The Pain Father Carried

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My father, Hiroshi “Hank” Yamamoto, lived a valiant life from April 1923 to December 2010.

Born to Japanese immigrant farmworkers, Hank and his nine siblings grew up in poverty, moving from farm to farm across Northern California. After settling in Santa Rosa, he attended Santa Rosa High School, where basketball and baseball offered friendship, confidence, and relief from hardship and racial discrimination.

Hank graduated in 1940 with hope for the future. Two years later, Executive Order 9066 forced the removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. He later told me how deeply it hurt that his friends did not support him or even say goodbye.

Hank volunteered for the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team and fought in Europe. Before leaving, he entrusted his most treasured possessions to his sister: his graduation photograph, yearbooks, and letterman sweater. He kept them near his bed for the rest of his life.

In 1999, Hank was invited to speak to a Santa Rosa High School class about his incarceration and military service. Normally composed and articulate, he began to sob and could not speak. Decades of humiliation, pain, and silent stoicism suddenly surfaced.

The students watched with empathy. We never discussed what happened that day, but I hope the release brought him some healing. He deserved that.

Photo caption if needed.

Gail Yamamoto Seymour • Age 72 • Santa Rosa resident

Gail Yamamoto-Seymour is Sansei, a third-generation Japanese American, and a California native. She worked as an environmental scientist and has lived in Santa Rosa for 30 years. Before her father, Hiroshi Yamamoto, passed away in 2010, they visited many of his favorite places throughout Sonoma County together.