SAN JOSE — A special fundraising dinner, organized to support the Congressional Gold Medal Digital Exhibition, which highlights the stories of the World War II Nisei soldiers, will be held on Friday, June 12, at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, and will feature a special “thank you” to former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki.
The digital exhibition is being developed by the National Veterans Network (NVN) in collaboration with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the National Museum of American History and will be unveiled at the Smithsonian in 2016.
This project is funded in part by the National Parks Service (NPS) and Cole Chemical, but requires the NVN to raise the balance. This is NVN’s major fundraiser event for the year.
Shinseki, who served as head of Veterans Affairs from 2009 until May 2014, is also the former chief of staff of the U.S. Army and the first Asian American four-star general. Several Japanese American organizations have expressed the desire to thank him for his service to his country and the NVN dinner will be the opportunity to do so.
Former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Santa Clara), Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi and judo legend Yosh Uchida are members of the Dinner Honorary Committee. Floyd Mori, Mari Watanabe and Lt. Col. Michael Yaguchi are the event co-chairs.
For more information about the dinner, contact Reiko Iwanaga at riwanaga@ecopiafarms.com. To learn more about the exhibition, email Christine Sato-Yamazaki at Christine@nationalveteransnetwork.com.
To sponsor tables, purchase tickets, donate or sponsor veterans to attend, go to this link: https://nationalveteransnetwork.givezooks.com/events/congressional-gold-medal-dinner-san-jose-ca. Early reservation is encouraged.
NVN is a national coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to educating the nation on the Japanese American World War II experience. For more information, visit www.nationalveteransnetwork.com.
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center is a national resource for discovering the consequence and complexity of the Asian Pacific American experience through collaboration, exhibitions, programs, and digital initiatives. For more information, visit www.apa.si.edu.