“I Am An American: The Nisei Soldier Experience” debuts at Presidio in San Francisco
Five-year national tour premieres honoring the story of World War II Soldiers of Japanese ancestry
On February 20, retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, 34th U.S. Army Chief of Staff (center), cuts the ribbon on the “I Am An American” traveling exhibit with (left to right) Rosalyn Tonai, Executive Director, National Japanese American Historical Society; Jean Fraser, CEO, Presidio Trust; Paul Morando, Director, National Museum of the United States Army; Charles Bowery, Executive Director, U.S. Army Center of Military History; Christine Sato-Yamazaki, Executive Director, National Veterans Network; Tammy Call, Founding Director Emeritus, National Museum of the United States Army; retired Brig. Gen. Burt Thompson, President, The Army Historical Foundation (photo by: Brad Shirakawa, National Veterans Network) Download more photos
San Francisco (February 25, 2026) – Family members of World War II Nisei Soldiers were among the first to preview a new national traveling exhibit that opened to the public at the Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center at the Presidio in San Francisco on Monday, February 23. “I Am An American: The Nisei Soldier Experience,” tells the storied history of American Soldiers of Japanese ancestry during World War II, recounting how second-generation Japanese Americans, known as Nisei, demonstrated their loyalty to the nation as U.S. Army Soldiers.
“The service of Nisei Soldiers during World War II is one of history’s most inspiring examples of Army values and American ideals,” said retired General Eric K. Shinseki, 34th Chief of Staff, U.S. Army. “In the face of fear, these Americans demonstrated their unwavering faith in their country by choosing to serve as American Soldiers, with many fighting in the hardest won battles of the war.”
The exhibit, which will remain at the Presidio through August 31, will appear in 11 venues across the country during its five-year national tour. The 1,700-square-foot exhibit features firsthand accounts, photographs and rare personal items that tell the stories of Japanese Americans who became some of the most highly decorated Soldiers in U.S. history.
Nearly 33,000 Nisei Soldiers served in the European Theater as part of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, in the Pacific Theater as linguists in the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Service, and stateside. The Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center was once the site of a secret school for training the linguists. The exhibit presents their service against the backdrop of fear and racial tension that followed the attacks on Pearl Harbor and led to the removal of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry to Wartime Relocation Authority incarceration camps during the war.
“The National Veterans Network is grateful to debut this exhibit in a city that has so much history with the Japanese American community, particularly in a venue that was itself a part of the Nisei Soldier experience,” said Christine Sato-Yamazaki, executive director of the National Veterans Network, co-curator of the exhibit. “Families with connections to the World War II Nisei generation will feel so much pride in this exhibit, and every visitor will be compelled and inspired by its stories.”
The exhibit is presented by the National Veterans Network (NVN) with the National Museum of the United States Army and supported by The Army Historical Foundation. Visitors can experience the exhibit five days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m.
For more information about the exhibit and its national tour, visit nvnvets.org/exhibit .
Media interested in covering the exhibit and interviews should contact Dan Gregory at dgregory@susandavis.com or Michelle Suzuki at michelle@msc-pr.com.
For more information on the exhibit, visit nvnvets.org/exhibit.
