“Hawaii is our home; the United States our country. We know but one loyalty and that is to the Stars and Stripes. We wish to do our part as loyal Americans in every way possible and we hereby offer ourselves for whatever service you may see fit to use us.” (From a petition sent to Hawaiian Military Governor Lieutenant General Delos C. Emmons by 155 citizens of Japanese ancestry shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.)
The story of the 442nd is a great American story of the Japanese-Americans who overcame institutionalized bigotry at the highest levels to become one of the most storied combat units in American history. I despise Hyphenated American Syndrome (HAS) so for the remainder of this story I will refer to the men of the 442nd as they referred to themselves… “Nisei”, which in the Japanese language, means second generation of Japanese dissent.
The men of the 442nd were primarily drawn from the Japanese internment camps that were established for American citizens of Japanese dissent immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The parents of many of the young Nisei men who volunteered for U.S. military service were opposed to having their sons serving in the military of the country that had essentially cancelled their citizenship and made them enemies of the state. There were also many Nisei volunteers who had been in the U.S. military but were summarily dismissed after Pearl Harbor.
The history of the 442nd can be found here and it is well worth the read. Here are several excerpts:
THE FIRST CAMPAIGN On November 3, 1943 the 100th was ordered to make an early morning third crossing of the Volturno River near Ciorlano. After the area had been pounded by a heavy midnight artillery barrage, the 100th and the second battalion of the 133d Infantry set out. At about 4 in the morning B Company of the 100th began crossing the cold, swift waters of the Volturno. The Nisei scrambled up the far bank cold and wet and breathing with exertion, only to find themselves in a minefield. A sudden barrage of mis-placed friendly artillery, followed by an immediate response by German artillery, caught the soldiers in mid crossing. More than 30 Nisei fell to the death that rained down from the skies. Stumbling up from the river banks, the soldiers quickly assembled to move towards their destination on Route 85, four miles away. In the darkness, confusion arose as to which direction the company should travel. The lead platoon walked into a minefield, adding seven more men to the casualty list.
Lieutenant Oak Kim’s (actually of Korean descent) platoon moved to the point, backtracking and then setting out in the direction Kim led until a road came into view. The fearless lieutenant moved ahead alone in the darkness to scout it. Even in the darkness it was not hard to follow the brave lieutenant who always wore a knit cap in lieu of a steel helmet. (Lieutenant Kim always said he couldn’t think straight with something heavy on his head.)
Reaching the top of a stone wall, Kim stood and waved the men forward. Suddenly German bullets tore through the air and Kim fell to the ground. In the midst of the furious exchange, Staff Sergeant Robert Ozaki was enraged at the sudden death or capture of the brave lieutenant. Almost reflexively he shouted over the din of battle, “Fix Bayonets”. With yells of “Banzai” the entire front line of Nisei rose and advanced on the German guns. The first bayonet charge in Italy of World War II, coupled with the tenacious “Banzai” attack, stunned the Germans. As the line broke over the wall, they found their lieutenant…alive and throwing grenades at the enemy machinegun nests.
THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS CAMPAIGN On October 15th the 442d had begun the two-and-a-half mile offensive through the densely wooded Vosges Mountains under orders to liberate Bruyeres. With the 3d Battalion in reserve, the 100th began its assault on Hill A, directly west of the town while the 2d Battalion moved in the direction of Hill B to the north. In the first day the Nisei advanced only 500 yards, losing one man killed and 20 wounded. The following morning the two battalions moved into the valley between their respective hills, fighting off a vicious early morning counter-attack by the enemy. On the morning of the October 17th Companies E and F managed to beat back the Germans before a second counter-attack was launched. Quickly the 100th moved in to shore up the defenses of its comrades in the 2d Battalion. On the morning of the 18th, five artillery battalions laid a 30 minute barrage on the enemy. Four hours of bitter fighting followed, finally allowing the 100th to take control of Hill A. After a similar 7-hour battle, the 2d Battalion took Hill B.
