"Why I Fight" Officially Released Today!
Very excited to announce the Nisei War Series Book 3 is officially out today
Hello Everyone!
I’m thrilled to announce my latest novel, Why I Fight, is officially released today. This is the third volume of the Nisei War Series, and I hope it will give you yet another facet to the Japanese-American experience in World War II.
This novel tells the story of Katsuo Sakai, the older brother of Tom Sakai in the series’s first book, Last Night with Tokyo Rose. Katsuo is a sergeant with the all-Japanese-American 442nd Regiment of the U.S. Army at war in Europe. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the country has turned against Japanese Americans, and everyone from the government on down suspected their allegiance and loyalty.
In Tokyo Rose, we know that Katsuo was enlisted with the Army before Pearl Harbor. In this story, after suffering the humiliation of Japanese Americans being classified as as 4C (enemy alien unfit to serve) and incarceration at internment camp, Katsuo re-enlists to fight to prove his loyalty and for vindication for all Japanese Americans. As he deploys to Europe, he will face his toughest battles yet.
Why I Fight is based on the true historical accounts of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, the most decorated unit of its size in U.S. military history. The 442nd has been obscured in WWII historical fiction. I’m very pleased to be able to spotlight their achievements and contributions to our country. I think you will enjoy the lovable cast of characters. Join them on their brutal journey to defeat Hitler abroad and prejudice at home.
This book is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. If you’re shopping for books as Christmas/holiday presents, why not pick up a print copy (or more)?
This book is suitable for teenagers 13 and up. It would be a good choice if you’re looking to gift a book on World War II to a younger reader.
Enjoy! And if you like this book, please please please give it a star rating and/or review. Ratings and reviews can really help a new book to build momentum. I’d really appreciate your support.
Cheers,
Alexa Kang
Remembering History
During my research for Why I Fight, I came across an account by a Nisei chaplain who served with the 442nd Regiment that struck a chord with me. The account is one that, if everyone in the world would take to heart, our world so much better.
One of my men asked me if I would have a burial service for his brother who was killed that day. I said all right. We got a truck and went down to Epinal. There were thousands of bodies there but we found the body. While we were standing by, some German prisoners who were helping with the grave registration offered to carry the body to the graveside. We refused because — well, I’m ashamed to say it, we hated the Germans so much — to think that a German who had killed this boy, who might have killed this boy, was going to touch his body again. So we refused, and we carried his body to the grave, to the graveside, and I had a service with the men. After the service was over, I said “The Lord’s Prayer” with the men, and the Germans standing by knelt down and also said “The Lord’s Prayer” in German with me, “Unser Vater der in Himmel ist.” I believe that’s the German words for “Our Father who art in heaven.”
After the service was over, we got on the truck and on the way home I asked the sergeant, who was a young Christian boy, what he thought about the Germans saying “The Lord’s Prayer” with us. He said, “You know, Chaplain, I was going to stand up, go over and push his face in . . . to think that he would say a prayer over the body of one he might have helped to kill.” And then he said, “All of a sudden I realized that we were saying ‘Our Father’ and not ‘My Father.’ Not a Japanese father, not an American father, not a German father, but ‘Our Father,’ and the Germans were our brothers and we were fighting each other and killing each other. You know, Chaplain, for a minute there, I was ashamed that we, as brothers, were killing each other.”1
Although this account was told from a religious point of view, I think anyone can see the universal human message behind it. Right now, we’re witnessing unrests around the world. A lot of WWII rhetorics are being used in the heat of conflict, but the words are devoid of the meanings and lessons from WWII. More than that, it appears the gravity and horrific atrocities of World War II are being shoved aside, disregarded, or even dismissed. Therefore, I thank you all for remaining interested in World War II. By doing so, you’re keeping the memories of all that pertained to this war alive. You’re the ones who know history, and the guardians who can attest to all the lessons from that darkest chapter our of past that many in our world today have not learned or have forgotten.
The Nisei War Series
In case you haven’t read the previous books in this series yet, be sure to check out:
Last Night with Tokyo Rose
The agonizing tale of Tom Sakai, Katsuo’s younger brother, as he searches for his place in a world that is becoming more and more hostile to those of Japanese descent, and finds himself caught in a tide of war and his life falling apart.
The Girl with a Star-Spangled Heart
The heartwarming story of Vicky Kondo, the woman Katsuo is destined to meet, as she breaks through social barriers to chart her own path in life and to serve her country.
Books by Alexa Kang
Tanaka, Chester. (1982) Go For Broke: A Pictorial History of the Japanese American Infantry Battalion and the 442d Regimental Combat Team (p.103). Go For Broke, Inc.