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Lead Editorial POWs Waiting for Apologies (in National News) API Advisory Commission Visits S.F. (in Bay Area News) Asian Food Markets in the Bay Area (in Business) Lampo Leong's Forces • Contemplation (in A&E) Reasons to Celebrate It was fitting that this past week Asian Americans celebrated the Fourth of July, feeling as a community one step closer to full inclusion with the nomination of Norman Mineta to the post of Commerce Secretary. Across the country API leaders have lauded the president’s decision, while simultaneously extolling Mineta’s 38-plus years of service to the country . Mineta has always helped guide API causes. Most notably, he was instrumental in getting Reagan to sign the now historical executive order that mandated redress and an apology for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. In a sense, Mineta has helped pave the future and at the same, has symbolized the conquering of historical wrongs. Similarly, as we move forward, we are continuously confronted with our past. Throughout the last few weeks that was especially apparent as people continued to fight the repercussions of wars long over. Last week former World War II POWs testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, blasting federal opposition to lawsuits against Japanese companies that allegedly forced the men into slave labor. And this weekend former Japanese American World War II veterans denounced the Japanese American Citizen’s League’s adoption of a resolution to recognize and apologize to the conscientious objectors who refused to fight in the war as long as their families were interned. While the younger generation is calling for reconciliation, many who lived through that era are threatening to quit the organization. What will be the events that define the post baby-boom generation? Perhaps, with our peaceful times and more visible API leaders, when we look back there will be more celebration than suffering. send e-mail to our Editor