With Hills A and B under American control, the 3d Battalion joined the 36th Infantry’s 142d Regiment in the sweep into the city. The battle to take Bruyeres had taken three days, and it wasn’t over yet. Despite 3 days of continuous combat, Hills C and D provided the enemy high ground from which to rain death down on the city. On the 19th the 2d Battalion took Hill C, then moved forward with the 3rd Battalion towards La Broquaine. Soon after, word reached the soldiers that the enemy had counter-attacked, retaking Hill C. Companies F and H were sent back to retake the hill. The fighting was close and heated. Technical Sergeant Abraham Ohama watched as one of his soldiers fell wounded in the open. The sergeant ran forward to render aid, when he too was hit.
During a lull in the firing, the medics moved forward to treat the two wounded. They placed Sergeant Ohama on the stretcher to carry him to safety. As they did, a burst of enemy fire streaked through the mist, shattering the helpless body of the wounded sergeant being carried to safety. As the sergeant died, the full impact of what the other soldiers had just witnessed hit them with a fury. Up to the moments the enemy bullets had struck Sergeant Ohama, the effort to retake Hill D had been a stalemate, a see-saw struggle between the Nisei and the Germans to take and hold each yard. The senseless slaughter of the wounded sergeant sent a ripple of unchecked fury through his men. No order was given for the assault, it was a spontaneous response to what had just happened. To a man the men of Company F rose to their feet with a cry of anger and rushed boldly into the foray, heedless of the danger. The adrenaline charged onslaught quickly turned the stalemate into a rout. Fifty Germans were killed, seven captured, and Hill D once again secured. But for the Nisei it was no longer “Hill D“, it became “Ohama’s Hill“.
FINAL VICTORY Lieutenant Daniel Inouye positioned his rifle team for the assault in the early morning darkness. With the first rays of sunshine, his rifle platoon would join two others in the assault on the heavily defended ridge that was Colle Musatello. Lieutenant Inouye and his men had faced far too many ridges like this in the previous weeks, but today things were different. The 20-year old Nisei officer had an eerie feeling something bad was about to happen.
Daniel Inouye had trained with the 442d at Camp Shelby, shipped out with the Team to Europe, and landed with it nearly a year earlier at Naples. Promoted enroute to buck sergeant, he was transfered to the 100th Infantry Battalion as a replacement, and had fought through the first drive north to the Arno River. He had survived war in the Vosges, missing the Rescue of the Lost Battalion only because he had been pulled back to headquarters for a field promotion to lieutenant. By the time he got back to his men, the rescue was completed. His platoon had been cut in half by the horrible fighting, and Lieutenant Inouye began the arduous task of rebuilding his part of the Go For Broke Team.
Lieutenant Inouye had seen nine months of combat, and had served with pride and honor…remembering the words of his father the day he had left to begin training with the 442nd.
As the first rays of sunlight began breaking through the morning skies, Lieutenant Inouye still couldn’t shake his uneasy feeling. He put his hand to the breast pocket of his uniform again, feeling nothing. And that was the problem. Throughout nine months of combat, he had always felt the hard shape of two silver dollars in that pocket. One was cracked, the other bent…but the enemy round that had damaged the two coins was halted and had left only a dark bruise on the flesh over his heart. Had it not been for the two coins, Lieutenant Inouye would have been killed in the battlefields of France. From the moment the two silver dollars saved his life, the Nisei officer had carried them in the same pocket through every campaign, through every battle. The previous day, somehow, they had fallen out. Well into the night he had searched in vain to find them. Now, with the order to attack, their absence sent a foreboding sense of disaster to his young mind.
Realizing how irrational his regard for the two “lucky charms” was, Lieutenant Inouye prepared his men for the assault. Two other rifle platoons would attack Colle Musatello from the front, Lieutenant Inouye’s 3d platoon moving in on the left flank. At the first sounds of gunfire from the other two platoons, Inouye led his own men forward.
At first it seemed the feelings of impending disaster had been foolish. Lieutenant Inouye skillfully led his men forward and, despite heavy opposition, quickly overcame every enemy position. Third platoon met and quickly defeated an enemy patrol, captured a mortar position, and moved within 40 yards of the main defensive force the Germans had emplaced on Colle Musatello. So well had the attack been coordinated by third platoon, it was in position to attack the main fortifications while first and second platoons were still struggling to make their way through enemy defenses further down the ridge. Almost within grenade range of the enemy, Lieutenant Inouye had to make a decision. Either his men could take shelter and wait for the other two platoons to catch up or they could attack.
