Historic Marker/Punctum
On the right, a detail of a photograph inside the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles (gift of Jack and Peggy Iwata); on the left a detail of the same photograph on a vandalized historic marker just outside the museum.
The original photograph was taken during an awards ceremony honoring the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (a segregated Japanese American unit) not long after they suffered 800 casualties to save 211 members of the Texas 141 Infrantry Regiment. I have seen this photograph several times but never seen the photographer or the soldiers identified.
The Japanese American National Museum is in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, California. The indigenous Tongva name for this area is Tovaangar. The Tongva Peoples are the traditional and contemporary stewards of this land that comprises the Los Angeles basin and the Southern Channel Islands.