Sam Higa’s life began in a Japanese internment camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming.
“My whole family was interned there and in Arizona,” said Higa, whose relatives came from itinerant farming communities in Southern California.
Higa has no memories of the camp as the family was released when he was about 3, and relatives declined to talk about their experiences there, he said.
Hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans were rounded up during World War II and sent to internment camps that were established in the western U.S. in the months after the Pearl Harbor attack by Japanese forces in December 1941. The stated intention was to prevent espionage on American soil.
Decades later, Higa would join the U.S. military, and decades later still, he would celebrate veterans of World War II and other conflicts as a volunteer with the Honor Flight Network.
Higa’s family, migrant farmers who followed the crops, traveled seasonally between California, Utah, Washington and Arizona before settling in the San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles.
“My uncle went to 17 schools, but I attended only four elementaries and graduated from Baldwin Park High School,” said Higa, who has been a Laguna Woods resident for 12 years.
After a short stint at UCLA, he decided to follow the example of four of his uncles and joined the military. He and a friend enlisted in the Navy.
It was during the Cold War era, and they were enticed by promises that their electronics training would earn them spots on the new Polaris nuclear submarines.
They ended up “working continuously on the black and blue crew” of the diesel-powered subs, Higa said with a laugh.
He later qualified for the class that enabled him to drive a different type of nuclear-powered submarine.
“That was exciting,” he said. “We traveled around the world, but never stopped,” he added, noting that nuclear submarines were not welcome in many ports.
His longest mission lasted 69 days, gathering Cold War intelligence as the crew trailed Soviet submarines. They ended up at Pearl Harbor, surfacing only when they ran out of food for the 90 submariners on board, he said.
In addition to driving subs, Higa taught satellite navigation to other sailors in New London, Connecticut.
After the Vietnam War ended, Higa retired from his 13 years in the Navy and went to work for civilian defense contractors building electronic systems for a new class of subs.
He became a technician with GTE Sylvania, creating state-of-the-art systems for foiling Soviet radar tracking.
“I worked with some really smart engineers,” he said. “It was like going to college.”
Since retiring and moving to Laguna Woods, Higa has been active in American Legion Post 257. In September, he was asked to be a “guardian” for Korean War veteran Ralph Bloch, also a Village resident, on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.
The Honor Flight Network is a nationwide nonprofit, run by volunteers, that gives recognition and thanks to veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Each veteran is assigned a guardian to help them through the experience and ensure they are safe and cared for.
Higa was in the rare position of being not only a guardian but a veteran himself, one of only three in that category in the group of 100 that left San Diego in September. The group included five World War II veterans and three women who had served as military nurses.
Flying to Baltimore for dinner and speeches, the entourage was bused the next day with a motorcycle escort to Washington, where they toured the war memorials.
“Most special to me was the plaque dedicated to the submariners, who were very active after Pearl Harbor,” Higa said.
Age 81 himself, he pushed the wheelchair for Bloch, who is about 10 years older.
“Every vet goes in a wheelchair, whether they need it or not,” Higa said. “I must have walked about three miles that day.”
Dinners, speeches and certificates of recognition were part of the celebration. Letters from schoolchildren and other appreciative community members were distributed to the vets.
Higa’s most cherished memories of the Honor Flight experience involve meeting other veterans and hearing their stories.
“One vet had served in all three wars, and his guardian was his daughter,” Higa said.
Those with guardians who were family members especially impressed him.
“The ability to take a parent or grandparent on this journey was so emotional,” he said.
Higa also met and conversed with other submariners, with whom he shared a special camaraderie.
“For veterans, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one that many vets don’t know about,” Higa said. “Especially for Vietnam vets who were not welcomed home and may still have PTSD, this might make a difference.”
When the group arrived back in San Diego, a festive welcome home awaited them.
Back in Laguna Woods, American Legion Post 257 is seeking new members so that they can expand the community service activities they have performed in the past.
Veterans of any branch of the service, even if they served only a day, are welcome, Higa said. For information, contact the post commander at dennispowell@hotmail.com.