MY STORY IS ABOUT JAPANESE AMERICAN CITIZENS FROM HAWAII AND THE MAINLAND WHO STEPPED FORWARD TO SERVE THEIR NATION AS VOLUNTEERS IN WARTIME – A NATION, SADLY, THAT DID NOT TRUST THEM. THEY WERE VOLUNTEERS FACING TWO BATTLES TO FIGHT: ONE, AGAINST THE ENEMY IN EUROPE AND THE PACIFIC, AND THE OTHER, AGAINST RACIAL PREJUDICE IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY, THE COUNTRY THEY WERE SERVING. THEY EMERGED TRIUMPHANT FROM BOTH BATTLES AND HAVE CONTRIBUTED A BLAZING CHAPTER OF LOYALTY, DEVOTION AND COURAGE IN THE PAGES OF AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY OF WORLD WAR II.

I WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT THE STORY ABOUT THE 100^TH INFANTRY BATTALION AND THE 442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM, BETTER KNOWN AS THE "GO FOR BROKE" COMBAT UNIT. I WILL TALK ABOUT THE 442ND, ITS ORIGIN AND HISTORY IN THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE:

· 1ST- THE FORMATION OF THE 100TH

· 2ND-. THE FORMATION OF THE 442ND

· 3RD- COMBINING OF THE 100TH AND THE 442ND

· 4TH- SEPARATION OF THE 522ND FROM THE 442ND

· FINALLY - MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

WITHIN TWO MONTHS OF THE BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR, THE COMMANDING GENERAL OF THE U.S. ARMY IN HAWAII DISCHARGED JAPANESE AMERICANS FROM ALL BUT TWO REGIMENTS WITHIN THE HAWAIIAN NATIONAL GUARD.

WHILE AWAITING DISCHARGE ORDERS WHICH WOULD BE EFFECTIVE UPON THE ARRIVAL OF REPLACEMENT SOLDIERS FROM THE MAINLAND, THE HAWAIIAN COMMUNITY REQUESTED THAT THE JAPANESE AMERICAN SOLDIERS BE RETAINED FOR SERVICE -- THIS DEMONSTRATION OF THEIR SUPPORT BASED SOLEY UPON THE LOYALTY AND DEDICATION THAT THESE JAPANESE AMERICAN SOLDIERS HELD FOR THEIR COUNTRY WHILE THEY WAITED TO BE REPLACED.

AS A RESULT OF THIS REMARKABLE ACTION, THE COMMANDING GENERAL REVERSED HIS DECISION. HE RECOMMENDED TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT THAT A SPECIAL UNIT BE FORMED TO ACCOMMODATE THE JAPANESE AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN HAWAII.

HE ALSO RECOMMENDED THAT THIS UNIT BE SENT TO THE MAINLAND FOR TRAINING. IN JUNE 1942, A GROUP OF 1300 JAPANESE AMERICAN SOLDIERS FROM HAWAII ARRIVED AT CAMP MCCOY_, WISCONSIN, AND OFFICIALLY

CHRISTENED THE 100TH INFANTRY BATTALION. IN FEBRUARY 1943, THE 100TH WAS TRANSFERRED TO CAMP SHELBY, MISSISSIPPI, TO PARTICIPATE IN MANEUVERS IN MISSISSIPPI AND LOUISIANA AND TO FINALIZE THEIR

TRAINING FOR OVERSEAS DUTY.

DURING THIS PERIOD, THE U.S. ARMY WAS SEEKING AN ANSWER TO CONCERNS ABOUT HOW JAPANESE AMERICAN SOLDIERS WOULD CONDUCT THEMSELVES IN COMBAT. TO FIND THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION, THE 100TH WAS SENT OVERSEAS TO ITALY ON AUGUST 11,1943 AND ATTACHED TO THE 34TH DIVISION FOR COMBAT. AS HISTORY HAS DOCUMENTED, THEY FOUGHT BRAVELY AND SUPERBLY IN BATTLES FROM RAPIDO RIVER, VOLTURNO, CASSINO TO THE BEACHES OF ANZIO. EVERY MILITARY OBJECTIVE WAS MET.

THEIR FIERCENESS IN ACTION AND THEIR DETERMINATION TO WIN, DESPITE TREMENDOUS ODDS, LED TO SUCH HIGH CASUALTIES THAT THEY EARNED THE NAME OF THE "PURPLE HEART BATTALION" AND FAME AS GREAT AMERICAN SOLDIERS. BEYOND QUESTION_, THEIR LOYALTY TO AMERICA HAD BEEN PROVED. IN JUNE 1944, THE 100TH WAS PULLED BACK TO JOIN THE 442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM.

