On Father’s Day weekend, Little Tokyo paused to remember the fathers and grandfathers who fought during World War II at the eighth annual Go For Broke Monument anniversary tribute on Saturday.

“Being Father’s Day weekend, it’s wonderful to see that there are gen­erations of families here to remember and pay tribute to the veterans,” said Christine Sato-Yamazaki, Go For Broke president and executive director. “I think it’s fitting that not only do we honor these men as veterans, but we cherish them as our fathers, our grand­fathers, our brothers, and our uncles. And we take the time today to learn their stories and to better understand why we recognize these veterans as our heroes.”

This year the ceremony highlighted the accomplishments of the Military Intelligence Service, the Japanese-speaking linguists and translators who provided vital language support in the war in the Pacific. Army historian James C. McNaughton, who wrote a history of the MIS, gave the keynote address. His book “Nisei Linguists: Japanese Americans in the Military Intelligence Service During WWII” was published in March by the S. Army Center of Military History.

“MIS Nisei were the predeces­sors of these linguists who serve today. They served in every campaign and battle in the Pacific War, from Guadal­canal, in New Guinea in the beginning all the way though Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Philippines at the end of the war,” said McNaughton.

“In fact, the early MIS Nisei, who served in the Pacific, in the first few months of serving in combat—inter­rogating prisoners, translating captured documents—were so successful in proving their value and their loyalty that word got back to the War Department that, hey, these Nisei, they can really fight. It was at that point that the War Department decided to recommend to Franklin Delano Roosevelt to form the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.”

Several hundred attended the an­nual event, held in front of the black granite monument with the combat in­signias of the Japanese American units and names of those who served during the war. Frank Buckley, KTLA Prime News anchor, served as emcee. Presen­tation of the colors was performed by the 1/185th AR Support Detachment, SMR, and Boy Scout Troop 379 Drum and Bugle Corps performed.

The Go For Broke award was pre­sented to Pacific Bridge Companies and David L. Kim, chief of staff, exter­nal affairs, United States Mint.

“We believe this reflects our compa­ny’s intense desire to see the legacy that these men of Japanese ancestry left on and off the battlefield will help shape the character of our children from within the classrooms of our of America,” said Stephen Kawaga, Pacific Bridge president and CEO.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Bill Seki, Go For Broke chair, asked the audience to honor the veterans with an ovation.

“We always appreciate when the pub­lic recognizes what we did,” said James Murata, a member of the MIS during the Occupation in Tokyo.