Bridge to the Sun

Bruce Henderson, brilliant at unearthing little-known, yet important, stories, does it again with Bridge to the Sun, this time shining a light on Japanese Americans who nobly served their nation in a war with their ancestral homeland, Japan. In focusing on a handful of Nisei soldiers, Henderson personalizes the war and triumphs in making their struggles more evident. Readers will be moved by the courageous tales of these individuals who fought with such skill for the land of their birth, America. -John Wukovits, author of Tin Can Titans Riveting! Bruce Henderson is a gifted storyteller. In Bridge to the Sun, he juxtaposes ethnic ancestry with patriotic loyalties to show how Japanese American soldiers fought discrimination and prejudice to help win World War II in the Pacific. Having made a PBS documentary about the Military Intelligence Service, I appreciate how meticulously Henderson researched this complicated and intricate story, skillfully weaving together the battles these young men fought on and off the field, and ultimately triumphing despite the poignant, human cost of war. A dramatic saga not to be missed for the parallels it draws today. -gayle k. yamada, director/writer, Uncommon Courage: Patriotism and Civil Liberties Bridge to the Sun tells a big story through six men who brought the skills of military intelligence learned at Camp Savage and Fort Snelling to the Pacific theater -- including that of Grant Hirabayashi, who fought with Merrill's Marauders in Burma, while at home his cousin Gordon fought the race-based curfew and mass removal all the way to the Supreme Court. Meticulously researched and expertly told, Bridge to the Sun is a significant addition to the epic narrative of Japanese American history. -Frank Abe, co-author of We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration Bruce Henderson has given us another vivid and deeply researched story, this time about courageous Japanese American soldiers who used their linguistic skills to help defeat Imperial Japan in WWII, and build a better world. With Japanese faces but American hearts, the Nisei proved their loyalty again and again on distant battlefields. All Americans owe them a great debt. -James C. McNaughton, author of Nisei Linguists Bruce Henderson's Bridge to the Sun poignantly reveals the powerful stories of Japanese American soldiers who volunteered to serve with the U.S. Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific Theater during WWII while many of their families were incarcerated in America's concentration camps. A must read for anyone wanting to understand the depth and sacrifices these soldiers made to prove their loyalty to the United States. -Lucy Ostrander, coproducer, Proof of Loyalty and Honor & Sacrifice The Japanese American story, as was written in the 1988 federal law HR 442, declares we were and are loyal citizens of this country, deserving of an apology and redress for the unjust actions of our government during WW II. Yet what Bruce Henderson reveals in Bridge to the Sun is the story of those who were loyal to our common humanity-that of Nisei soldiers recruited into the secret Military Intelligence Service to serve America in the Pacific theater. Famed for crucial assistance through tough campaigns in Burma, the South Pacific, and Okinawa, these men demonstrated skills not only as interpreters and interrogators, but as compassionate bridges between the American and Japanese societies that raised them, instrumental in saving both American and Japanese lives. This remarkable work chronicles a history that has long been classified and unknown-not even to the descendants of these exceptional men. I wept to read it, each word a monument to unageing heroism, each sentence a hymn to an everlasting dignity that, even in a time of war, countered racial hate with human sympathy. Me ke aloha... -Garrett Hongo, author of The Perfect Sound