Facing the Mountain, by Daniel James Brown Viking
In the middle of the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, there s a monument dedicated to the 442nd Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army, which was composed of Nisei, second-generation Japanese American soldiers in World War II.
Named after the regiment s motto Go For Broke the inscription on the monument reads in part, Looked upon with suspicion, set apart and deprived of their constitutional rights, they nevertheless remained steadfast and served with indomitable spirit and uncommon valor, for theirs was a fight to prove loyalty.
In his excellent new book,
Facing the Mountain, Daniel James Brown tells the story of the men of the 442nd and their families, who through their actions, laid bare for all the world to see what exactly it means to be an American. It s a fascinating account of some of the bravest Americans who ever lived, and a sobering reminder of a dark chapter in American history years of
J. Ford Huffman May 10, 2021Updated: May 12, 2021, 6:27 pm
“Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II” by Daniel James Brown. Photo: Viking
In his 2014 book “The Boys in the Boat,” Daniel James Brown told the story of how the University of Washington’s rowing team won an Olympic gold medal.
Brown’s latest narrative is about another bunch of working-class kids, whose lives were upended by the start of World War II.
“Facing the Mountain” details the predicament and the plight of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The book’s heroes are American soldiers and civilians, men and women who look in the mirror and see “Americans looking back at them,” only to go outside and be viewed as foreign enemies.