BASED ON THE SUPERB TRAINING RECORD OF THE 100TH, THE 442ND

REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM WAS ACTIVATED ON FEBRUARY 1, 1943. A CALL

WENT OUT TO JAPANESE AMERICANS IN HAWAII AND THE MAINLAND TO

VOLUNTEER FOR SERVICE AS A DEMONSTRATION OF THEIR LOYALTY.

APPROXIMATELY 1500 MEN FROM THE MAINLAND AND 3000 MEN FROM HAWAII RESPONDED TO THE CALL. IN ONE OF THE GREATEST IRONIES OF THIS PERIOD, MANY OF THE MAINLAND VOLUNTEERS WHO CAME TO SERVE HAD

FAMILIES WHO WERE UNJUSTLY BEING HELD IN INTERNMENT CAMPS BEHIND BARBED WIRE FENCES. IN MAY, 1943, THEY WERE ASSEMBLED AT CAMP SHELBY, MISSISSIPPI, FOR BASIC TRAINING. THE 442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM CONSISTED OF THE FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD INFANTRY BATTALION, THE 522ND FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION, THE 232ND ENGINEERING COMPANY AND THE 206TH ARMY BAND.

THE EFFECTIVENESS AND DETERMINATION OF THE MEN OF THE 442ND AND

THEIR DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE IN VARIOUS PHASES OF THE TRAINING

DID NOT GO UNNOTICED. ON MARCH 4, 1944, THEY WERE REVIEWED BY THE

ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF, GENERAL GEORGE MARSHALL. TWO DAYS LATER

ORDERS WERE RECEIVED: "PREPARE FOR OVERSEAS ASSIGNMENT."

IN MAY 1944, THE 442ND SAILED FROM NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA, WITHOUT

THEIR FIRST INFANTRY BATTALION, WHICH WAS LEFT BEHIND AS CADRE FOR

REPLACEMENTS. THEY WERE PART OF THE CONVOY OF OVER 100 SHIPS

HEADED EAST ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. THE TRIP TOOK 28 DAYS. ON JUNE 2,

1944, THE 442ND LANDED IN NAPLES, ITALY AND BARI, ITALY, AND

ASSEMBLED AT BAGNOLI NEAR NAPLES.

['THESE ,EVENTS LED TO…]

THE IOOTH JOINED THE 442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM, TAKING THE

PLACE OF THE FIRST INFANTRY BATTALION THAT WAS LEFT BEHIND AT CAMP

SHELBY.

ON JUNE 10, THE REINFORCED 442ND MOVED TO CIVITAVECCHIA, NORTH OF ROME, WHERE THE GERMANS HAD DUG IN. ATTACHED TO THE 34TH DIVISION, THE 442^ND MOVED INTO COMBAT AND PARTICIPATED IN THE ROME-ARNO CAMPAIGN. THE 442ND'S SKILL EN ITS FIGHTING ABILITY QUICKLY APPROACHED THAT OF THE 100TH. INDEED, THEY WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN THE CAPTURE OF LIVORNO AND IN PUSHING THE GERMAN ARMY NORTH OF THE ARNO RIVER. AFTER OF THREE MONTHS OF COMBAT, THE 442ND WAS PULLED BACK FROM THE FRONT LINES FOR REST AND REPLACEMENTS, AND ASSIGNED TO THE 7^TH ARMY FOR COMBAT DUTY IN FRANCE.

IN OCTOBER 1944, THE 442ND WAS ATTACHED TO THE 36^TH DIVISION AND ENTERED COMBAT IN THE HEAVILY DEFENDED VOSGES MOUNTAINS. THEY LIBERATED THE TOWN OF BRUYERES FROM THE GERMANS AFTER 3 DAYS OF BITTER FIGHTING. THE 442ND'S BLOODIEST BATTLE FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY DURING THE RESCUE OF THE LOST BATTALION. AFTER INTENSIVE FIGHTING_, THE MEN OF THE 442ND BROKE THROUGH GERMAN LINES AND RESCUED 211 MEN OF THE 30TH DIVISION. IT COST THE 442ND DEARLY -- OVER 8OO CASUALTIES, SEVERELY DEPLETING ITS MANPOWER.

IN NOVEMBER OF 1944, THE 442ND WAS THEN SENT TO SOUTHERN FRANCE TO GUARD THE FRENCH-ITALIAN BORDER AND AWAIT REPLACEMENTS. DURING THIS PERIOD, MEN WERE PROVIDED DAILY PASSES TO NICE. IT WAS CONSIDERED THE BEST DEAL THAT A COMBAT SOLDIER COULD EVER ASK FOR. THEY NAMED IT THE "CHAMPAGNE CAMPAIGN."

