Meeting Nisei World War II Veteran Ben Suechika — the artist and illustrator of our Let’s Talk Story book!
Today we visited Nisei World War II veteran Ben Suechika (age 103) at his senior home in Torrance, California. We wanted to express our gratitude for allowing us to use his paintings as the cover art and illustrations throughout our Let’s Talk Story book. While we were there, we were inspired by his story of living through the Gila River internment camp, and his experience serving in the Military Intelligence Service and being stationed in South Korea.
At the beginning of our session, Mr. Suechika couldn’t remember that he had painted the artwork in the book, or even that he had once enjoyed painting and art at all. However, despite some frustrations about forgetting such significant facts, Mr. Suechika maintained a constant positive attitude, creating jokes that made me genuinely laugh.
Talking story with Mr. Suechika and filling out the questions in the book together was more impactful than I ever imagined, and I felt extremely lucky to be able to do this with such an amazing man. As our session came to a close, I will never forget what happened at the end: Mr. Suechika noticed a painting hanging on the wall in his room and when told, “You painted that too, Ben,” he replied matter-of-factly, “I know.” After our conversation that afternoon, his memory of being a painter and enjoying art came back!
I hope that Let’s Talk Story Club allows my sister and I, and all of our volunteers, to create many more special moments like these.
