In the early stages of working on a graphic novel about the brave Japanese-Americans of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team who fought in World War II, writer Stacey Hayashi wanted the drawings of soldiers like her uncle, Goro Sumida, to be relatable to young readers.
So illustrator Damon Wong started off with something realistic based on photographs. When that didn’t work, they went with a style more along the lines of war comic books. The result, according to Wong, "ending up looking pretty fierce."
Asian versions of DC Comics’ "Sgt. Rock" were still too intense for Hayashi’s liking.
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To find out where to purchase "Journey of Heroes: The Story of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team" ($10 plus shipping), visit 442comicbook.com or email 442comicbook@gmail.com.
BISHOP MUSEUM HONORS SERVICE
Learn more about the Hawaii’s World War II veterans at events being held in conjunction with "American Heroes: WWII Nisei Soldiers and the Congressional Gold Medal," a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibit running through April 14 at Bishop Museum. Access to the presentations in the museum’s Atherton Halau and the exhibit is free, but regular admission rates will apply for all other exhibits within the museum. For more information, visit www.bishopmuseum.org or call 847-3511.
» "Loyalty, Patriotism, Perseverance — The 100th Infantry Battalion Story": 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, with Robert Arakaki, Kenneth Higa, Edward Ikuma, Judge Takashi Kitaoka, Donald Matsuda and moderator George Tanabe Jr.
» "’Go For Broke’ Soldiers Serving after WWII": 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, with a film on 100th Battalion combat operations in Iraq and panelists Walter Ozawa, Colbert Low, Arthur Delos Santos, Beau Tatsumura, Keith Horikawa and moderator retired Maj. Gen. Robert Lee.
» "Military Intelligence War against Japan": A panel discussion with Military Intelligence Service veterans, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 30, with Mark Matsunaga, Ted Tsukiyama, Herbert Yanamura, Norman Kikuta and moderator Barbara Tanabe.
» "A Tradition of Honor": A documentary by Craig Yahata and David Yoneshige, airs at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and March 28 on KGMB. The film tells the story of the Japanese-American World War II units — the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service — through interviews with 40 Nisei veterans.
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She then turned to something she was more familiar with: "chibi" — diminutive caricatures often found in manga and anime.
Chibi are considered "kawaii," or cute. And while "cute" might not seem congruous with the image of a war-hardened American GI, Wong used his skills as an animator to make the little combatants appealing enough without going overboard on the adorable scale.
The resulting "Journey of Heroes: The Story of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team" got a 10,000-copy run, with half of the books donated to public schools and state libraries.
Hayashi, 37, initially wanted to tell the story of the heroic "Go for Broke" soldiers as a dramatic film. But with that dream unrealized, she condensed her screenplay for the book and raised funding from private and corporate sources.
She was planning to use retouched photographs to illustrate it. Wong, 36, who had met Hayashi through their families and lives in Providence, R.I., told her there might be copyright issues and that he would draw the art instead.
Starting in October 2011, and in between running his animation company and freelancing on the side, it took about a year for Wong to finish the artwork for "Journey of Heroes."
THE STORY opens as the "Go for Broke" soldiers muster in the Vosges Mountains in France to be recognized by their commander for their daring rescue of "The Lost Battalion" in November 1944. One of the characters reminisces about a simpler time in a Waialua plantation village in the months leading up to Pearl Harbor and the immediate aftermath of the attack that pushed the United States into war.
"Journey of Heroes" also touches on racism and the internment of Japanese-Americans on the mainland, and follows the soldiers from their landing at Naples, Italy, to the bloody battle at Cassino and the liberation of Bruyeres in France. When a detachment is sent to free concentration camp prisoners at Dachau, Germany, the irony is not lost on the soldiers, who are reminded of the U.S. internment camps.
"No, they were not death camps, but it still boggles the mind," says the narrator.
The book shows the 442nd and 100th soldiers returning home to become business and government leaders and finally receive the recognition they deserve. One panel shows the elderly veterans with a chibi version of President Barack Obama at the awarding of a Congressional Gold Medal "for acts of outstanding service to our country."
Although aimed at children, there is plenty in "Journey of Heroes" to educate and entertain adults as well.
"My reward in doing the book with Damon is having kids reading about these veterans," said Hayashi, who lives in Waipahu. "And adults are learning a bit of history that shouldn’t be forgotten."
The book has come to the attention of the organizers of the San Diego Comic-Con, and Hayashi and Wong have been invited to market their book at the big pop-culture bash in July.
Hayashi said she still hopes to make a movie about the Japanese-American soldiers and recently put together a speculative trailer with the help of students from the University of Hawaii’s Academy for Creative Media.
ON A RECENT visit to Club 100, otherwise known as the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans building near ‘Iolani School, Hayashi met with the "wine gang" of the "One-Puka-Puka" during their weekly get-together. She wistfully recalled the times she served as her late Uncle Goro’s "personal chauffeur," taking him to and from the club.
An impromptu shrine to his memory is below the big-screen TV in the dining area where he usually sat.
"The men here are like family to me," Hayashi said.
She is glad her uncle and another 442nd veteran, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, saw her graphic novel before they died.
On this day there was a rare visitor, a veteran of the 442nd, which will celebrate its 70th anniversary on March 24. Ninety-year-old Isao Takiyama eagerly related the story of "The Lost Battalion" that was surrounded and pinned down by German forces during an attempt to liberate the town of Biffontaine in France.
Looking at "Journey of Heroes," Takiyama said, "I’m amazed that Stacey and Damon made a cartoon like that. They’re talented, you know?"
