Voting WWII veteran an Internet hit
HONOLULU A photograph of a 93year-old World War II veteran casting what will likely be his last ballot has captured the hearts of tens of thousands of Internet users.
The photo shows Frank Tanabe lying in a hospital bed at home as his daughter Barbara Tanabe helps him fill out his absentee ballot. A halfmillion people saw the picture on the website Reddit after his grandson posted it there on Thursday, making it one of the most popular items on the social media network for a day after.
“True Patriotism” was the toprated comment on the post. “This is America. Amen,” was next, followed by “Thank you, Citizen.”
Doctors diagnosed Tanabe with an inoperable cancer tumor in his liver two months ago. He’s been in hospice care for the past three weeks at his daughter’s home. His condition has been deteriorating, and he’s been speaking little lately.
He’s been determined to vote regardless, eagerly asking when the ballot would be arriving in the mail, his daughter said. She kept telling him, “don’t worry, it’s coming.” He filled it out immediately when it landed in the mailbox on Wednesday. Barbara Tanabe read aloud the names of the candidates to her dad. He either nodded “yes” to the names or shook his head “no.” She filled in the boxes on his behalf, following his instructions even when he didn’t pick the people she wanted.
“There were some that were OK, but there were others where I said, ‘Dad, are you sure?’ ” she said.
Tanabe volunteered to join the Army from behind barbed wire at the Tule Lake internment camp in California. He was pulled out of college at the University of Washington and taken to the camp when President Franklin Roosevelt ordered 110,000 Japanese-Americans detained and isolated after the start of the war with Japan.
Glenn Takahashi, Honolulu election administrator, was asked whether Tanabe’s vote would be counted if he passed away before the Nov. 6 election. Takahashi said absentee ballots cast by voters who later die become invalid if the state Department of Health notifies elections officials of the death before Election Day. To void a ballot when that happens, officials have to be able to sort through tens of thousands of ballots. This is not always practical, and so the ballot is counted if it isn’t found.