The Northwest Times

Hawaii Nisei Artist Will Tour Army Hospitals on Mainland

HONOLULU, June 17—George Yamanaka, Honolulu artist who has drawn 5,000 charcoal sketches of wounded war veterans in Hawaii without charge, is going on a tour of mainland hospitals.

"George Yamanaka is the sort of a guy that a lot of wounded veterans are going to remember for a long time," the Star-Bulletin said recently.

"He is the sort of a guy who, on his own time and with his own materials spent hours in the wards of army hospitals here just drawing charcoal sketches of fellows."

Now George is on his way to the mainland and more military hospitals to do some more morale building with his 18 and 24 sketches.

He was prevented from seeing active service with his pals by reason of a hearing and speech defect.

So he took his drawing board to help out on his own way.

He is paying his own way and this trip to the mainland is going to be a little expensive.

Asked how long he expected to stay, George said: "Three months minimum. Maybe a year. It depends on how long my money holds out."

Army General hospitals in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Kansas City, St Louis and Chicago are on George Yamanaka's itinerary at present.

In Washington he expects to visit the surgeon general to secure expediting of his work. It seems he has run into opposition.

"People think I have an axe to grind," he said.

"They often can't grasp the idea that there is no charge for the work—that there is no other purpose than just doing this for the men."

For many years George Yamanaka was the display artist for Andrade's, a Honolulu firm. During the war he was appointed chairman of the Displays for Victory committee in Honolulu and was consulting artist for the Army orientation program for the Central Pacific area.

If common sense has not the brilliancy of the sun, it has the fixity of the stars.—Caballero.