WASHINGTON — The Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA) and National Japanese American Memorial Foundation (NJAMF) will hold their annual Veterans Day program on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the National Japanese American Memorial in Washington, D.C.
U.S. Army Major Michael H. Yamamoto will be the keynote speaker. He received his commission into the U.S. Army Reserves in 2008 as a signal officer; was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart in Georgia; served as a platoon leader and executive officer with the 2nd Brigade’s Signal Company and Squadron S6 with the 2nd Brigade’s Armored Reconnaissance Squadron; and was screened and hired for a Special Mission Unit, where he served as a battalion S6 from 2012-2013 in Washington, D.C.
He was next selected by the U.S. Army Operations Group out of Fort Meade in Maryland, where he served as the deputy group S6 and technical operations officer in support of global intelligence operations until 2014. Upon completion of this assignment, he was assigned to the Joint Communications Support Element, where he served as a troop commander, squadron operations officer, and chief of element plans.
In 2017, Yamamoto joined the Regular Army and was temporarily assigned to the 18th Field Artillery Brigade at Fort Liberty in North Carolina, where he served as a battalion S6. He was then assigned to U.S. Army Cyber Command out of Ft. Belvoir in Virginia, where he served as the deputy branch chief for the Mission Support Branch and senior operations officer for the Army Cyberspace Operations and Integration Center (ACOIC).
Most recently, he was screened, assessed, and selected for assignment to the 1st Capabilities Integration Group, where he commanded the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 3rd Battalion, and then commanded the unit’s Signal Company under the Group Support Battalion until his assignment to the Joint Communications Support Element.
Yamamoto is currently assigned to the Joint Communications Support Element (A) and has been serving as the J3, director of operations since July 2022.
He is a graduate of the Signal Officer Advanced Course, Information Management Officer’s Course, Unit Movement Course, Command and General Staff Officer College, and Basic Airborne Course. He holds a bachelor’s in political science from Radford University in Virginia and a master’s in management information technology from the University of Virginia.
The ceremony will start at 2 p.m. EST, 1 p.m. CST, 11 a.m. PST and 9 a.m. HST, rain or shine. All are invited to attend in-person or virtually. The program will be live-streamed via Facebook. Viewers can go to the JAVA website at JAVA-US.org and watch from JAVA’s Facebook page or go directly to JAVA’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/category/Nonprofit-Organization/Japanese-American-Veterans-Association-201704733192222/.
JAVA’s Veterans Day program has been selected by the Veterans Day National Committee, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as one of the “Veterans Day observances throughout the country that represents a fitting tribute to America’s heroes.”