Witness: American Heroes (film)

Documentary film on the exploits of Nisei soldiers in World War II produced to commemorate their being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2011. Produced by Content Media Group for KABC, a Los Angeles television station, the film premiered on KABC in November 2011.

The film begins with excerpts from the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony and with a brief overview of the formation of the 100th Infantry Battalion , 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service (MIS) against the backdrop of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans on the West Coast. The remainder of the film consists of various short vignettes on aspects of the Nisei soldier story: a visit to Bruyéres, France, where local residents recall the liberation of the town by the 442nd; the rescue of the Lost Battalion , including an interview with the son of the one of the men whom the 442nd rescued; a visit with Americo Bugliani, an Italian who remembered the kindness of a Nisei soldier and who later tracked down that soldier for a reunion many years later; the liberation of Dachau by members of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion ; the Nisei in the MIS, highlighting the story of Takejiro Higa interrogating Japanese soldiers who had been old classmates of his in Japan; and the story of Shukichi Sato, who was killed in Italy before ever meeting his baby son as told by that son.

Witness: American Heroes won three 2012 Los Angeles Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Arts & Cultural Programming.

Might also like 442: Live with Honor, Die with Dignity ; The Color of Honor: The Japanese American Soldier in WWII (1987); Honor Bound: A Personal Journey (1995)