Wendy is the author of the book, Finding Uncle Yosh

Wendy Noritake takes you along on her 18-year spiritual quest to learn about her 23-year-old uncle who died fighting in World War II. Rather than stay in a concentration camp, he volunteered to serve in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team—the most highly decorated group in U.S. military history. The regiment consisted entirely of Nisei soldiers—second generation Japanese-Americans—who proved beyond a doubt their courage and patriotism.

Finding Uncle Yosh

What does a brave man do when faced with a terrible decision that could mean life or death?

Yoshito Noritake was a shining light with a promising life ahead of him. WWII broke out, and he and his family were suddenly charged as enemy aliens. His choice was to follow his family into a concentration camp complete with barbed wire and armed guards, or to join the armed forces with fellow Japanese-American prisoners to fight and to prove their loyalty.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was given difficult and dangerous assignments, which they embraced with dignity. But Yosh died at the tender age of 23, and the details of his service and death were later lost in a Federal Archives fire.

Decades passed. When he had been long forgotten by his family, his niece Wendy, whom he had never met, heard his story and felt a duty to know who he was and how he died. Her ten-year research to find answers eventually took her to a small town in France, where the Japanese-American soldiers were not forgotten: a place where the brave men of the 442nd saved many lives, even as they lost their own. They are honored to this day. Against all odds, she discovered the very spot where his life ended.

Wendy had given up hope of ever finding a veteran who might have fought by Yosh's side. Those who were still alive and coherent would be in their 90s.

Until the spring of 2017….