directly and fell. Funai was unable to get to him and soon found himself surrounded by Germans and taken prisoner. Lt. Oliver’s last order to Platoon Sgt. Tak Senzaki, who was part of the patrol that was following them, had been that in the event he and Funai “got into trouble,” Senzaki was to get
the Smithsonian. Maybe nobody will know my name, but it’s nice to know that it will hang there forever. Also present at Fort DeRussy that day was Tak Senzaki, who was invited to relate to reporters the “Rescue of the Lost Battalion” while in the Vosges. This took place October 27 – 30, 1944, and
no counterattack. Someone later named the area “Banzai Hill”. For the Nisei, it was a hill of death. It was the afternoon of October 30th, 1944 when Tak Senzaki’s platoon of I Company led by scouts Mutt Sakumoto and Henry Nakada made contact with the men of the “Lost Battalion”. I Company suffered many casualties.
