Famous ‘Go For Broke’ exhibit to debut in Hilo Sept. 17

From Sept. 17 to Oct. 10, Hilo-area residents will have the opportunity to view the famous “Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts” exhibit which is currently making a tour of the 50th state.

The Hawaii Japanese Center (HJC) will host this exhibit chronicling the history of Japanese American soldiers from the famous 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) and lesser known Military Intelligence Service (MIS) who served during World War II. The center is at 751 Kanoelehua Ave. in Hilo.

The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, closed on Sundays and Mondays. Admission is free. The HJC can be reached at 934-9611.

The “Go For Broke” exhibit was originally created in the early 1980s through the efforts of more than 100 Nisei veterans in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. The exhibit was originally shown at the Presidio Army base in San Francisco and toured throughout the United States for nearly 10 years. It formed the basis for other exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York. Most recently, “Go For Broke” was featured at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

The exhibit was brought to Hawaii earlier this year by the Nisei Veterans Legacy Center (NVLC), a local nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of the legacy of the Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJA) who served in the U.S. armed forces in World War II, and to recognize the socioeconomic changes brought about in Hawaii because of their extraordinary wartime service. As part of the NVLC’s educational program, the ‘Go For Broke’ exhibit is being shown at various locations through the islands. Initially shown in Honolulu in 1984, this is the first time it is being shown on the Neighbor Islands.

“The Hawaii Japanese Center is very proud to be hosting the ‘Go For Broke’ exhibit and helping to make it available to the people of the Hilo community. Our center has recently undergone a major renovation project and the exhibit provides us an opportunity to welcome the local community to come and learn more about us. We are pleased to help to bring this important exhibit here for the first time,” said Gina Hara Chun, HJC managing director. Planning is underway for an opening ceremony.