Spearfish stood by Japanese American family, Army vet

Kenny Higashi chose to enlist in Army after military threatened to send family to internment camp

Kenny Higashi in his uniform and later in life. The Spearfish native served during World War II in a decorated Japanese American combat unit. (courtesy the Higashi family and Lauren Harris)

Lauren Harris was working on her first children’s book about Japanese American soldiers during World War II and the internment camps that Japanese Americans faced. Her research led to her to the story of the Lost Battalion, a Texas National Guard unit that was surrounded by Nazi forces in October of 1944. The battalion was rescued by a Japanese American combat unit amid fierce combat.

Harris, then a teacher and writer in Spearfish, wished she could meet one of the veterans from the famed 100^th Battalion, 442^nd Regimental Combat Team. Turns out, she didn’t have far to look.

“He lived down the street from me,” she said. “I had no idea.”

'Border issues today could be ours tomorrow'