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Charles Sue and friend, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaii, probably circa early 1942. © 2008 by Frederick Su. As a child, the 1950s was a peaceful, idyllic time. I remember family gatherings in Hawaii with aunts, uncles, cousins, and Ahpo (grandmother). World War II was over. Standing in the shadow of that cataclysmic event, my cousins and I failed to appreciate the sacrifices of our parents' generation. I've since come to appreciate that generation more. Recently, my uncle, Charles Sue, 94, began recounting some of his World War II experiences. A Saturday night spent with my Aunt Wilma at Hanauma Bay morphed into a historic Sunday morning, filled with the sound of distant explosions and the sight of black smoke and Japanese airplanes. It was December 7, 1941. When my cousin Gwenne was interviewing her father for me, Charles told her that my other uncle, Robert Hiroshi Koreyasu, was a combat veteran of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team that had fought so valiantly in Europe. The 442nd suffered 90 percent casualties and two of those were Hiroshi's buddies. My God! After all these years, I hadn't heard one peep from my uncles. They were heroes from within my own extended family! That generation didn't brag about their exploits.

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