Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago
To commemorate National Go For Broke Day on April 5, we held a day of community service on Saturday, April 4, at Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles. Since 2021, our LA Torchbearers have organized these annual cemetery cleanup days 2–3 times a year as a way to pay respect to the American WWII soldiers of Japanese ancestry.
Go For Broke Day commemorates April 5, 1945, when Private First Class Sadao “Spud” Munemori valiantly saved the lives of two of his fellow 442nd soldiers at the cost of his own life near Seravezza, Italy. His valor and sacrifice earned him the distinction of being the first Japanese American soldier of WWII to be recognized with the Medal of Honor. The day has come to define the spirit and selflessness of the Japanese American men and women who put everything on the line to serve a country that questioned their loyalty.
Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights was one of the few cemeteries that would accept Japanese Americans for burial in Los Angeles. As a result, many Japanese Americans were buried there, including those in the 100th/442nd. A monument of Sadao Munemori stands proudly over where he and his fellow Nisei soldiers are interred.
“Go For Broke,” a Hawaiian phrase meaning to “go all in,” became the motto of the 33,000 young Japanese Americans who served in the segregated 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd RCT and in the Military Intelligence Service, Women’s Auxiliary Corps, Army Nurse Corps, and Cadet Nurse Corps.
In total, a dedicated group of nine Torchbearers and two Go For Broke Journalism high school students — plus two parents — gathered to pull weeds, wash down the grave markers, and place an American flag and potted plant for each veteran. Thank you to the San Gabriel Nursery and Florist for their continued in-kind donation of the potted plants, and thanks to Don Tahara for always welcoming us at Far Bar for our post-cleanup lunch.
To commemorate National Go For Broke Day on April 5, we held a day of community service on Saturday, April 4, at Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles. Since 2021, our LA Torchbearers have organized these annual cemetery cleanup days 2–3 times a year as a way to pay respect to the American WWII soldiers of Japanese ancestry.
Go For Broke Day commemorates April 5, 1945, when Private First Class Sadao “Spud” Munemori valiantly saved the lives of two of his fellow 442nd soldiers at the cost of his own life near Seravezza, Italy. His valor and sacrifice earned him the distinction of being the first Japanese American soldier of WWII to be recognized with the Medal of Honor. The day has come to define the spirit and selflessness of the Japanese American men and women who put everything on the line to serve a country that questioned their loyalty.
Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights was one of the few cemeteries that would accept Japanese Americans for burial in Los Angeles. As a result, many Japanese Americans were buried there, including those in the 100th/442nd. A monument of Sadao Munemori stands proudly over where he and his fellow Nisei soldiers are interred.
“Go For Broke,” a Hawaiian phrase meaning to “go all in,” became the motto of the 33,000 young Japanese Americans who served in the segregated 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd RCT and in the Military Intelligence Service, Women’s Auxiliary Corps, Army Nurse Corps, and Cadet Nurse Corps.
In total, a dedicated group of nine Torchbearers and two Go For Broke Journalism high school students — plus two parents — gathered to pull weeds, wash down the grave markers, and place an American flag and potted plant for each veteran. Thank you to the San Gabriel Nursery and Florist for their continued in-kind donation of the potted plants, and thanks to Don Tahara for always welcoming us at Far Bar for our post-cleanup lunch.
