At the start of WWII, a nisei, the first generation of Japanese- Americans, named Fred Korematsu challenged President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s decision on ordering all of the Japanese-Americans on the west coast to be placed in internment camps in Cuba. Fred Korematsu argued that the order violated an American’s right to freedom. Fred Korematsu initially lost the case, but he eventually won the case, but only after the U.S. Government had shut down the internment camps. Now we bring ourselves to June 6, 1944, the day many would classify as D-Day. This is the story of a man who was inspired by Fred Korematsu’s contributions to his race.

The splashing of the ocean water against the side of a boat. Calming to many, nightmare for me and my fellow men. We are about to enter a battle we may not win. But us Japanese Americans have a reason to fight, we all have a reason to fight. We need to fight for our right to live, to be free, to come back home, to get away from this nightmare we call war. Away from Hitler and the Nazis, away from the sight of death and anguish that those god awful Nazis have brought to the Jews.
Men on my boat are putting their heads down, praying over their life and soul, praying that they will survive. I as well am praying for my life and soul, praying that I will go back to my wife and kids. The trip to the beaches of Normandy is hard and long. It was a rough ride all the way there. I just wish that I had never signed up to be in the military, after all, I’ve been in the military for about a year now, and I already regret enlisting. Now I must look death straight in the eyes...and win.
As we hit the beach, we immediately started to take fire from enemy sentries. Many of my men went down right away. I ran onto the beach and jumped in a foxhole, it was safer than being on the beach, but not that safe. Men are dropping all around me. Everywhere I look, dead bodies, broken down bodies giving up, giving up their will, their will to live. I don’t feel like I should live through this, all the carnage around me. The smell of death in the air.
As I am in the same foxhole, I remember my idol, Fred Korematsu. He was the very reason I joined the army. He fought for all of my people, the Japanese-Americans. He challenged the eviction racially given to the Japanese-Americans by president Roosevelt. It was an unfair eviction since it only targeted us Japanese-Americans on the west coast, so he challenged it. He took the case to court and lost. It wasn’t right what the judge did, but Fred Korematsu fought for us. When I heard about the eviction, I moved away to Texas, where I would be safe, for now. Then I heard about Fred Korematsu’s doings, so I enlisted in the military. And here I am now.
If Fred Korematsu fought for his rights, I should fight for my right, the right to live. As I leaped out of the foxhole, friends all around dropped to the ground with gunshot wounds all over their bodies. Blood is pouring out each one of them. Tear in my eye, I ran, ran for my life. I dove in the nearest foxhole to me. I then see a plane out of the corner of my eye. Planes were bombing us! All I can see on the beach is bodies blowing up. Bits and pieces of my men flying everywhere. A piece of shrapnel pierces my arm. Blood starts to gush out of my arm. I started to cry out in pain. I then ran towards the next foxhole and see more carnage. More planes are bombing us. More of my men die. The gunfire is endless and relentless. It’s a never-ending nightmare. A nightmare so relentless, so scary, you fear anything that walks, anything that breathes, anything that is alive. In this moment as I get shot five times in my other arm, I saw my whole life flash before my eyes. My wife and kids and my parents. All those good times at home. I feel like I failed my men, failed my parents, and most importantly, failed my wife and kids. As I see my life slip away, I shot my first shots from my gun, and I shot and killed a sentry as I fell to the ground. Blood gushing out of my body. My life is just draining away. My eyes grew weary as my life slipped from my grasp. Everything went black, and silent. I have failed my family, I have failed my country, I have failed my purpose. How will I live with myself, or am I still alive...