WASHINGTON–On November 4, the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation (NJAMF) will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the dedication of the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism during World War II. Venue is the JW Marriott Hotel in this nation’s capital.

The Foundation will honor retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Japanese American veterans of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), and the National Park Service at the gala luncheon.

Both the MIS and Justice Stevens played important roles in breaking and interpreting the codes of the Japanese Empire.

Justice Stevens will be presented with the Award for Constitutional Rights. The award is in recognition of his code-breaking activities in the Pacific as a cryptologist in the Navy during WWII, and his later judicial work to disable the codes of discrimination and injustice – including more than three decades of service on the U.S. Supreme Court.

On behalf of MIS veterans, Grant Ichikawa will accept the Award for Patriotism. This will begin a year-long tribute by the Foundation to Japanese Americans who served in the MIS during WWII and in Occupied Japan.

During WWII, Ichikawa went directly to work with the Allied Translator and Interpreter Service (ATIS) in Australia and the Philippines. As a part of the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey office in October of 1945, Ichikawa went to Hiroshima to assist with the post-Atomic bomb assessment of the area.

The Chairman’s Award will be presented to the National Park Service for its stewardship and partnership with the Foundation for the care and promotion of the Memorial, for its commitment to the sites of former internment camps and for its general commitment to telling the stories of American history through all the sites under its care.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has been invited to accept the award on behalf of the National Park Service. Salazar’s home state of Colorado was home to the Amache/Granada internment camp, designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006.

Remarked Dr. Craig D. Uchida, NJAMF Chairman: “Code breaking is a fitting theme for the 10th anniversary of the Memorial. Breaking codes of those who would attack the United States. Breaking codes of injustice. Breaking codes of neglect by ensuring that history does not crumble into abstractions, that people, places and events are well-remembered. That’s our purpose this year.”