Sandra Vea, the author of “Masao, A Nisei Soldier’s Secret and Heroic Role in World War II,“ will be the featured speaker, Saturday, November 19, from 1pm to 3:30pm, at the monthly Omoide (Memories) program sponsored by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center (JCCCW).
Ms. Vea wrote the biography of S/SGT Masao Abe’s service in the South Pacific as a member of the US Army’s secret Military Intelligence Service (MIS). Until the mid-70s, the unit’s wartime activities remained sealed. Through interviews with Mr. Abe, family members and his former team members, Ms. Vea has written one of the definitive and personal MIS histories.
Using the “nonfiction novel” genre, Ms. Vea traces Abe’s life beginning with his parents’ immigration from Japan to Seattle in 1907, his birth in 1916 and childhood in San Bernardino, CA. After his parents returned to Japan, he lived there as a teenager in the 1930s. He returned to California before WW2 began. In September, 1941, Abe was drafted into the US Army.
Ms. Vea is a Seattle native and attended University of Washington, Western Washington University and Seattle University. She is an educator and currently a high school student counselor. The book is a product of almost five years of research, interviews and editing. After approaching publishers and agents without success, she and Masao’s youngest son, Alan, became the publishers.
