his Captain’s death, Kashino replied, “I left the aid station the first time to rejoin my unit because of Captain Byrne.” In Honor by Fire written by Lyn Crost, “The Nisei loved Joe Byrne…The Nisei knew they could count on Byrne to be with them in any situation. When I Company faced Banzai Hill during
and suffered so many casualties that they needed three replacement units from the 442nd to maintain fighting strength, and earning the enviable name “The Purple Heart Battalion.” Lyn Crost. Author of the book “Honor By Fire” writes: “They were the guinea pig battalion for the Nisei combat soldier of World War II…..if they had failed
back. I remembered seeing Colonel Pursall by a tree with a pistol in his hand. I told him, ‘Let’s go up’. Then the medic pulled me down. Lyn Crost describes the incident in her book “Honor by Fire”. Then Pvt. Barney Hajiro of I Company, a BAR man, was on his feet and starting up
But the true significance, contribution and legacy left by the “one Puka Puka” is best summarized in this warm tribute and accolade of the 100th rendered by Lyn Crost, wartime correspondent for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and staunch friend of the 100/442: “The original 100th Infantry Battalion was the first Japanese American combat unit in the
