On the 7th of December 1941, the Japanese launched their surprise military strike on the United
States naval base at Pearl Harbor. It led to the United States formally declaring war on Japan,
and vice versa, the next day. As war broke out in the Pacific Theatre, on the United States
mainland measures were taken against supposedly potentially hostile Japanese as well. In February
1942 President Roosevelt authorised Executive Order 9066, an executive that in practice was used
to relocate Japanese Americans to internment camps forcibly. The Nisei, a term to describe Japanese
that were born and raised in the United States, were forcibly relocated into internment camps.
The treatment of Japanese-American citizens during the second world war is pretty well known,
even outside of the United States. But what’s so curious is that although Japanese Americans
were viewed as a potentially hostile threat by mere reason of their ancestry,
the 442nd Infantry Regiment fought as part of the United States Army in the European theatre.
This regiment consisted entirely of Nisei soldiers, Americans with Japanese ancestry.
And what is more, it became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history.
-intro-
History of the 100th and 442nd unit
Following the authorisation of the Executive Order the United States was able to designate
military areas, which would give regional military commanders the mandate to exclude any
or all persons. Designating the entirety of Alaska and large parts of California, Oregon, Washington
and Arizona as military areas, the Nisei, second-generation Japanese were forced into camps.
In total, around 120 thousand Americans with Japanese ancestry were interned during the war.
Crucial was that these people were simply excluded because of their origin,
often the Nisei felt thoroughly American and did not have any ties with Japan.
But the Nisei on Hawaï were in a completely different situation. Thirty-seven
percent of the island’s population and nearly half of its workforce was Nisei.
Early 1942 the War Department ordered for all soldiers of Japanese ancestry
in military service to be removed. In response Lieutenant General Delos Emmons,
the military governor of Hawaii discharged the Reserve Officers in the Hawaii Territorial Guard.
Still, he allowed the 1300 Japanese-American soldiers of two infantry regiments to remain
in service. Following their discharge, the reserve officers petitioned Emmons for them to serve the
United States during the war. He allowed them to form a new group, the Varsity Victory Volunteers,
which was mainly tasked with military construction jobs such as erecting barracks, digging ditches
and quarrying rocks. In short, disregarding the orders from the US mainland, Emmons ensured all
Japanese-Americans fair treatment as long as they remained loyal to the United States.
But meanwhile, Emmons was, in fact, doubting the loyalty of the Japanese-Americans if Hawaii
were to be invaded by Japan. He requested the War Department to move most Hawaiian Nisei to a
temporary battalion on the US mainland. In June that year over 1400 Nisei boarded the Matson
liner SS Maui on its way to California. Over there they were put on trains and sent to Camp McCoy in
Wisconsin. Obviously many Nisei thought they were being shipped to internment camps, but instead at
Camp McCoy, the arrivals were designated the 100th infantry battalion (separate)-
the One Puka Puka, which consisted mainly of former Hawaiian Army National Guard members.
The 100th Infantry Batallion was trained by both Nisei and American officers from June
until December. The Batallion was the odd one out in that it had no parent regiment
and was marked ‘separate’, clearly because of the distrust of US officials.
After eight months of training, the regiment was moved to Camp Shelby in Mississipi. During
their training here they participated in war manoeuvres in Louisiana. Due to their exploits
and skill during these exercises in February 1943 the US war department reconsidered accepting
Nisei volunteers. They decided that a fully Nisei army unit should be created. Okay so here is the
important distinction: while the 100th Infantry Battalion already existed, the opening up for
volunteer recruits would result in a different unit: the 442nd Infantry Regiment Combat Team.
The War Department issued a draft for ‘all cadre men that were American citizens of
Japanese ancestry who resided in the United States since birth.’
Interned Nisei on the mainland and Nisei on Hawaii had to sign a loyalty declaration. Around
a quarter of all those asked to sign the statement refused, the other ¾ were admitted to the unit.
The total amount of volunteers were nowhere near the expectations of the army command though. The
amount of Nisei that was willing to join an army unit from the US mainland lagged far behind those
from Hawaii, probably because of the internment camps on the mainland. The War Department expected
4500 submissions, 3000 from the mainland and 1500 from Hawaii. Eventually, 10.000 Hawaiian
Nisei volunteered, with 3000 admissions, but merely 800 from the mainland were admitted.
With these men, the 442nd Infantry Regiment Combat Team became a reality.
Their motto “go for broke” was derived from gambler’s slang - risking it all in one go. It is
what these men did; they had to put everything on the line to win the war against the Axis powers,
but also win the war at home against the prejudice against Japanese-Americans. From May 1943 to
February 1944 this new regiment, a mixture of the mainland- and Hawaiian Nisei, trained for combat.
