Little Iron Men

Another hero is lost...

2008-03-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

Once again, I am sorry to report that we've lost another hero from I Company, 442nd RCT. Hank Nakada passed away on March 13th of this year. I've included a selection of his obituary sent to me from his son, Mike Nakada. This serves as yet another reminder of the importance of this story. These men must be remembered for the life they lived!

Henry “Hank” Isao Nakada died peacefully from complications of pneumonia at South Peninsula Hospital in Homer, Alaska on March 13, 2008. He was 85.

Hank was born in Los Angeles, California on October 12, 1922 the fifth of twelve children to Ginzo and Kagi Ikehara Nakada. He graduated from Covina High School in Los Angeles County in 1939 and worked for a time in agriculture before heading by steamship to Seward, Alaska in 1940. He unloaded ships in Seward and worked on the Alaska Railroad before moving to a tarpaper shack in a hobo jungle at 17th & C Streets in Anchorage when the area was still wooded. He worked on Elmendorf Air Force Base until the start World War II in 1941. Forced to leave his job due to his ancestry, he worked at the Snow White Laundry until he was drafted.

Hank began his decorated military service at Fort Richardson and was at the top of his class in Mechanics School at Fort Sheridan near Chicago. He then joined the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Camp Shelby, Mississippi and served primarily as a scout for the 1st Platoon of I Company in Italy and France. He received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart with three oakleaf clusters, among other military honors.

After his years in the military, Hank married Mitsu Hasegawa in Philadelphia in 1946. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Temple University. They moved to San Diego County, where he was a Research Associate at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation for nine years. He was a Professor of Biochemistry at UC Santa Barbara, where he retired in 1977. During his tenure at UCSB, he took a two-year sabbatical to manage the Exchange Student Program in Tokyo.

Hank and Mitsu moved to Alaska in 1977 to join their sons in Homer. He was a commercial fisherman in Prince William Sound for several years. After fishing he worked in sales in Anchorage for a time before returning to Homer.

At the time of Hank’s death, he was living at Friendship Terrace in Homer. His glowing smile was a gift to anyone who encountered him.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Mitsu and his siblings Saburo, Hannah, Minoru, Aiko and George. He is survived by his brothers Yoshio, Yoshinao, James, John, and Steve; his sister Grace; his sons Robert and Mike of Homer and Chris of South Point, Hawaii; his grandchildren Jesse, Simone, Genji, Heidi, Mark and Tela and his great-grandchildren Raiden and Aiden.

Some exciting news...

2007-03-01T00:17:00.000-08:00

Though I can't devulge too much information at the moment, I can tell you that we have some exciting news brewing that will hopefully become public soon. Needless to say, both the (now completed) screenplay and spec trailer have been garnering interest from some very powerful people.
We're still waiting for all the T's to be crossed, but I wanted to make sure that those who are still keeping track of the film are aware that it is far from dead. On the contrary, we are closer than we have ever been before.
Please keep spreading the word about the film to your friends and family. The more "buzz" we can create now, the greater the distribution. The greater the distribution, the more people will given the opportunity to hear this amazing true story!

Until next time..

A Great Loss...

2006-03-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

I am sorry to report that Mr. Tak Senzaki passed away this morning of a heart-attack. He was 85 years old. Though I didn't have enough time with him, I was still lucky enough to spend some wonderful moments over the past few weeks. Here is a picture of Tak and I taken just three days before his death.

This event survives as a solemn reminder of the importance of this story and the responsibility we have as filmmakers to honor these men in a way that keeps their legacy alive forever.

Below is a brief summary of Tak's life and military career (courtesy of the Go For Broke Educational Foundation):

As an American citizen born in Los Angeles, California in 1921, Takashi Senzaki would never have imagined he would be incarcerated just because of his race. Like other Japanese American families, the Senzaki family was forced to evacuate their home and was incarcerated in a War Relocation Authority (WRA) camp shortly after the U.S. entry into World War II.

The Senzaki family was imprisoned in a camp set up at Rohwer, Arkansas. Rohwer housed more than 7,000 Japanese Americans from the Los Angeles and San Joaquin area. Families were housed in one room barracks arranged in blocks. Tak and a few others from his block signed up for military duty immediately when Army recruiters came to Rohwer.

Since his oldest brother was exempt from the draft and his other brother had a hearing problem, it was up to Tak to heed his father's serious advice -"yamato damashi" - give all you have on the battlefield -- don't bring shame on the family. His father blessed him for taking the family's name to war and for honoring their country. The Army assigned Tak to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an all-Japanese American fighting unit. He was 22 years old.

The 442nd landed in Italy and fought in many major battles. Tak became a seasoned soldier. In October 1944, Tak found himself hiking in the forests of France strapped with a heavy pack and rifle, constantly faced with the threat of being shot or stepping on a land mine. The temperature was near freezing. The dense fog, rain and cold made travel even more difficult than usual. His feet began to swell inside of his boots. Above him in the dense forests, artillery was exploding in the trees, turning tree branches into deadly projectiles.

Tak and the other men of the 442nd were ordered to rescue the “Lost Battalion,” men from the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry of the 36th "Texas" Division. The Texans had advanced beyond their lines and found themselves surrounded by German troops. Other American units had tried to rescue them with no success. The situation was getting grim. A desperate communication received from the Texans said, "No rations, no water, no contact with headquarters…four litter cases." For five full days the Texans had no food at all.

