America at its Best: Legacy of Two Nisei Patriots (film)

Documentary film produced and directed by Vince Matsudaira that highlights events honoring the two Medal of Honor recipients from the Seattle area, William Nakamura and James Okubo in 2001. The video was produced by the Nakamura/Okubo Medal of Honor Committee of the Nisei Veterans Committee, Seattle.

The bulk of the film consists of highlights from a March 25, 2001 event honoring the two men, who were among the Asian Americans awarded the Medal of Honor a year earlier for their actions in World War II. The film also includes highlights from that June 21, 2000 ceremony in Washington, D.C. as well as from later events in which a federal courthouse and a military medical facility in Washington state are named after Nakamura and Okubo respectively. The event footage is augmented by interviews with family members and friends of the men and historians James McNaughton and Eric Saul who discuss the personal histories of the men and the significance of their volunteering for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team from Minidoka , where they and their families were incarcerated.

The title of the film comes from a line spoken by President Bill Clinton in awarding the Medals of Honor to the men on June 21, 2000.

Might also like Citizen Tanouye (2005); Honor Bound: A Personal Journey (1995); 442: Live with Honor, Die with Dignity (2010)