New Presidio exhibit I Am An American honors Nisei WWII soldiers

Christine Sato-Yamazaki stood inside the Presidio museum and pointed to a panel honoring the 442nd while saying, "The 442d regimental combat team is actually one of the most decorated military unit in military history." The exhibition, titled I Am An American: The Nisei Soldier Experience, opened in mid-February 2026 at the Presidio in San Francisco and will remain on display through August 2026.

The 1,500-square-foot traveling exhibition assembles dozens of firsthand accounts, historical photos and rarely displayed artifacts, including medals and personal items the soldiers brought home from World War II. The show is hosted in San Francisco by the National Japanese American Historical Society with the Presidio Trust, presented by the National Veterans Network with the National Museum of the United States Army, and supported by The Army Historical Foundation. DoTheBay listed admission at 15$.

The exhibit places Nisei service against the wartime backdrop that saw the War Relocation Authority remove 120,000 Japanese Americans to ten Wartime Relocation Authority incarceration camps. Curator Sato-Yamazaki, whose grandfather earned a bronze star serving with the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team and whose family was sent to a camp in Arkansas, said of those family histories, "I think growing up we didn’t know the stories" and that "They don’t pass it down, they don’t talk about it."

The display traces the enlistment of thousands of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor and highlights troop totals reported by local outlets: ABC7 noted that "more than 30,000 Nisei would eventually enlist," while NBC Bay Area reported that "Half of the Japanese Americans who answered the nation’s call immediately after Pearl Harbor were from Hawaii, with the other half from the mainland." The exhibition also features soldier profile panels drawn from the Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center material, including Col. Harry Fukuhara, who was forcibly removed to the Tulare Assembly Center and Gila River Incarceration Camp before training at Camp Savage and serving as a translator in the Pacific, and 2nd Lt. Yeiki Kobashigawa, whose Thenmusa profile recounts that on June 2, 1944 near Lanuvio, Italy, he led a charge with "flawless precision" and later saw his Distinguished Service Cross upgraded to the Medal of Honor in 2000. Pfc. Jim Tazoi is also listed among the soldier profiles.

NBC Bay Area highlighted battlefield sacrifice tied to the 442nd, reporting that the unit "rescued 221 members of a Texas infantry division pinned down by German troops at a cost of 800 of the rescuers' lives." Sato-Yamazaki reflected on returning veterans, saying, "I think when they came back from the war, they said, okay, we did what we needed to do. They were really focused on rebuilding their lives."

Organizers say the Presidio showing is part of a national tour that will visit 11 venues over the next five years, with the next stop slated for the Bishop Museum in Hawaii. Presidio visitors are encouraged to also visit the related EXCLUSION exhibition at the Presidio Officers’ Club, which is open Fridays through Sundays 10 am to 4 pm for free through July. The Presidio exhibit aims to surface personal histories long kept quiet and to connect those narratives to local sites such as the Presidio and its wartime facilities.