In California, families of immigrant Japanese - even naturalized citizens and their U.S. born children -- were rounded up and placed in internment camps.

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I was graduated from Flint Junior College and Johnny was well along on a degree with the University of Michigan. I joined the Navy. He was drafted into the Army and began training in the Signal Corps. .

Two months later, Johnny was honorably discharged "for erroneous induction" and reclassified "4-C, enemy alien."

At the same time, Johnny's father, William Nakamura, a design engineer for the Chevrolet Motor Car Company, was discharged as an enemy-alien. He and wife Elsie, also born in Japan, had five other children.

The company gave him work he could do at home until he could be reinstated eight months later. He retired from Chevrolet in 1945 after Japan surrendered.

Johnny was intensely patriotic and tried repeatedly to enlist in the Army. The Military Intelligence Service turned him down because he could not speak Japanese. He visited Washington, D.C., and asked for help from his Senator and his Representative.

In February 1943, the Army allowed Nisei to volunteer for military duty. Within a week, Johnny was back in service. A year later he was in the Allied Italian campaign fighting Germans at Belvedere, Luciano and Leghorn.

Johnny wrote home often to describe the friendships he developed with liberated Italians.

The 442nd was sent to France in September 1944. There it was attached to the Seventh Army and saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the war at Bruyeres.