Annual Punchbowl memorial service honors Nisei WWII veterans

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The 2026 Joint Memorial Service honoring Hawaii’s Japanese American World War II veterans takes place on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 9:30 a.m. at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

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The service pays tribute to the decorated Nisei soldiers from the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service (MIS) and 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion who fought for freedom and against discrimination. The event is free and open to the public to come together in remembrance and gratitude.

Volunteers are needed to help decorate 1,000 graves at Punchbowl on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 8:30 a.m. Volunteers will be provided with a bucket containing 12 anthuriums and American flags, along with a map to guide them in carrying out the honorable task.

Volunteers will also be needed on Monday, Sept. 28, at 9 a.m. to retrieve the flags while leaving the flowers in place.

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Sunday’s Joint Memorial Service will include a presentation of the colors, floral tributes, musical offerings, and a rifle salute. The ceremony will also include a memorial address, testimonies from youth speakers, participation from the 111th Army Band, and volunteer student escorts and JROTC cadets.

Hawaii-born Major General Jason Kamiya, U.S. Army (Ret.), son of 100th Infantry Battalion Charlie Company soldier Lawrence Masanobu Kamiya, will be the keynote speaker, delivering the memorial address on the theme of “legacy.”

The 2026 Joint Memorial Service is organized by the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans (Club 100) and presented by Club 100 in partnership with the Sons and Daughters of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the 442nd Veterans Club, the 442nd Legacy Center, and the Military Intelligence Service Veterans Hawaii. The organizations are mainly composed of descendants and family members of the men who served in the units they represent and work to preserve the identities, traditions, and legacy of the units they honor.

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