Representatives of the Go For Broke National Education Center thanked Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) for her efforts in Congress, along with Rep. Adam Schiff, to secure $4 million in federal funds to build the Go For Broke National Education Center in the Little Tokyo area of Downtown Los Angeles.  The new building will be headquarters for the Go For Broke National Education Center and stand adjacent to the Go For Broke Monument that the organization unveiled in 1999.

“I am proud to be an advocate in support of such an exciting project,” said Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, who serves on the Appropriations Committee and represents Downtown. “The Go For Broke National Education Center will be a valuable resource for current and future generations of residents and visitors to Los Angeles.  Through interactive exhibits that will include oral histories and video footage, the center will provide valuable first-hand insight into the heroic sacrifices of Japanese American WWII veterans on behalf of our country.”

The organization’s mission is to teach and preserve the American story and legacy of American veterans of Japanese ancestry whose heroism and sacrifices during World War II triumphed over racism and intolerance.  Incorporated in 1989, the organization was established by Japanese American World War II veterans who worked to build the Go For Broke Monument, which is a tribute to their fellow soldiers.

Today, the organization focuses on educating the public about the history of Japanese American WWII soldiers, the Japanese American incarceration, and the lessons about civil liberties that can be taken away from that time in our nation’s history. A longtime supporter of the Go For Broke National Education Center, the congresswoman also secured federal funds for its teacher training workshops to provide teachers with the knowledge and resources to accurately teach the Japanese American experience.

The new education center will feature an innovative interactive exhibit built around videotaped oral histories from men and women of  the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service (MIS) and other units that operated overseas during World War II.  The 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army was an Asian American unit composed of mostly Japanese Americans who fought in Europe during WWII while many of the soldier’s families were subject to internment in the United States. The 442nd was a self-sufficient fighting force, and fought with uncommon distinction in Italy, southern France, and Germany. The unit became the most highly decorated military unit in the history of the United States Armed Forces, including 21 Medal of Honor recipients, earning it the nickname “The Purple Heart Battalion.”

The new center will also be a nationwide center for teacher training and curriculum programming on the Nisei veterans and equipped to collaborate with communities in every state to ensure that this story is taught in schools.  The new center has been conceived as a two-story, 14,999-sq.-ft. building that is in preliminary design phases now.  
 

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