Noboru Taguma at Seabrook Farms, New Jersey, 1947

Friday, March 11, 2011

My father’s stand during World War II — a young Nisei who refused to be drafted for the military while behind barbed wire — has been documented by various publications, about four or five articles in the Sacramento Bee, the Wall Street Journal, as well as a couple of books (“Fence Away From Freedom,” and a Japanese-language book on resisters by Prof. Yukio Morita, etc.).

It is his stand on principles that has driven me, particularly my desire for social justice and historical accuracy. He’s been an inspiration during these past two years of struggle to form a nonprofit newspaper in the worst of economic times in decades, and will always be my hero.

Early this morning, as the world witnessed the disaster in Japan where my two eldest siblings reside, my father passed away at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento at 12:31 a.m.

My sister Mari and I were rushing to Sacramento from the Bay Area, but we were too late. Noboru Taguma, or the “Tomato King” as my mom calls him, is no longer with us physically, but his spirit will live on.

Thank you, dad, for teaching me about pride and principle.

Noboru Taguma – April 3, 1923-March 11, 2011