442nd Regimental Combat Team

Let’s talk about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team – the “Go For Broke” Guys.

 

On December 7, 1941, America was catapulted into WW II when the Imperial Japanese Navy bombed Pearl Harbor.

 

In June 1942, 1,400 Hawaiian National Guardsmen were called up and formed into the 100th Battalion. Their motto? “Remember Pearl Harbor” of course.

 

On September 19, 1943, the 100th was sent to Italy and soon engaged the Germans near Salerno. In 24 hours of intense combat, they drove the Germans back 15 miles and captured the town of Benevento. Over the next few months, the 100th would see heavy combat and suffer heavier casualties. By March 1944 – six months after entering combat – only 521 of the original soldiers assigned to the 100th remained, the rest were killed or wounded.

 

On February 1, 1943, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) was activated. After forming up and training they arrived in Italy in June 1944 and fought alongside the 100th, which would officially become the 442nd’s third battalion in September.

 

The 442nd then fought in Southern France, where they engaged in heavy combat in liberating French cities from Nazi occupation. But their most famous operation during this time was the rescue of the “Lost Battalion.” The 442nd suffered over 800 casualties in rescuing about 200 men from the 141st Regiment. Fred Shiosaki, a member of the 442nd who fought in the battle, described the event as “Americans rescuing Americans.”

 

The 442nd then continued combat operations against German forces in Northern Italy. Once again, they distinguished themselves in the Po Valley Campaign.

 

In just under 10 months of combat the 442nd became the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of the US military. 18,000 men would serve in the 442nd during that short time and together they were awarded at least:

– 7 Presidential Unit Citations;

– 4,000 Purple Hearts;

– 4,000 Bronze Stars;

– 560 Silver Stars;

– 29 Distinguished Service Medals; and

– 21 Medals of Honor,

 

Finally, in 2010, the 442nd was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their heroic service in World War II.

 

Oh, did I mention the 442nd RCT and 100th Battalion were segregated units comprised of Nisei – second generation Japanese-American citizens by birth right? Their parents were Japanese legal resident immigrants but were denied citizenship because they were Asians.

 

Why is that important? well…

 

On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, resulting in 122,000 Japanese Americans living on the west coast being sent to prison camps and subjected another 158,000 in the Hawaiian Islands to massive deprivation of civil liberties.

 

On June 12, 1942 – 3 months and 24 days after FDR signed EO 9066 imprisoning Japanese-Americans – the 100th Battalion was activated in Hawaii.  Over 15,000 Japanese-Americans volunteered for the 1,400 spots.

 

When the 442nd was activated on the mainland – 347 days after the signing of EO 9066 – Japanese-Americans again answered the call, with about a third of them coming from the prison camps the government called “relocation camps.”

 

These men distinguished themselves to defend their country, even though their country deprived those living in Hawaii of virtually all their civil liberties and imprisoned those living on the west coast of the mainland, for the non-crime of being loyal Americans.

 

The excuse used to take these drastic, not to mention unconstitutional acts? FDR and gang feared, without any evidence, that the Japanese-American population was filled with Japanese spies who would form a 5th column within the U.S. To be fair, 10 people were convicted of spying for Japan in WW II…all of whom were Caucasian.

 

As for Japanese-American loyalty, I think the actions of the 442nd RCT and the 100th Battalion proves their loyalty was to the U.S.

 

What’s the moral of this story? Simple, judge each by their acts, not by their looks or accent.

 

Sources:

https://britannica.com/topic/442nd-Regimental-Combat-Team https://history.army.mil/html/topics/apam/100bn.html https://history.army.mil/brochures/po/72-33.htm https://history.army.mil/html/topics/ap