Bridge to the Sun: The Secret Role of the Japanese Americans Who Fought in the Pacific in World War II w/ Bruce Henderson

On this edition of Parallax Views just in time for Veteran's day, New York Times best-selling author Bruce Henderson, author of Sons and Soldiers and co-author with Vincent Bugliosi of And the Sea Will Tell, joins us to discuss his latest book Bridge to the Sun: The Secret Role of the Japanese Americans Who Fought in the Pacific in World War II.

During WWII the Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans languished in internment camps thanks to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. The belief was that they could not be trusted while the U.S. was engaged in a war where Japan was one of the enemies. It was argued they could engage in sabotage on behalf of Japan against America.

And yet, the U.S. army would end up needing nisei - first-generation Americans who were born from Japanese immigrant parents - to help them in the Pacific theater of the war effort. Bridge to the Sun tells the story of the war exploits of Japanese-Americans fighting on behalf of the U.S. in Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and even, with the famous Merrill's Marauders, Burma. For years these men thought they were subject to the secrets act and kept their participation quiet and hidden. Bruce Henderson reveals their story through six of the nisei who worked on behalf of the U.S. army in the Pacific during WWII.