I know two of my father's brothers served in the 442nd Regiment during WWII. I know my mother's sister's husband was a translator for the U.S. Army. I know my mother's best friend's husband and his brother were in the 100th battalion. The husband came home, his brother died in Italy. It seems every Japanese-American knows somebody who served or died in the 100th/442nd. I remember our jeweler in Chicago telling us that he was part of the 442nd who was sent to rescue The Lost (Texas) Battalion.From the Go For Broke National Education Center website:
"During the six days the 442nd fought to rescue the Lost Battalion, 54 men were killed and many, many more were wounded and sent to hospitals. During the entire Vosges Campaign, 34 days of almost non-stop combat - liberating Bruyeres and Biffontaine, rescuing the 211 Texans, and nine more days of driving the Germans through the forest - the 442nd’s total casualties were 216 men dead and more than 856 wounded."
Senator Daniel Inouye was in the 442nd and lost his arm in Europe. To listen to him talk of his experiences is gut wrenching.
From Wikipedia:
"The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service, in the entire history of the U.S. Military. The 4,000 men who initially came in April 1943 had to be replaced nearly 3.5 times. In total, about 14,000 men served, ultimately earning 9,486 Purple Hearts and an unprecedented eight Presidential Unit Citations. Its 100th battalion is the most decorated for its size in the history of the U.S. Army, 21 of its members having been awarded Medals of Honor. Members of the 442nd received 18,143 awards..."
My mother was wanting to see this movie, 442 Live With Honor, Die With Dignity that is playing at the Ward Theater in Honolulu so we took her on Monday. We were surprised to find the theater completely full.
We knew about the prejudice suffered by Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor as well as the Internment camps and how it devastated American citizens of Japanese descent. Yes, I knew many people served in the 100th/442nd, but I didn't know the full story. This film made me realize just how much we owed to these "Go For Broke" soldiers who suffered what they did not just because they were Americans, but because they had to prove that they were with their lives. African-Americans have had to suffer the same trial throughout America's past.
I wish the history of what happened could be a lesson to future generations so that we don't repeat that injustice, but people do forget... and prejudice needs very little encouragement to grow.
Many of the Japanese-Americans of that time don't like talking about what happened. There was so much shame and hatred flung at them. The soldiers didn't like talking about their experiences because killing was abhorrent to them and they'd been through hell and didn't want to burden anyone with their pain.
I'm glad they created this film. This story needed to be told because we're seeing that same sort of prejudice happen all over again with the Muslim community. I just hope this isn't a kind of American history that is doomed to repeat itself.
*Big sigh . . .*
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Kay! We know that the Japanese Amaericans were treated as enemies, which is shameful and mean. All over the world people were/are discriminated against. In Australia the Aboriginal relatives of my daughter's ex-husband were taken away from their compound in the beginning of the war, and transported to south Australia, where the climate is much colder than in Queensland, which caused the death of many of them. The reason was: the Australian government was afraid that the indigenous people would collaborate with the Japanese. There was suspicion everywhere.
ReplyDeleteAustralians of German origine were also imprisoned. It's unfair. War is hell for everybody concerned.
I cannot believe that women and children support any war in history. Prejudice is the greatest enemy.
Sounds like a great movie - I'm glad your Mom got to see it. I'll be looking for it too.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first books I bought for my kids when we moved here was Under the Blood Red Sun. Boy did that inspire a lot of questions while we read it -- part of me wishes my Daddy was still around to talk to them, but then, I never heard him say a single word about his WWII service, it must have been an unimaginable hell. Amen to Reader Wil's conclusion above.
...and we've certainly seen the same prejudice aimed at American soldiers who returned from serving their country in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, Kay.
it's sad that prejudice still exists in America and now with muslims and hispanics. we never seem to learn...
ReplyDeleteWell said, Kay. If only we would learn from history . . .
ReplyDeleteTerrific post, Kay, and sadly everything you've written about is so true! When will we learn to put prejudice behind us?? Or will there always be those who simply thrive on hatred and prejudice?? And will there always be those who'll just shrug their shoulders rather than confront those who choose hatred??
ReplyDeleteSylvia
David will rent this on Netflix when it comes out in DVD. Mahalo for the review, Kay.
ReplyDeleteJean is so right about the soldiers coming back from Vietnam. I am sorry for the treatment of the Japanese, it was uncalled for. I must see this movie it sounds like a good one. Hope you have a nice weekend and thank you for coming by.
ReplyDeleteKay unfortunately history does seem to repeat itself.
ReplyDeletePrejudice and hate are generated by fear - fear of the unknown, fear of loss, fear of personal harm. We have too many in politics and media who are willing to exploit fear as a means to their own self-serving ends. As a citizenry we must strive to stay informed and know the truth. Postings like this one of yours serve that purpose.
ReplyDeleteFear is the real enemy. We need to trust one another and until we do, nothing will change.
ReplyDeleteFascinating post.
When we were attending Harris UMC on Vineyard and Nuuanu one of the teens did a video project for her National U.S. History competition and she interviewed several of the men from the 442. Amoeba and I were privileged to hear her speech and watch the videos. I thought she did a wonderful job.
ReplyDeleteShe won first place in Hawaii and then went to National competition. She didn't win there. She came in third, which given the number of states participating was pretty darn good.
The judge that gave her the lowest score wrote on her evaluation something along the lines of the quality of her work was excellent and she would have earned much higher score if she would have chosen a more universal topic rather than one that only impacted Hawaii. That left me thinking the judge needed some remedial education.
Hi Kay, again.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this article.
it was one of opportunities to know about the 442nd for many people. of course also for me.
In Japan we hardly talk about difficult problems usually.
but sometimes we have to talk about them and think about them.