Book Review: Facing the Mountain

I don't know why we're so often surprised by the depth of evil humanity can perceive and perform? It seems history never teaches the lessons we assume we might learn. People with evil intent prevail. Injustices go unnoticed, unpunished, even lauded. Never was this so clear as in the treatment of Japanese Americans throughout and after World War II. Innocent individuals deemed a threat. I would love to believe nothing like that could ever transpire again. I'm not so sure.

Daniel James Brown is an outstanding historian and storyteller. After enjoying several of his books, I will happily read anything he writes. I put a hold on his newest book, Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II. It is a hefty book and no small feat, but Brown, true to form, makes the pages whiz past. Every sentence seems crafted with great skill and little effort.

Brown tells the dueling stories of Japanese Americans on the home front and the front lines. Entire families of Americans, simply because of their Japanese descent, were ripped from their homes and shipped to internment camps. Meanwhile, other Americans cheered and jeered. Yet, when called to support the U.S. military, these men stepped forward to defend their country. At one point, Brown observes, "The army had called for fifteen hundred Nisei volunteers from Hawai'i. Nearly ten thousand had turned out."

The parts of the book that most appealed to me were the bits of human interest, rather than the battle scenes. It was interesting to hear about the division in the Japanese ranks because the soldiers came from two different backgrounds. The men from the mainland, "kotonks," somber after watching the internment process, knew they had nothing to return to. The men from Hawaii, "buddhaheads," were boisterous. They cavorted and played ukuleles. Then, a wise chaplain took the Hawaiian soldiers to see the internment camps, and the divide mended. They became one bonded fighting family. 

Their efforts on behalf of America deserve commendation and recognition. For example, with odds stacked against them, the Japanese American soldiers stormed a hill and rescued some stranded Texans, known as "The Lost Battalion." These Japanese American soldiers incurred 790 casualties in rescuing 200 men. They lost almost 4 men for every man saved. Such bravery! A tragic loss!

It was a privilege to enter the world of these American families. Thanks to Brown's writing abilities, I felt their despair and embraced their camaraderie. I digested another aspect of the war, seldom covered. Now, if people would read this book and go forth to fight against prejudicial injustice.