INDIAN LAND, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Residents of an Indian Land neighborhood came together to celebrate the remarkable life of a Japanese-American World War 2 veteran who turned 100 years old.
The veteran, Fumio Ralph Fujimoto, who overcame significant obstacles to serve his country with distinction, was honored with a quilt of valor for his service and a new electric wheelchair to help him move around more easily.
This veteran’s life has inspired many, as he refused to let his confinement in an internment camp define him.
Fujimoto was just a young man when the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan. “I was very scared to be living in the United States,” Fujimoto said.
He had more reason than most to be scared, as he is of Japanese decent, and despite being born in California, The United States government moved Fujimoto to a Japanese internment camp in Poston, Arizona along with his mother, two sisters, and more than 100,000 other Japanese-Americans, according to The Harry S. Truman Library.
“I was an enemy alien. I was enemy, so I felt in a way like I didn’t belong there,” Fujimoto said when asked about life in the internment camp.
Instead of letting his Japanese heritage define him, he fought to be recognized as an American and ultimately chose to enlist in the United States Army where he served his country with honor for one year.