Lieutenant Inouye didn’t ORDER his men forward, he LED them forward. Rising, the platoon began their assault on the last German stronghold, Lieutenant Inouye well out in front of them. Three enemy machineguns began spitting lethal death at the advancing Nisei, pressing them to take cover. Alone in advance of his men, Lieutenant Inouye took a grenade from his belt and raised up to throw it. As he did, he felt a powerful blow to his side. Ignoring the pain, he counted down three seconds and lobbed the lethal orb. As the enemy pulled back from their destroyed positon, Lieutenant Inouye stood his ground to cut them down, all the while motioning his men forward. When finally they reached Inouye’s position, one of them said, “My God, Dan, you’re bleeding! Get down and I’ll get an aid man.” It was only then that the young officer realized he had been shot in the side as he had raised up to throw his grenade.
The other two enemy gun positions continued to rain fire on the Nisei platoon. They had to be destroyed. Ignoring his pain, Lieutenant Inouye forced his body forward, rushing towards the second enemy position. Moments before his legs collapsed from under him, he managed to close in on the second position and throw two more grenades. The second enemy gun fell silent, even as the broken body of Dan Inouye collapsed to the ground.
“Go For Broke”, yelled one of the soldiers of Inouye’s platoon as the brave Nisei charged headlong into the third enemy machinegun. They were met by a curtain of death. Heedless of the danger, they pressed forward. Struggling to maintain consciousness, their wounded Lieutenant watched their display of raw courage with great pride and admiration. But raw courage could not shield flesh and blood from the ravages of the hot lead the enemy guns rained on the platoon. The attack faltered, the survivors of Inouye’s third platoon forced to pull back and seek cover.
The valiant charge had given the wounded officer more than just an opportunity to observe his men in action. Their assault had monopolized the attention of the enemy in the last machinegun nest. Lieutenant Inouye had used the diversion to great advantage, dragging himself unseen along the enemy flank. Even as the attack faltered, Lieutenant Inouye was close enough. He forced his body, weakened by loss of blood, to respond beyond its limits. He pulled the pin on his last grenade, then stood to release the spoon and throw it. As he rose, one of the enemy spotted him and quickly fired a rifle grenade at the lone Nisei. There was a horrible explosion and a searing pain in the young lieutenant’s arm. When Inouye looked down, his arm was destroyed, hanging in place by only a few stringy tendons. Clutched in the nearly detached hand that could no longer respond to impulses from the brain, was the grenade.
The men of third platoon were horror-struck, rising up to rush to the aid of their commander. “Get back!” Inouye screamed at them. With his one good hand he pried the grenade from the frozen fingers of his useless right and threw it at the enemy. Then, stumbling to his feet and firing his tommy-gun left handed, he continued to advance through the smoke and dust of its explosion to kill all but one of the enemy. The last survivor sent a burst of fire in the direction of the brave lieutenant, advancing fearlessly while the destroyed tissue that had one been an arm, flopped uselessly at his right side. One round hit Lieutenant Inouye in the right leg, halting his advance and sending him rolling down the hillside.
Quickly the men of third platoon rushed to the side of their leader’s body. He had been shot in the stomach, the right leg, and his right arm had been destroyed beyond repair. As they reached his side, the young officer gritted his teeth through the pain and ordered, “Get back up that hill! Nobody called off the war.” They did, and inspired by their brave lieutenant, they took their position.
Here is a list of decorations earned by the 442nd.
22 Medals of Honor
33 Distinguished Service Medals (DSM)
559 Silver Stars
4,000 Bronze Stars
9,486 Purple Hearts
In 2001, President Bill Clinton upgraded the DSMs of 21 Nisei to Medals of Honor. One of the Medal of Honor recipients was the late Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye, who lost an arm during a heroic action against the Germans during the Italian campaign. Daniel Inouye was a great American who served his country and state with honor, distinction and bravery. ***SALUTE***
Last year I watched a TV documentary about the 442nd and there was a particular piece of film footage that I found truly satisfying. A group of captured German soldiers, under the Tommy guns of Nisei MPs, were carrying wounded Nisei warriors on stretchers down a steep mountain side. The look on the faces of the defeated Germans was one of total bewilderment.