Fighting was hand-to-hand, head-to-head, tree-to-tree and an inferno of grenade and small-arms fire. Tak’s unit lost both their platoon and assistant platoon leaders and most of their men. With only eight men, Tak took charge. Five surviving members of the 2nd Platoon joined them. Known for his keen sense of direction, Tak avoided contact with the Germans by staying off the main trail. It was two of his men who made first contact with the beleaguered Lost Battalion. Major Claude D. Roscoe of the Lost Battalion recalled, "The first man I met of the 442nd was Tech Sgt. Tak Senzaki of Los Angeles. We all had tears in our eyes and were glad to see them." At the end of the two week fighting period in October, that included the rescue of the Lost Battalion, the 442nd suffered more than 800 casualties while saving the lives of 211 Texans.

Tak’s skill and leadership role in the rescue of the Lost Battalion was a source of pride for his family back home. In a letter to his brother, Tak wrote, "In charge of the platoon now. Only had one man killed in my squad and he was on a special mission for the company at that time so I've got a damned good record. Hope to keep it up now that I have a platoon."

Tak was one of the fortunate ones. He survived and returned home to his loved ones. After being discharged from the Army, he rejoined his family who left camp. Together they moved eastward, settling in Minneapolis. Hoping to pursue his education, he moved to Chicago to stay with his sister. Unable to obtain his high school transcripts to enter college, Tak found work in a grocery store in Chicago. Later, he returned to Los Angeles where he worked for some large [market] chains until he retired. Few who see this mild manner man today know that Tak Senzaki was instrumental in saving the lives of so many others while in combat.

Hawaii and the 442nd Veterans Reunion

2006-03-20T00:02:00.000-08:00

Ahola,
As the rewriting process continues, I have been lucky enough to spend some time in Hawaii with several of the true-life heroes including Barney Hajiro (above) and Mutt Sakumoto. Today was the 63rd Annual 442nd Veterans Reunion and featured over 600 attendees. The entire ceremony, which lasted four hours, was quite an experience and was filled with both laughter and tears.
After the event, I made a trip to "Punchbowl". This National Cemetary serves as the final resting place for hundreds of Japanese American veterans who sacrificed their lives for a country that did not trust them. I visited both Nobuo Amakawa and Takeyasu Onaga's graves and made a solemn promise to honor them through this film and all future opportunities. The following message is engraved at the memorial: "The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom". One must not forget that for these Japanese Americans, the "altar of freedom" carried with it a dual meaning.
I was reminded of the urgency of this story. These men deserve to be recognized and their legacy must not be forgotten with their passing. Each year, the number of surviving veterans diminshes and this year the number of lost grew exponentially. You can see the sadness in these men's faces as they realize the friends they have lost over the past 12 months.
As we move closer to a finished script, I want to encourage everyone to pass the LITTLE IRON MEN website (www.littleironmen.com) along to their friends and family. In addition, recommend that they visit the Go For Broke Foundation website (www.goforbroke.org) and the Smithsonian website: A More Perfect Union (http://americanhistory.si.edu/perfectunion/experience/) to learn more about these men and their amazing accomplishments.

Stay tuned for the final draft of the script....

The official 2006 update...

2006-01-23T13:29:00.000-08:00

It's been four months since the last update. I thought it best to include a few highlights and upcoming events:

I am rewriting the script...again. After going through the trailer process and late 2005 sales process, I took two months off from the project to clean the palette (so to speak). After rereading the script over the Holidays, I found several points in the script that could use some improvement. There will be some great changes ahead...all of which will result in an even more powerful story.
The trailer is now available online for all to see. Please forward the link onto friends. It'll make the marketing part of the project that much easier when a studio agrees to greenlight the project.
We have several meetings planned with development heads at three of the big studios in the first part of 2006, including one in February. Let's all hope for the best.

Again, I apologize for the length in between these two updates. I look forward to hearing more comments from you. I know we all believe in this story...

Until next time...

and so it begins....

2005-09-30T16:53:00.000-07:00

I tried to avoid it. I tried to find other ways of developing an online community of individuals who were interested in the story of "Little Iron Men". But, alas, after viewing some comparable websites, I felt compelled to join the bunch.

Little Iron Men is a feature-length film that accounts the true story of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team's rescue of the Lost Battalion (141st) during World War II. In late October of 1944, 211 members of the 141st Regiment, nicknamed the Texas battalion, were trapped three miles behind German lines. After four days of intense fighting, the 100th/442nd broke through the fortified German lines and saved the lost battalion...at the cost of 800 Japanese American men.

For those who do not know, the 100th/442nd Regiment was made up of entirely Japanese-American enlisted men, many of which volunteered from internment camps established in the United States. The story focuses on I Company, 3rd Battalion of the 442nd Regiment and the eight men who are the first to reach the lost battalion. More importantly, is the actual relationship between Captain Joseph Byrne and his Sergeant Takashi Senzaki as they struggle to understand one another amongst this historical battle.

In truth, I want to create a place where people feel the freedom to speak about the issues regarding this project. Many feel that this story and it's political background are quite a timely story, despite the 60 years that have passed since the event took place.

So, without further ado, I present to you a forum. I will try and present one question that relates to both the project and the issues we face as Americans every day.

The first question..........considering the 60 years that have passed since the United States placed the Japanese-Americans into internment camps, is it still possible that, when faced with a crisis, we would respond without racial issues effecting our decisions. In other words, could we do this again?