Nisei in Combat
The Infantry Regiment Combat Team and 100th Infantry Battalion were forbidden
from participating in the Pacific war theatre. The only Nisei that the US used there
were those that were fluent in Japanese in order to work for the military intelligence
service, as translator, spy and interrogator. Now, the 100th Infantry Battalion was sent to the
European war theatre before the 442nd. They landed at Salerno on Sicily on the 19th of September
1943. They participated in the Battle of Monte Cassino and the liberation of Italy. The Battle
of Monte Cassino was a major assault that took four months and led to the defeat of the Germans
holding the Gustav line. Nevertheless, the 100th suffered a disproportionate amount of casualties.
Due to this siege, they earned the nickname ‘The Purple Heart Battalion’,
because of the amount of Purple Heart medals that were awarded following the battle.
As they were sent to Europe before the 442nd, the soldiers from that regiment were often sent
to replenish the ranks of the 100th infantry, an acute need that emerged after the battle
of Monte Cassino. By February 1944, after six months of seeing combat, the fighting had been
brutal to the degree that of the originally 1300-strong battalion only 521 remained. The
number of casualties did not just affect regular soldiers: by the end of the war, the company had
been led by 13 different commanders. The next month the regiment,
that had remained mainly on the US mainland was sent to the European front.
Its second and third battalion now replenished the ranks of the 100th Battalion, still fighting
in Italy. The 100th actively participates in the liberation of Rome in early June.
By August 1944 the 100th Infantry Battalion merged with the 442nd Infantry Regiment Combat Team. The
100th was allowed to retain its own name due to its exceptional war record - by this time
they had suffered 900 casualties and the remainder consisted mainly of the first
battalion of the 442nd. The regiment saw more combat in northern Italy,
forcing the retreating Axis forces back towards the Alps. After capturing Pisa in late August,
the division receives the order that they will be sent to France to support Allied troops there.
They arrive in late September, seeing combat in northeastern France.
It is here the regiment participated in the rescue of the so-called Lost Battalion.
See, 211 members of the Texas 141st regiment, 36th infantry division were
cut off from support and encircled by German troops at Vogezen in France.
During the rescue mission, the 442nd suffered 800 casualties. Sources vary about the amount of death
from 121 to 184, but it’s safe to say the unit suffered a disproportionate amount casualties.
Following this mission the company received its second presidential unit citation, having
earned one before for their exploits in Italy. The next couple of months the regiment stays
behind guarding the French-Italian border due to the number of casualties suffered.
They literally suffered so many losses that they could not be used as a regiment properly.
Eventually, in March 1945 they join the African-American 92nd infantry division.
With them they manage to break through the German Gothic Line in the Italian mountains in one day,
resulting in their third presidential citation. By this time the war in the
European theatre is nearly over, and as we know, the unit didn’t fight in the Pacific.
As such, the war came to an end for the Regiment, and by the number of casualties and decorations,
it is safe to say they indeed fought for their place to be remembered.
Purple Heart Brigade
All in all the unit received eight presidential unit citations, and 21 soldiers received the
medal of honour. Due to the enormous volume of Purple Heart decorations the unit received,
it was nicknamed the ‘Purple Heart Battalion’. The Purple Heart is a decoration for those
soldiers that were wounded in combat. Nearly one in three soldiers of the regiment did not
survive the war. In total, within two years the unit earned over 18000 awards with nearly 9500
purple hearts and 4000 bronze star medals. In July 1946 a military parade was held in
Washington D.C. President Harry Truman pinned the Presidential unit citation on the regiments
colours saying they “fought not only the enemy but also fought prejudice - and they won.” About
the US Nisei fighting units, General Mark Clark later said about them: “I will say about the
Japanese fighting in these units we had: They were superb! That word correctly describes it:
superb! They took terrific casualties. They showed rare courage and tremendous fighting spirit.”
The regiment was disbanded following the second world war. Still, in December 2011 many former
members were awarded the congressional gold medal, the highest civilian award for service
given out by the United States. They received the decoration for “their heroic actions in combat
and steadfast loyalty in the face of ethnic discrimination.” Every year on April 5th so-called
‘Go for broke’ day is celebrated. The reason this celebratory day exists is likely because
it was the credo of the 442nd regiment. The unit quite literally fought prejudice, and they
certainly managed to overcome and win racial bias. Thank you for watching this video. If there’s a
topic or event you’d like to know more about, let me know your thoughts in a comment.
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