Michael L. Cooper,
Fighting For Honor: Japanese Americans and World War II.
Clarion Books, 2000.

America is considered the land of freedom and opportunity; but from 1942-46, it became the land of oppression and restriction for Japanese Americans. Their story is of a struggle that was kept quiet for decades.

The internment of Japanese was one of America's weakest moments in history. It was a time of fear and frustration; a time which the United States can never turn its back on or forget. No apology can compensate for what the loyal Japanese Americans went through during that time. But there can be a positive aspect to these events as well. America, now starting to learn about what had occurred, can look back and realize the mistakes made and be sure they don't happen again. Backlash scares for certain minority groups today are becoming quite real, so if an understanding of the events in the past can help to ease the fear now, then it would not have been all for naught.

Fighting for Honor: Japanese Americans in World War II is a portrait of Japanese Americans during World War II. Michael L. Cooper masterfully provides the reader with historical information about the Japanese migration to the United States. Suddenly, on the morning of December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and widespread hysteria broke loose. With the use of personal accounts, Cooper allows the reader to understand the mixed feelings of the Japanese American community during that time. Much of the focus is on the heroic actions taken by the 442nd infantry in Italy and Germany. The events are retold so dramatically, with such poignant stories, that the reader is drawn into them emotionally. The honor, sacrifice, grief, and uncertainty, both abroad and at home behind barbed wire, mark this period in America's history as truly remarkable. The retellings of incredible battles show why the 442nd is called the Purple Heart battalion, with 23 Congressional medals of honor awarded, and known as the most decorated unit in WW II.

Cooper's words speak out strongly and the historical photographs completely add to their realism. At the end of the book is a timeline of events that describes what took place and what has recently been done in memory of those who left their families behind barbed wire to fight in a devastating war, to prove themselves loyal citizens of the United States of America.

Christina Sakura