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HAVRE DE GRACE, Maryland–“When Grant Ichikawa rang the doorbell and handed me a check of such a large amount, I was overwhelmed and started to tear up” over the kindness of complete strangers, recalled Sergeant Leana L. Nishimura. Nishimura is a Chaplain’s assistant with Headquarters Company 1-224th Supply and Service Battalion in Edgewood, Maryland, and a divorced single mother of three young children. On Halloween Day 2005, she returned home after spending a year in Iraq.

Ichikawa, a former World War II veteran of the Military Intelligence Service, is Chairman of Special Projects of the Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA).

When she received the $1,500 check, her first reaction was that now she could buy beds for her two sons who had been sleeping on the floor, winter clothes for the children, food for the freezer purchased by her mother in preparation for the winter months. Nishimura reminds her children daily to count their blessings. They are now together, thanks to the generosity and support of fellow Americans.

Nishimura, a sansei (third generation Japanese American), joined the Maryland Army National Guard, 129th Signal Battalion, in August 2002 as a communications specialist. Before that, she served as a contract specialist with the Hawaii Air National Guard. She joined the Army to serve her country while supplementing her income. Her divorce in the summer of 2001 ruined her credit rating. “I was broke, my life was shattered. But I was determined to perform my military commitment. When you put on the uniform you must take the responsibility that comes with that uniform, and that includes going to war and taking all the risks, including getting wounded or even killed,” Nishimura said.

Commented Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), JAVA Honorary Chair: “Sergeant Nishimura’s experience illustrates the challenges that our nation’s deployed service members and their families face.  This is especially true for members of the National Guard who are being deployed to combat zones in unprecedented numbers. It’s particularly challenging for many parents, especially single parents like Sergeant Nishimura, who have to rely on family and community support during their deployment.” 

APAs as true patriots

Senator Akaka added: “As a veteran myself and future Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, I remain committed to ensuring that access to the necessary care and support systems exist for all those who serve our nation. I will keep working to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs carries out the outreach needed by members of the Guard and Reserves, who may not know of their eligibility for benefits and services.” He said Nishimura’s “commitment to our country is a demonstration of the loyalty that many Asian American Veterans have as true patriots.”

Nishimura believes that every member of the service should spend one tour away from home “at a less than favorable environment.” When the 129th Signal Battalion was ordered to Iraq, she prepared for the assignment eagerly and seriously, departing on Thanksgiving Day 2004. Her team was assigned to Tikrit, Iraq, where her camp was often hit by mortar rounds. Although shaken and afraid, she was determined to do her duty.

Throughout her deployment, Nishimura sent money home to her mother, Cynthia Nishimura, of Honolulu, to support her children while she was away. She was left without a home and very little money when she returned to Maryland. Nishimura also suffered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), resulting from fighting a terrorist war and the pain of being away from her three children. She would wake up at night in a cold sweat, with nightmares of her and her children being caught in enemy attacks.

Although it is nearly a hundred miles from her previous home and support system in Charles County, Maryland, Nishimura decided to take the job at Havre de Grace Military Reservation as it provided better pay and stability. She likes her present job and plans to make military her career. Her adjustment has been eased by an ideal work environment, assistance from neighborhood churches, favorable articles in the press, donations of money, food, clothing and furniture from friends and strangers.

Almost a year after her family reunited, life is gradually returning to normal with the raising of three children and with normal daily activities of school, homework, Cub Scouts and church activities. What Nishimura enjoys most about being reunited is being able to tuck her three children, Cheyenne (5), Dylan (8), and T.J. (9), into bed every night and their discussions of their hopes and dreams. T.J., the eldest, seemed to be the most shaken by Nishimura’s deployment, and often speaks of his plans to apply to the US Army Military Academy at West Point.

Nishimura said she’s especially grateful to the Maryland National Guard “Partners in Care Ministry,’ which introduced her to the First Christian Church of Havre de Grace, to Major Timothy Mullen who helped her get settled, including raising the funds to purchase plane tickets for her children to rejoin her, to her neighbors, and to JAVA, which launched the fund drive.