Ben Kuroki: Beyond 58 Missions

Luke Vandament

Senior Division

Individual Website

I conducted my research by first discussing possible topics that relate to this year’s theme of Rights and

Responsibilities in History with my teacher. We decided that Nisei WWII gunner Ben Kuroki was

a strong topic. I collaborated with my school’s librarian to get books through the library loan

system. I made a website for last year’s competition on the Tuskegee Airmen and wanted to deepen my

knowledge of WWII. As I furthered my research, it was clear that Ben Kuroki was stripped of his

rights when he wanted to serve his country during World War II. I also found that Japanese

Americans living on the West Coast were deprived of their rights when the U.S. government ordered them

to internment camps.

I read sections of books on internment that I received through the inner library loan

system and ones in my teacher’s library. I watched Most Honorable Son, a movie about Kuroki’s

trials before during and after WWII. I also found numerous websites that offered background information

and referenced databases that led me to photographs that documented life in internment camps. In addition, I

researched the 442nd and Daniel Inouye to discover how other Japanese-Americans suffered

violation of their rights after Executive Order 9066 was issued.

The next step in the process was to choose my presentation category. I chose my category by making a

chart of my abilities on all the possible categories for competition. I eliminated categories that did not play to my

strengths. I chose the website category because I have strong technical skills. Last year I enjoyed the

process of creating a website. I decided that my topic would show best on a website because of

the photos that I saved about internment and Ben Kuroki’s experience. Additionally, I could embed other

audiovisual resources in a website. After regional competition, I considered judges’ comments

and input from various teachers. Based on feedback, I made revisions to text, changed timeline

date displays, centered some heading quotes, and replaced an image of Executive Order 9066

with a Dorothea Lange photograph, which offered a clearer visual. I also updated the

bibliography and process paper.

My project relates to the theme in two ways. Paranoia after the bombing of Pearl Harbor resulted in

loss of rights for Issei and Nisei living on the West Coast. They were involuntarily relocated to

internment camps where armed guards towered over them. Additionally, Ben Kuroki had “to fight like hell

to fight for the right to serve” his own country. His courageous fight to responsibly serve a nation that

deprived him and his people of basic rights reminds us of the delicate balance between liberty and security.