National Japanese American Veterans Memorial Court, Veterans memorial in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, United States.
The National Japanese American Veterans Memorial Court is an outdoor memorial at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Little Tokyo, in downtown Los Angeles. Eighteen black granite slabs stand around an open courtyard, each engraved with the names of service members who served across several conflicts of the 20th century.
The memorial was founded in 1995, driven by Vietnam War veterans who wanted to document their community's military service. Over time, names from the Korean War and World War II were added, extending the record back several decades.
The memorial stands inside the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Little Tokyo, a neighborhood that has long been a gathering place for this community in Los Angeles. The names carved into the stone make the stories of these people visible and tangible for anyone who passes through.
The memorial sits on San Pedro Street inside the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, within easy walking distance of downtown Los Angeles. It is an open outdoor space with no admission required, and a visit pairs well with a walk through the surrounding Little Tokyo neighborhood.
Among the earliest names on the slabs are seven Japanese immigrants who died in 1898, long before World War II, while serving on a Navy vessel. Their presence on the memorial shows that this community's connection to military service in the United States began much earlier than most visitors would expect.
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