Day of Remembrance of Japanese Americans
February 19, 2026
By Jennifer Archer, First Vice Chair, GSNI Board of Directors
February 19 is chosen as the Day of Remembrance of Japanese Americans because, on this day in 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This order allowed for 120,000 Japanese Americans—most of them U.S. citizens—to be forcibly removed from their homes and livelihoods and moved to incarceration camps.
My grandfather, grandmother, and great grandmother were among those imprisoned. Two of my aunts were born in the camps. It was illegal. There was no due process, and even though Japanese American communities had been under governmental surveillance, there was never any evidence that those communities posed any danger to the U.S. or its war effort. Yet families lost their homes, businesses, property, and years of their lives.
Remembering this day serves two important purposes. First, it honors Japanese Americans who survived with gaman, enduring the unbearable with dignity and strength. Despite degrading and inhumane conditions, they rebuilt community, including Girl Scout troops, wherever they were sent. Not only that, when they were given permission to join the army—for a country that had turned its back on them—the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated unit, became the most decorated unit of its size and length of service in U.S. History. Among their missions was the liberation of Nazi extermination camps.
Second, remembering reminds us not to take our freedoms for granted. Our Constitution must be defended, protected, amended when necessary, and faithfully followed. We must know our history so that we do not repeat its mistakes.
GSNI deeply appreciates our Girl Scout sister Jennifer’s willingness to share her story with us and our Girl Scout community.
