience and speaking out when diversity, individual dignity, and social justice are undermined, we use our shared values and beliefs to bridge divisions that have sprung up around the country in civic life.

William T Fujioka
Chair, JANM Board of Trustees

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