Due to limited resources, Nisei soldiers used bouillon cubes in lieu of shoyu when away from Hawaii.
Maui had three (3) Medal of Honor recipients: PFC Kaoru Moto, Pvt. Barney Hajiro and PFC Anthony T. Kaho’ohanohano.
On an assumption that Japanese, whether from diet or racial characteristics, had a distinct odor which dogs could be trained to recognize and attack, 25 Nisei soldiers from Company B, 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) stationed at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, were sent to Cat Island, Mississippi, to be used as “bait” in training dogs to recognize and attack Japanese enemy soldiers by sight and smell.
Did you know that Nisei soldiers wore fabric belts (senninbari) with 1000 stitches on them for good luck? The stitches were single-knots sewn by women, usually the mother or wife of the soldier. Each woman stitched only one knot unless she was born in the Year of the Tiger; in that case, the soldier’s senninbari would have as many knots as the woman’s age.
This was the name given to the 100thInfantry Battalion (Separate), regarded by many as among the greatest fighting units on the battle fields of Italy and France. In nine months, from Sept. 1943 to May 1944, while pushing the Germans northward in Italy along the Volturno River to Monte Cassino and Anzio, the 100thsuffered over 900 casualties, reducing it to 521 men and thus earning its famed nickname.
With their own loyalty questioned and family members, community leaders, teachers and priests imprisoned in internment camps, Nisei soldiers fought to liberate others, including Jewish prisoners from at least one sub-camp among the network of Dachau concentration camps in Germany. (“Unlikely Liberators: The Men of the 100th and the 442nd” by Masayo Umezawa Duus)
Members of the 442nd RCT were made Honorary Texans for their October 24, 1944, rescue of the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry (36th Infantry Division, originally the Texas National Guard), which was surrounded by German forces in the Vosges Mountains in eastern France. This became known as the Rescue of the Lost Battalion.
Of the Nisei who served in the Pacific, an estimated 6,000 were Military Intelligence Service (MIS) translators tasked with intercepting Japanese communications. They did not receive as much publicity as those who served in the 442nd and 100th Infantry Battalion because their work was classified until 1972.
The dice game of Craps was popular in Hawaii. Those who played knew that in every game there came a point when rolling for the fun of it was over and it was time to get serious, to go for broke, to risk everything. When it came time for the 442nd to choose a motto, they chose “Go For Broke,” meaning they pledged to risk everything for their country.
Collectively the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team received seven Presidential Unit Citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze Stars, 22 Legion of Merit Medals, 15 Soldiers Medals and more than 4,000 Purple Hearts. On October 5, 2010, President Barack Obama signed legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in honor of their service during WWII.
