Banquet To Honor Nisei War Veterans

Maj. Gen. Paul Wilkins Kendall, commander of Fort Lewis and the 2nd Infantry Division, will speak at a testimonial banquet for 500 Japanese-American war veterans, 50 Gold Star parents and four widows of service men killed in action at 6:30 o'clock Friday night in the Civic Auditorium, it was announced yesterday.

The banquet will be held by the Seattle chapter of the Japanese American Citizens' League. John J. Sullivan, Seattle attorney, and Mike Masaoka, executive secretary of the league, also will speak.

The Nisei veterans were members of the 442nd Regiment which aided in the liberation of the Leghorn and Pisa, Italy, spearheaded the crossing of the Arno River and rescued the famed "Lost Battalion" -- the 141st Regiment of the 36th Division -- in the Vosges Mountains of Southern France.

Clarence T. Arai will be master of ceremonies and Hobart Farnham's orchestra will furnish music for a dance after the dinner.