A Proud History

The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in Hawaii in December 1991 with a mission of building a lasting tribute to the Nisei veterans of World War II.

But its beginning goes back almost a decade to 1982, when Leonard Oka founded Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the 442, the first such organization in the nation. His father, Clarence “Hekka” Oka, was a veteran of 442.

Highlights of the early years:

• March  25, 1987 – A deed for approximately 2.024 acres of land at lot 2-A of the Owa Subdivision in Wailuku was given to the Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the 442 from Alexander & Baldwin. (This deed was later transferred to the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center, with the approval of A&B.)
  
  

• June 1991 - a kick off banquet attended by almost 1,000 supporters is held at the Maui InterContinental Hotel with the late actor Pat Morita serving as master of ceremonies.
  
  

• September 1992 - Maui's Sons and Daughters of the 442 embarks on its oral history project, with the goal of recording recollections of Maui's Nisei veterans.
  
  

• December 1992 - The Maui Planning Commission approves a request for a change in zoning of the site, from R-3 residential to public-quasi public. It is the first step in the long approval process that must be followed before construction can begin.
  
  

• May 1995 – The Sons and Daughters organization changes its name to Maui’s Sons and Daughters of the Nisei Veterans, to “perpetuate the legacy created in World War II by the 442nd Regimental Combat Team,  the 100th Battalion,  and the Military Intelligence Service.” This change reflects the group’s effort to honor all the Niseis who served and sacrificed  during World War II.
  
  

• June 1995 - With the help of state Representative Joseph Souki and the rest of Maui’s legislative team, $1 million is placed in the 1995 state budget.
  
  

• June 1997 - The Center receives a $500,000 appropriation in the 1997 Maui County budget.
  
  

• June 26, 1997 - After many design changes to respect and honor the pre-contact Hawaiian settlement that inhabited the Center's acreage, the Center receives approval of a Burial Treatment Plan by the Maui/Lana’i Burial Council, Department of Land and Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Division.
  
  

• 2000 - Concrete retaining wall on the back of the lot, and the keystone wall on the front edge are built.