`Nakamura courthouse' gains support

The movement to name a federal courthouse in Seattle after Medal of Honor winner William K. Nakamura got a major push yesterday as the City Council collec tively told a group of Japanese-American veterans:

"We will do everything we can."

The council unanimously passed a resolution asking Congress to name the courthouse after the 22-year-old military hero who was killed in action in World War II. Nakamura was given the honor in June, 56 years after his death. The Army admitted that a racist climate prevented him and other Asian-American veterans from receiving the medal earlier.

An influential military organization and Metropolitan King County Councilman Greg Nickels also have thrown their support behind the campaign to name the courthouse after Nakamura. Nickels yesterday introduced a similar resolution and said he hopes a vote will take place by the end of the month.

"It's gaining momentum," said City Councilwoman Jan Drago, who introduced the city resolution. "This thing might actually happen."

U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, Mason County, said he would sponsor the necessary legislation, and U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, has expressed interest in the effort, Drago told a group of 35 Japanese-American veterans and supporters who attended yesterday's council meeting.

"The blood spilled on the battlefields was irrefutable proof" of Nakamura's patriotism and the patriotism of other Japanese-American soldiers, said Bob Sato, commander of the Nisei Veterans Committee, a local group of Japanese-American veterans with about 600 members.

Naming the courthouse after Nakamura "would honor his sacrifice," Sato told the council.

Nakamura and his older brother, George, both born and raised in Seattle and graduated from Garfield High School, left an internment camp in 1944 to join the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The 442nd went on to become the most decorated military unit in U.S. history.

Pfc. William Nakamura was killed July 4, 1944, by a sniper's bullet outside Castellina, Italy, as he provided cover for his retreating platoon. Earlier the same day, he had crawled to within 15 feet of an enemy machine-gun nest and destroyed it with four hand grenades.

His commanding officer nominated him for the Medal of Honor, but Nakamura instead was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the military's second-highest honor.

"This is a chance to remember that we as a people have flaws, that we make mistakes, but that we're also a people, given time, who recognize a true contribution," said Nickels. "This is an opportunity to pay tribute to a man who went through an awful lot in a very short life and who made the ultimate contribution."

Retired Maj. General Clyde Cherberg, representing the Seattle chapter of the Association of the U.S. Army, told the council there are at least two local precedents to naming federal buildings after Medal of Honor recipients:

Harvey Hall in Fort Lawton was named after Capt. James Harvey, who was killed in action in World War II. And the Leisy Reserve Center, also in Fort Lawton, was named after Lt. Robert Leisy, who was killed in the Vietnam War.

"It was only as I matured that I became more aware of the incredible injustice inflicted on my nisei classmates," said Cherberg, who attended Queen Anne High School, now closed. "I can now think of no more perfect closure to this injustice than to name a hall of justice in Seattle after . . . Nakamura."

The most well-known precedent is Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, named after a 29-year-old Medal of Honor recipient, Lt. Cmdr. Edward "Butch" O'Hare, a native of Chicago who was killed in action in 1943.