Events
Pia Kurusu White and Brian Hauenstein
Date and Time
Friday, February 7, 2020 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
RSVP
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Description
The drama of World War II is no abstraction to West Michigan residents Pia White and Brian Hauenstein. Pia is the daughter of the late Saburo Kurusu, the Japanese diplomat who was special envoy to the US when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and who served in Berlin when Hitler signed the Tripartite Pact with Japan and Italy in the opening stages of World War II, thereby setting in motion an all-out, two-front war with the US.
Brian is the grandson of the late Colonel Ralph W. Hauenstein, who was General Eisenhower’s chief of intelligence during the war (and the namesake of our Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies). Col. Hauenstein was the first US officer into liberated Paris and Dachau death camp. Although the two men were on opposite sides of the Second World War, they taught their descendants some of life’s most important lessons around war and peace, valor and sacrifice, leadership and legacy.
Join us for this wonderfully unique opportunity to hear Pia White and Brian Hauenstein recount what they learned about the war from Ambassador Kurusu and Col. Hauenstein. Both Pia and Brian will highlight their conversation with period photographs that also help tell the remarkable stories of the ambassador and colonel.
Recommended Parking: Seward Ramp
All forums are free and open to the public. Reservations for forums are strongly recommended. They guarantee a seat in the building but not in the main hall. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors to the main hall open approximately a half hour before the program begins.
Contact
For more information please contact Jakob Bigard at [email protected]