On a recent visit to Bru­yeres, France, Kimberly Naguwa saw the steep hills the Japanese-American soldiers of the 100th Battalion clambered up under a barrage of artillery fire to help free the town from the Germans. Her grandfather Edward Ikuma fought with the 100th Battalion in those hills in 1944.

On Sunday, Naguwa, 26, attended a memorial service for fallen Japanese-American soldiers of World War II with her grandfather, now 92. She said the memorial is important so the legacy of the thousands of Japanese-Americans who fought in World War II is not forgotten.

"There’s not a lot of them left, so I think it’s more important now to come to these," she said. "Just to spend time with them, talk with them, hear their stories before you can’t hear them anymore."

Sunday’s service at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl recognized four World War II units, which were segregated for Japanese-Americans during the war: the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service and the 1,399th Engineer Construction Battalion.

The annual service occurs in September in honor of Shigeo Takata of the 100th Battalion — the first Japanese-American killed in action in World War II, 68 years ago this month.

On Nov. 2 an award ceremony will be held in Washington, D.C., to present the 100th Battalion, the 442nd and the MIS with the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian award. While the 100th Battalion and 442nd were combat units, the MIS translated and intercepted intelligence and has been credited with shortening the war.

Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, said the members of the decorated Japanese-American units are an inspiration to those in uniform, and their work paved the way for President Harry Truman’s 1948 executive order to desegregate the military.

"As an American son who grew up free, thank you, nisei veterans," he said.

Ted Tsukiyama, 90, who served with the MIS, recalled having to fight for a chance to protect the country. He was kicked out of the Hawaii Territorial Guard, which was protecting the waterfront in the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, because he was Japanese-American.

"Lowest point of my life," he said. "Suddenly out of the blue they tell you you can’t be trusted."

He and others petitioned the military government in Hawaii to allow Japanese-Americans to work as a civilian labor battalion, paving the way for the government to seek volunteers for a Japanese-American fighting force.

No one questioned the Japanese-American soldiers’ loyalty after body bags with Japanese names started coming back, he said, adding, "We owe them big time."