Hawai'i's Japanese veterans overcame enemy fire, racism and doubts about their loyalty in World War II.

In doing so, those nisei fought for American freedom while paving the way for generations of Asians in the U.S. military, retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, a former chief of staff of the Army, said yesterday.

Shinseki, who's originally from Kaua'i, was the keynote speaker for a memorial service yesterday remembering the Japanese-Americans who fought and died in World War II .

"The lessons of the nisei veterans are valuable and timeless about duty and honor and country," Shinseki told about 650 veterans and others gathered at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl yesterday. "The boys of American-Japanese ancestry who stepped forward in 1942 to demand the right and the privilege to defend their country in a time of war set a standard for selfless and courageous service.

"Because they did it has made all the difference in how succeeding generations of Americans of Asian ancestry, not just Japanese ancestry ... have lived their lives."

The O'ahu Americans of Japanese Ancestry Veterans Council chose to hold the memorial on the last Sunday in September in memory of the first casualty among the major units to which the veterans belonged.

Sgt. Joe Takata, 24, of the 100th Infantry Battalion was mortally wounded on Sept. 29, 1943, while leading an attack on a German machine-gun nest in southern Italy. Takata was one of nearly 800 Americans of Japanese ancestry who died in service to America during the war.

Yesterday's joint memorial service honored the 100th Battalion, along with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion.

"I am one clear beneficiary of their demonstrated loyalty," said Shinseki, who also is spokesman for the Go For Broke National Education Center. The organization is dedicated to preserving and sharing the story of Japanese-American soldiers in World War II.

"I have led my life without a hint of suspicion, with full freedom to choose my life's work and to compete and excel in those choices.

"For that, I am eternally grateful."

Shinseki, who retired in 2003, championed the Army's drive to become a lighter, more mobile force and the introduction of the Stryker armored vehicles. His tenure as a four-star general also was marked by controversy with the selection of black berets for soldiers and feuds with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over a canceled artillery system and the number of soldiers needed in the Iraq occupation.

Shinseki testified to Congress before the Iraq war began that any postwar occupying force would have to be big enough to maintain safety in a country with "ethnic tensions that could lead to other problems." His final two years in the job were marked by strains with Rumsfeld over the nature and pace of Army modernization programs, though Shinseki never criticized the administration.

In addition to honoring fallen comrades, yesterday's gathering served as a venue to reunite aging warriors.

"It's good to get together" six decades later, said Shigeo Kawamoto, who served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy and France from 1943 to 1945.

"It's wonderful because people after so many years (still) remember" the sacrifices made by American soldiers of Japanese ancestry, Kawamoto said.

Edward Ikuma, who served in the 100th Battalion from 1941 to 1945, said yesterday's gathering was "a great honor" for surviving veterans and for "those that were left behind."

"It's a great tribute to the public and also those buried here in this hallowed ground," Ikuma said.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.