442nd Infantry Regiment Combat Team

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, all of the residents with Japanese ancestry on the west coast were moved to internment camps, under the suspicion of espionage. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which allowed this imprisonment in 1942. With the United States now officially in the war, many Japanese-Americans volunteered to join the reserves and prove to the rest of the country that they are Americans and are ready to lay down their lives.

On March 23rd, 1943, the 442nd Regiment Combat Team (RCT) was born. All of the soldiers in the 442nd RCT were Nisei, born in mainland United States and Hawaii, who wanted to prove they were true Americans. The Nisei were moved to Camp Shelby in Mississippi and trained by other Nisei soldiers already in the army. During the time of the 442nd RCT, they had the motto, “Go for Broke,” which meant risk everything in an all-out effort.

Though the Nisei were ready to die for their county, not everyone felt the same way. Many Issei did not want their sons to go to war because of how the American government had treated them. Tom Kawaguchi of the 442nd said, “A lot of us felt that this was our only chance to demonstrate our loyalty. We would never get a second chance; this was it. We wanted there to be no question about what we were and where we were going.” This was the feeling of many soldiers in the 442nd that wanted to fight for their home and their parent’s adoptive home.

During World War II, the 442nd RCT won many battles for the Allied Forces, but one, in particular, has made a significant impact. Nazi party controlled the French town of Bruyères until the 442nd drove them out. The battle took several days around the outside of the city and on the streets. Though it cost them many lives, the 442nd won the battle and liberated the town Bruyères. Even to modern day, the people of Bruyères come together every year in October to celebrate the 442nd.

The 442nd RCT was the most decorated units in the history of American warfare, earning 21 Medals of Honor, and many other awards. The surviving members were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on October 5th, 2010 by U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell.

While the 442nd RCT were fighting abroad for freedom and the respect of the Japanese Americans, there was another battle happening on American soil. Eventually, the unit earned 9,486 purple hearts, eight Presidential Unit Citations, and twenty-one Medals of Honor.   

MCCAFFREY, JAMES M. "GOING FOR BROKE: Japanese American Soldiers in the War against Nazi Germany." UNIV OF OKLAHOMA PRESS, 2017