IN MARCH 1945, WITH THE ARRIVAL OF REPLACEMENTS FROM THE MAINLAND_, THE 522ND FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION WAS DETACHED FROM THE 442ND COMBAT TEAM AND RETURNED TO THE WESTERN FRONT IN NORTHERN FRANCE. THE 522ND PARTICIPATED IN THE BREAKTHROUGH OF THE SIEGFRIED LINE AND IN THE FINAL BATTLES IN GERMANY TO THE END OF THE WAR IN EUROPE. THE 442ND, MINUS THE 522ND, RETURNED TO ITALY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE LAST DRIVE IN THE P0 VALLEY CAMPAIGN. IN LESS THAN 2 YEARS, THE 100TH INFANTRY BATTALION AND THE 442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM FOUGHT IN 7 MAJOR CAMPAIGNS IN EUROPE, WINNING RECOGNITION AS THE MOST DECORATED UNIT OF WORLD WAR II. THEY RECEIVED 7 PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATIONS AND 18,143 INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS. AMONG THEM:

• 1 CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR
• 52 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSSES
• I DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL
• 560 SILVER STARS PLUS 28 OAK LEAF CLUSTERS
• 22 LEGION OF MERIT MEDALS
• 15 SOLDIER MEDALS
• 4,000 BRONZE STARS WITH 1200 OAK LEAF CLUSTERS, AND,
• 9,486 PURPLE HEARTS.

THEY ALSO RECEIVED ARMY COMMENDATIONS AND DECORATIONS FROM ALLIED NATIONS. WHEN PRESIDENT TRUMAN PINNED THE FINAL PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION TO THE 442ND COLORS, HE SAID: "I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING ABLE TO SHOW YOU JUST HOW MUCH THE UNITED STATES THINKS OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. YOU FOUGHT NOT ONLY THE ENEMY, BUT YOU FOUGHT PREJUDICE, AND YOU WON."

BEFORE I DISCUSS MY MILITARY EXPERIENCE DURING WORLD WAR II, I WOULD LIKE TO BRIEFLY SHARE A BIT OF BACKGROUND ON MY LIFE.

LIKE MANY JAPANESE AMERICANS OF MY GENERATION, I WAS BORN TO PARENTS WHO CAME TO THE UNITED STATES FROM JAPAN IN THE EARLY 1900'S. I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN CALIFORNIA. IN SEPTEMBER 1941, I WAS DRAFTED AND INDUCTED INTO THE ARMY AND SENT TO CAMP ROBERTS, CALIFORNIA, FOR BASIC TRAINING IN FIELD ARTILLERY.

I COMPLETED MY BASIC TRAINING IN DECEMBER 1941, AND AFTER THE BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR, I WAS SENT TO FT. LEWIS, WASHINGTON, AND ASSIGNED TO THE 41^ST DIVISION.

AFTER SOME 45 DAYS OF MANEUVERS ALONG THE WEST COAST OF WASHINGTON, I WAS SUDDENLY DISCHARGED FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT. I FOUND OUT LATER THE REASON FOR THE SUDDEN DISCHARGE WAS THAT THE 41ST DIVISION WAS BEING SENT TO THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. THE ARMY HAD DETERMINED THAT I, BEING OF

JAPANESE ANCESTRY, WOULD POSE A PROBLEM OVERSEAS.

I RETURNED HOME AND PARTICIPATED IN THE EVACUATION FROM THE WEST COAST, AND WAS INCARCERATED IN THE.POSTON III INTERNMENT CAMP IN ARIZONA. THIS EVACUATION AND EXCLUSION OF THE 120,000 MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN FROM THE WEST COAST WAS MADE WITHOUT A TRIAL OR ANY SORT OF HEARING. THIS WAS A VIOLATION OF OUR CIVIL RIGHTS AND PERSONAL FREEDOM. OVER TWO-THIRDS OF THE EVACUEES WERE U.S. CITIZENS. ONE LAW PROFESSOR WAS QUOTED AS SAYING, "ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PERSONS WERE SENT TO THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS ON A RECORD WHICH WOULD NOT SUPPORT A CONVICTION FOR STEALING A DOG."

AS TIME PASSED, IT BECAME MORE AND MORE OBVIOUS THAT IT WAS A TRAGIC AND DANGEROUS MISTAKE – ONE FOR WHICH THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT_, AFTER 50 YEARS, OFFERED A NATIONAL APOLOGY BY PASSING THE CIVIL LIBERTIES ACT OF 1988.

IN FEBRUARY, 1943, WHEN THE CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR THE JAPANESE AMERICAN COMBAT UNIT CAME, I WAS ONE OF THE FIRST FROM MY CAMP TO VOLUNTEER, DESPITE THE UNFORTUNATE TREATMENT I HAD RECEIVED FROM THE ARMY AND THE GOVERNMENT. I WAS DETERMINED NOT TO GIVE UP THIS OPPORTUNITY TO DEMONSTRATE MY AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN AND TO SERVE MY COUNTRY.

