Heartwarming moment NBC reporter cries for her Japanese grandfather

By James On Feb 18, 2023

NBC News correspondent Emilie Ikeda broke down in tears on camera while paying her respects to her grandfather, who was forcibly relocated and sent to a Japanese internment camp during World War II at the age of seven. years.

The 28-year-old from Philadelphia visited the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles this week to find the name of her grandfather, Bunji Albert Ikeda, in a 1,000-page, 25-pound book known as Ireicho.

The weighty tome was compiled by Professor Duncan Ryuken Williams of the University of Southern California over a three-year period and lists the 125,284 names of Japanese Americans affected by Executive Order 9066 in 1942, including grandparents. from Emily.

In a video clip broadcast on the Today show, Emilie is seen wiping away tears while pointing out the names of her relatives. She then uses a stamp to mark the book as an act of remembrance.

NBC News correspondent Emilie Ikeda broke down in tears on camera while paying her respects to her grandfather, who was sent to a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

The 28-year-old from Philadelphia visited the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles this week to find the name of her grandfather, Bunji Albert Ikeda.

The Japanese American National Museum also contains jars filled with soil from all the camps, seen in the background here.

Tearfully, she explains to Professor Duncan, “He’s passed away now, so it’s very significant to be able to stamp his name on it.”

Emilie revealed that she luckily interviewed her grandfather in 2011 as part of a school project.

In a clip showing part of the interview, his late grandfather shares details of his time in the Poston camp in Arizona as a child, explaining: ‘I always wondered why I was in this internment camp.

‘We had these canvas wagons [and] we had to fill these bags with hay. That’s where we sleep.

During the Hoy segment, which aired before the weekend marking 81 years since the event took place, Emilie also speaks with a survivor, 84-year-old Reiko Iwanaga.

Reiko was filmed finding her own name in the Ireicho, with her daughter Maya by her side.

The octogenarian said of the museum’s new exhibit: ‘It’s all very concrete to see it like this. It is an acknowledgment of what happened.

Meanwhile, Maya commented when asked about the importance of remembering such events: ‘So it doesn’t happen again.’ Many people do not know that this happened.

Vintage photos of Emilie’s grandfather in his youth with sheds in an internment camp behind

According to the National Archives, the camps were spread across California, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Arkansas and Wyoming.

Fortunately, Emilie interviewed her grandfather in 2011 as part of a school project.

During the Today segment, which aired before the weekend marking 81 years since the event took place, Emilie also speaks with a survivor, 84-year-old Reiko Iwanaga.

The United States declared war on the Empire of Japan and entered the war after Japan’s devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, prompting the relocation of 120,000 Japanese-Americans two months later across the country.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 ordering all Japanese-Americans, even those with as little as 1/16 Japanese blood, to evacuate the West Coast where the majority resided.

Despite fighting patriotically for America in opposition to their previous homeland Japan, the families of Japanese American combat troops were declared enemies of the state and buried in fields.

The National Japanese American Museum, which stands on the site where many Japanese Americans were bused and shipped, also contains jars filled with dirt from all the camps.

According to the National Archives, the camps were spread across California, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Arkansas and Wyoming.

The Ireicho is on display through October, and anyone can stamp the book, but reservations must be made in advance.

Prior to its compilation, the exact number of Japanese Americans who were uprooted from their homes and sent to the camps was unknown.

The museum’s president and CEO, Ann Burroughs, said of the venue: “[It] it’s one of those ground zero in the history of civil rights in this country.

“So there’s tremendous place power to have this book here.”

HOW 120,000 JAPANESE-AMERICANS WERE SENT TO CAMPS ACROSS THE US IN WORLD WAR II

Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii.

The attack killed more than 2,000 US soldiers and sailors and injured 1,000 others. About 20 US warships, including eight huge battleships, and more than 300 aircraft were destroyed. The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, to which they agreed.

Three days later, the Japanese allies, Germany and Italy, also declared war on the United States, and again Congress reciprocated. More than two years after the conflict, the United States finally joined the Second World War.

The United States’ fight with Japan led to what is considered one of the largest civil rights violations in the country’s history.

Two months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt, as Commander-in-Chief, issued Executive Order 9066, which had the effect of relocating all persons of Japanese descent, both citizens and foreigners, inland, outside the military zone of the Peaceful.

The executive order was designed to prevent espionage and protect people of Japanese descent from harm at the hands of Americans who held strong anti-Japanese attitudes, although the latter has been contested by prisoners.

Roosevelt’s order affected an estimated 117,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were native United States citizens. the colorado government claims that even the 1/16th of Japanese origin were also forced into the camps.

The relocation centers were located many miles inland, often in remote and desolate locations. Sites included Tule Lake, California; Minidoka, Idaho; Manzanar, Calif.; Topaz, Utah; Jerome, Arkansas; Heart Mountain, Wyoming; Poston, Ariz.; Grenada, Colorado; and Rohwer, Arkansas.

In 1943 and 1944, the government assembled a fighting unit of Japanese Americans for the European theater. It became the 442d Regimental Combat Team that fought in Europe against the highly decorated Nazi Germany in World War II.

The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the relocation order in Hirabayashi v. United States in 1943 and Korematsu v. United States in 1944.

In early 1945, Japanese-American citizens of unquestioning loyalty were allowed to return to the West Coast, but it was not until March 1946 that the last camp was closed.