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Bainbridge couple makes film about little-known story from World War II

One of the best kept secrets in World War II history is now a movie produced by a Bainbridge Island couple and told by a proud daughter living in Edmonds. "Proof of Loyalty" plays Saturday at noon at the Edmonds Theater.

When Joyce Yamane sees her father's face on a movie poster, her emotions can be summed up with just one word.

"Pride," she beams. "Pure and simple pride."

Kazuo Yamane came from a family of Japanese immigrants living in Hawaii during World War II. In the wake of Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans suffered terrible discrimination. They were rounded up and put in internment camps.

In spite of that, Yamane volunteered to join the war effort and became a translator.

"A lot of people asked why they should volunteer. Their constitutional rights were stripped. They were incarcerated," said Joyce. "Sentries at these camps weren't pointing their rifles outside the camps. They were pointing them into the camps. They were U.S. citizens being considered enemy aliens."

Then came a plot twist few have ever heard about -- one now documented in the film “Proof of Loyalty.”

Yamane discovered a document detailing the locations of key Japanese weapon factories and stockpiles. It was a document that had previously been declared insignificant by the military.

Joyce says her father had a decision to make.

"He didn't have to turn it in. He could've easily disregarded it and told his superior officer there was no military value, nothing in those boxes," she said.

Instead, Yamane put his country first and the pain of discrimination behind him -- alerting U.S. officials and making a pivotal turn in the war.

"That discovery, by itself, saved thousands of lives and shortened the length of the war in the Pacific," Joyce said.

Lucy Ostrander, of Bainbridge Island, co-directed “Proof of Loyalty” with her husband. She says the film's nearly 75-year-old story is timeless, especially as America deals with immigration issues today.

"The message is simple. We need to embrace diversity. We need to embrace immigrant communities."

Kazuo Yamane died before the film was made, but his daughter hopes his story will have an impact for generations to come.

Joyce draws a parallel between the treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and that of Muslim-Americans today.

"These are people with value," she said. "We need to respect the cultures within our borders."

“Proof of Loyalty” plays Saturday at noon at the Edmonds Theater. It is part of the city's Diversity Film Series.

You can watch the trailer for the film below. Don’t see the video? Click here to watch.

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