09/ 10, 2007	Contact:	Patricia Cosgrove, Museum Director
For Immediate Release		(253) 288-7437

COURAGE, HEROES AT WHITE RIVER VALLEY MUSEUM

AUBURN, Wash. – Sept. 10, 2007 – “Courage Untold,” an exhibit that includes 50 powerful Military Intelligence Service (MIS) photographs and World War II artifacts from the Pacific Theater, will run at the White River Valley Museum Oct. 10 to Jan. 21, 2008 and is generously sponsored by the Kawabe Memorial Fund and the Seattle-area MIS Veterans Association.

The exhibit also includes a recreated field interrogation and interpretation site where museum visitors can hear the oral histories of MIS veterans, courtesy of Densho Archives in Seattle.

The White River Valley Museum is among the first museums to begin sharing the story of Japanese-American soldiers who served in the U.S. Army MIS as interrogators, linguists and counter-intelligence agents during World War II with “Courage Untold” and a series of related events.

ABOUT THE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
In the spring of 1941 as diplomatic tensions mounted between the United States and Japan, the U.S. Army created the MIS at the Presidio of San Francisco. The MIS Language School educated and trained select soldiers in Japanese language and culture. From 1941-1952 more than 6,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry, including many from the Pacific Northwest, graduated from the MIS Language School and served in various campaigns and battles in the Pacific and European Theaters of Operations during World War II. Thanks to their efforts in espionage, translation, interrogation and combat, Japanese-American MIS soldiers saved lives and helped shorten the war in the Pacific.

MIS veterans are dwindling in numbers and, distressingly, their story has only recently begun to be told. MIS veterans were instructed to remain silent and government documents were de-classified only as recently as the 1970s.

Karen Matsumoto, daughter of the highly decorated MIS veteran Roy Matsumoto, recently commented, “My father has only started talking about his war experience in the last 10 years. I’m learning about a whole different side of him.”

RELATED “COURAGE UNTOLD” EVENTS

MIS Veterans Panel Discussion, Oct. 19, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
Join us for an exceptional panel discussion as MIS veterans Harry Fukuhara, Grant Jiro Hirabayashi, Takashi Matsui and Roy Hiroshi Matsumoto talk about their experiences serving in the U.S. Army MIS during World War II. The cost is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and free for students.

Heroes: A Presentation by Ken Mochizuki, Nov. 10, 4 - 5 p.m.
Acclaimed local children’s author and journalist Ken Mochizuki will read from his book “Heroes,” as well as other books he has authored. In “Heroes”, Mochizuki and illustrator Dom Lee tell a moving story about Donnie, a Japanese-American child in the 1960s who is always made to play the bad guy during schoolyard games “because I look like them.” Donnie convinces his father and uncle to share with the school how they served in the U.S. Army during World War II. This inspiring book reading is appropriate for families and all ages. Free with regular museum admission.

Film Screening of “Uncommon Courage: Patriotism and Civil Liberties”, Dec. 8, 1 p.m.
“Uncommon Courage: Patriotism and Civil Liberties” is a dramatic and moving personal account of Japanese-American soldiers who served in the U.S. Army MIS during World War II and the occupation of Japan. While these soldiers served in the face of fear and discrimination, many of their families living in America were incarcerated in camps and stripped of their civil liberties. Due to mature subject matter, this film is appropriate for viewers age 13 and older. Viewing is free with regular museum admission.


About the White River Valley Museum
The White River Valley Museum is open 12 Noon to 4 PM, Wednesdays through Sundays, and by appointment for group tours and research. Admission is $2 for adults, $1 for children and seniors. Wednesdays are free for everyone. For more information call (253) 288-743