IN MAY 1943, I WAS INDUCTED FOR THE SECOND TIME AND REPORTED TO CAMP SHELBY, MISSISSIPPI, FOR MY BASIC TRAINING. BECAUSE OF MY PREVIOUS TRAINING IN FIELD ARTlLLERY, I WAS ASSIGNED TO BATTERY A OF THE 522^ND FIELD ARTlLLERY BATTALION. THE 522ND WAS ONE OF THE SUPPORTING FORCES OF THE 442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM AND CONSISTED OF HEADQUARTERS BATTERY, A, B AND C GUN BATTERIES, SERVICE BATTERY, AND THE MEDICAL DETACHMENT.

THE NUMBER OF MEN ASSIGNED TO THE 522ND TOTALED APPROXIMATELY 650. WE WERE PROUD TO BE IN THE ARTILLERY. OUR BASIC TRAINING DIFFERED FROM THAT OF THE INFANTRY BECAUSE WE DID NOT HAVE TO HIKE AS MUCH.

BATTERY A WAS EQUIPPED WITH FOUR 105 MM HOWITZERS THAT HAD A RANGE OF 7 MILES. THIS REQUIRED THE GUNS TO BE MOVED WHENEVER THE GERMANS MOVED AND WERE OUT OF RANGE. WE WERE CONSIDERED THE QUICKEST AND MOST EFFICIENT 105 ARTILLERY UNIT IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER.

DURING THE LAST 45 DAYS OF THE WAR IN GERMANY, THE 522ND FIRED OVER 150,000 ROUNDS IN SUPPORT OF SEVEN DIFFERENT DIVISIONS AND UNITS AND ACHIEVED EVERY OBJECTIVE ASSIGNED. EVENTS MOVED SO RAPIDLY DURING THIS TIME THAT THE MEN OF THE 522ND SOMETIME FOUND THEMSELVES AHEAD OF THE INFANTRY AS THEY PUSHED FURTHER AND FURTHER INTO GERMANY. WE WERE THE ONLY JAPANESE AMERICANS TO FIGHT IN GERMANY, AND WERE ONE OF THE FIRST ALLIED TROOPS TO LIBERATE THE JEWISH PRISONERS FROM THE SUB-CAMPS OF DACHAU IN LATE APRIL OF 1945.

AS I RECALL -- I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CONVOY HEADING SOUTH OF AUGSBURG AND BY THE TIME MY SECTION OF THE CONVOY REACHED THE DACHAU AREA, THE GATE HAD ALREADY BEEN OPENED BY OUR ADVANCE

SCOUTS. JEWISH PRISONERS WERE STREAMING OUT OF THE CAMP. THEY ALL WORE BLACK AND WHITE STRIPPED PRISON UNIFORMS. THEY WERE HUNGRY AND SUFFERING FROM MALNUTRITION -- LITERALLY, SKIN AND BONE. MANY OF THEM WERE CARVING OFF STRIPS OF MEAT FROM THE CARCASS OF A DEAD ANIMAL ON THE EDGE OF A ROAD. IT WAS A SIGHT THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET. THERE WAS SNOW ON THE GROUND. THE WEATHER WAS EXTREMELY COLD. THE JEWISH PRISONERS CAME TO US FOR FOOD -- WE GAVE THEM OUR C AND K RATIONS. LATER, WE FOUND OUT THAT THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO DIGEST THE FOOD AND BECAME SERIOUSLY ILL.

IT CAME AS A SURPRISE TO ALL OF US TO LEARN THAT THE CAMP THAT WE HAD LIBERATED WAS ONE OF THE SUBCAMPS OF THE DACHAU E)(TERMINATION CAMP. IT IS INDEED IRONIC, THAT I, WHO HAD COME FROM AN AMERICAN INTERMENT CAMP, WOULD FIND THE NAZI DEATH CAMP AND ITS JEWISH VICTIMS. WHILE THE SCALE AND THE PURPOSE OF THE AMERICAN AND GERMAN CAMPS WERE MARKEDLY DIFFERENT, THE BASIS FOR THE INCARCERATION WAS THE SAME -- NAMELY, RACIAL PREJUDICE.

I REGRET THAT BECAUSE RACISM IS STILL VERY MUCH A PART OF AMERICAN SOCIETY AND WESTERN CULTURE, WE MUST CONTINUE TO TELL OUR STORY TO ENSURE THAT THESE LESSONS OF HISTORY, INCLUDING THE INTERMENT OF JAPANESE AMERICAN CITIZENS, WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. FINALLY, I AM PROUD OF MY HERITAGE AND MY COUNTRY – A COUNTRY THAT ACKNOWLEGED ITS MISTAKES AND VOWED TO NEVER LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN.

[THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE MY STORY WITH YOU.]