Members of the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans Club,
Maui Chapter, gathered in December 2002.

The 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans Club, Maui Chapter's gift of $5,500 has roots going back to the soldiers' basic training days during World War II.

While the men were at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, and later at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, they decided that those who survived the war and got back to Hawaii would build a 100th Infantry Battalion clubhouse. They each donated $2 per month -- out of their monthly pay of $30 -- while in training.

But once they got to the front, life was too hectic -- and dangerous -- for the unit that would become known as the "Purple Heart Battalion.

"We couldn't keep track because a guy could come as a replacement, and the next day he was killed," recalled Tsutomu Tom Nagata, treasurer of the Maui Chapter.

Those who survived and returned to Hawaii kept their word, though, and they continued their payments to a maximum of $56 per person.

The Oahu men used the money to build the Club 100 Memorial Clubhouse in Honolulu (erected in 1952). No clubhouse was built on Maui because the veterans had free use of a facility in NASKA (Naval Air Station Kahulu) which had been built during the war.

When the concept of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center firmed up, the men decided they would give the building money to the project once construction started.

That happened on September 7, and Treasurer Nagata completed the mission that began when Club 100 was formed at Camp McCoy in 1942.

Tsutomu Tom Nagata
Treasurer of 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans Club, Maui Chapter

..(O)nce they got to the front, life was too hectic -- and dangerous -- for the unit that would become known as the "Purple Heart Battalion" to keep track of the $2/month donation to a clubhouse.

"We couldn't keep track because a guy could come as a replacement, and the next day he was killed."