Friday, November 10, 2006

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team
Two years ago I wrote an article about Japanese internment in the US and Canada after a slight influence by theO's own Gail "Panda" Shimura Brightbill, in which "enemy aliens" were forced from their homes and relocated to camps beyond the duration of the war.
Last year I wrote about Chinese-Canadian spies, who were second-rate citizens in a democratic country who despite prejudice and bigotry still strongly desired to volunteer for the very same country that despised them.

This year, I write about enemy aliens whose families were forced from their homes, relocated to camps for and beyond the duration of the war . . . and they still strongly desired to volunteer for the very same country that despised them. This year, I discuss the United States 442nd Regimental Combat Team: an American infantry unit comprised solely of Japanese-American soldiers, largely second-generation (nisei).

The story of Japanese-American soldiers begins, interestingly enough, in Hawaii. Hawaii's Japanese population at the time was so large that internment simply was not realistic. Nevertheless, all Japanese-American military units were still disbanded. The General in charge of the units in Hawaii had other thoughts, however, and kept 1,300 Japanese-American soldiers in the National Guard; those not of those 1,300 petitioned to help the war effort and became part of a military construction crew. In any case, military higher-ups were concerned about where Japanese-American loyalties would lie if Japan invaded Hawaii . . . the "Hawaiian Provisional Battalion" was sent to Camp McCoy in Wisconsin - far away from the Pacific coast.

The Provisional Battalion turned out to be (for lack of a more sophisticated term) friggin' hardcore during their training sessions. On February 1st, 1943 - about half a year after they were first sent to Camp McCoy - the US army reversed its decision to ban Japanese-Americans from military service . . . this eventually led to the formation of the 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team, a unit of 3000 Japanese-Americans from Hawaii alone and 800 from the mainland. Keep in mind that they had substantially more volunteers than that 3,800 odd force - over 12,000 volunteered from Hawaii alone!

It wasn't exactly easy to get them all together, though . . . again, concerned about loyalties, potential 442nders were given a "loyalty questionnaire" which asked them to answer questions along the lines of "Are you willing to serve the US Army no matter where it orders you to go?" or "do you swear allegiance to the USA and forswear any allegiance to the Empire of Japan?" A lot of people didn't answer yes to these . . . and if that wasn't enough to deter people, there was an early tension between the Hawaiians and the Mainlanders . . . . . this all ended quickly after the troops were given visitation rights to their interned families . . . . .


Though they were forbidden to fight in the Pacific Theater save in special cases as translators or spies, the 442nd proved to be a remarkable unit. They fought in North Africa, Monte Cassino, Anzio, and Rome. After Italy, they fought in Southern France and eventually helped push into Germany itself in the later years of the war. This was not without its own price, of course . . . the unit had a definite reputation that could be described in its two main nicknames: the "Go For Broke" Regiment", and the "Purple Heart Battalion".

For those of you not in the know, a Purple Heart is an American Military decoration a soldier gets if he or she is wounded in combat. In the case of the 442nd, the unit of 3,000 or so men collected 9,486 Purple Hearts! This unit bled hard in the war, and even while bleeding many still insisted on returning to the battlefront. Going by American statistics, the unit had a casualty rate of 93% - that's 93% of the total unit killed, missing, or wounded.

Some would make the connection that perhaps the high casualty rate meant they were bad soldiers who got hurt/killed too often. But then one learns that the 442nd RCT is also the most highly decorated US military unit in the history of the country! The deeds and bravery of the unit earned 7 separate Presidential Citations (5 within the same month), while the soldiers earned about 18,000 different decorations alone: 1 Medal of Honor, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, 1 Distinguished Service Medal, 560 Silver Stars, 22 Legion of Merit Awards, 15 Soldier's Medals, an incredible 4,000 Bronze Stars . . . and of course, the 9,486 Purple Hearts.

And yet that was still not enough. When the war was over and the 442nd came home, America still despised them; veterans got no recognition for the sacrifices they made, and their families were still interned. Though, it wasn't like the military itself was especially kind to them either . . . . . many people believe that despite the decorations its soldiers received, they still did not receive all they should have for their valour; racism and prejudice kept many soldiers from being fairly decorated for their actions.

In fact, in June 2000, twenty (maybe twenty-one) members of the unit had their decorations upgraded to Medals of Honor - the highest decoration possible in the US military. It was many years after the fact, but this sort of recognition - be it posthumous or not - was finally made.


As the saying went, "they believed in America when America no longer believde in them." Despite all the injustice at home, they still fought for their homes; many, including the son of one of Gail's family friends, never got to return home. This is the kind of stuff we need to remember. In trying times, sometimes the ones you'd least expect stand up to that test against all reason . . . and y'know, we owe it to them to never forget.

To finish up, I want you guys to read the (posthumous) Medal of Honor Citation given for Pfc. Sadao Munemori in 1945 for what he did . . . and remember, he was the one Japanese-American who DID win the Medal of Honor despite all the prejudice against them during the war . . . this is the kind of heroism it took to break that kind of barrier:

"He fought with great gallantry and intrepidity near Seravezza, Italy. When his unit was pinned down by grazing fire from the enemy's strong mountain defense and command of the squad devolved on him with the wounding of its regular leader, he made frontal, one-man attacks through direct fire and knocked out two machineguns with grenades. Withdrawing under murderous fire and showers of grenades from other enemy emplacements, he had nearly reached a shell crater occupied by two of his men when an unexploded grenade bounced on his helmet and rolled toward his helpless comrades. He arose into the withering fire, dived for the missile and smothered its blast with his body. By his swift, supremely heroic action Pfc. Munemori saved two of his men at the cost of his own life and did much to clear the path for his company's victorious advance."


(442nd RCT hiking in France)


(442nd RCT Color Guard)
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