Honolulu – May 16, 2014. The following article was printed in The Hawaii Herald – Hawaii’s Japanese American Journal (Vol. 35. No. 10). THE NISEI SOLDIERS — THROUGH THEIR GRANDCHILDREN’S EYES Yonsei’s Pilgrimage to Their Grandfathers’ Battlegrounds Stirs a Sense of Legacy Editor’s note: The...
Here is an article from the Hawai`i Herald’s special edition honoring the 70th Anniversary of the 442nd RCT.Stories and images are courtesy of the Hawai`i Herald.FOUR SPECIAL STONES Minoru Kishaba’s Story Reveals the Essence of the Nisei SoldierKarleen Chinen The Hawai‘i Herald (March 15, 2013)From the...
Karleen Chinen The Hawai‘i Herald (March 15, 2013) When we began our journey to Europe, my focus was on the veterans with whom I would be traveling for the next 20 days. This trip belonged to them. I was there to walk with them and...
Here is an article from the Hawai‘i Herald’s special edition honoring the 70th Anniversary of the 442nd RCT. A “Very Special” Trip Steps Retraced in Journey to Bruyeres and Biffontaine Karleen Chinen The Hawai‘i Herald (March 15, 2013) Genro Kashiwa was not in the best...
Here is an article on the 100th Battalion’s newsletter. Story and images courtesy of the Hawai`i Herald. “PUKA PUKA PARADE” — VOICE OF THE 100TH INFANTRY BATTALION Karleen C. Chinen The Hawai`i Herald (July 6, 2012) The 100th Battalion’s Monthly Newsletter is a Gold Mine...
This is the first of many articles that have been published in The Hawai`i Herald. Here is the cover story on the AJA Congressional Gold Medal — Courtesy of The Hawai`i Herald. AMERICA’S CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL HEROES In the Twilight of their Lives, America’s AJA Veterans Still Shine...
Here is an article from the Hawaii Herald on the 100th Infantry Battalion’s Education Center. Susan Muroshige (left) and Pauline Sato at the entrance to Turner Hall in the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans clubhouse. Turner Hall is named for the 100th’s first commanding officer, Col....
Here is an article from the Hawaii Herald on the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion. Yasuo Mito, a member of the Battalion recalls his experiences. Stories and images are courtesy of the Hawaii Herald.BUILT TO LAST Wahiawa Water Tank Built by 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion Still in...
Here is an article from the Hawaii Herald on the efforts to preserve the building where Japanese-American U.S. Army MIS members were trained. Hawai‘i fundraising chair Andrew Sato (left) with Herbert Yanamura, both MIS veterans. Stories and images are courtesy of the Hawai`i Herald. PRESERVING HISTORY AT...
Here is an article that reflects on the Japanese-American Internment. Hawaii Hochi writer Iwao Kosaka in front of an old mess hall at Tule Lake in 1988. Story and image courtesy of the Hawai`i Herald. WAR AND INTERNMENT Karleen C. Chinen The Hawai`i Herald (October 1,...
Lt. Col. John D. Porter A nice article on Lt. Col. John D. Porter from the Go For Broke Bulletin (Vol. XLVIII No. 3 – July – September 1997) by Ron Oba. It’s funny how one reminisces and start to treasure the days of old. As one ages,...
The story of the Varsity Victory Volunteers was published in the Hawaii Herald on March 17, 1995. It was contributed by Bill Thompson and based on Army records and interviews. VVV Statue It was about 3:00 a.m. in the morning. A shout went through the...
June 5th, 2012 marks the 70th Anniversary of the formation of the 100th Infantry Battalion. Here is an article from The Hawaii Herald archives published on the 50th Anniversary (1992). History/Roland Kotani From: “The Japanese in Hawaii: A Century of Struggle” THE 100TH INFANTRY BATTALION America’s “Purple Heart...
The man who recently was accorded a bigger reception in Hawaii than the late President Roosevelt, Earl Finch, the 442nd’s best friend and one-man USO from Hattiesburg, Miss., flew into town last Saturday to be in at the final deactivation ceremonies of his beloved 442nd...
A Former 441st man tells what kept them going… Why did the 442nd Japanese American Combat Team make such an exceptional record? How did greatness come to the rest of the blue-and-gold colors of the regiment? The nisei major was hesitant about answering, because it...
Five hundred fresh flower leis, including 100 orchid leis, will be presented to the men of the 442nd as gifts from the school children of Hawaii. This was revealed by Mrs. Ellen O'Brien editor of “Paradise of the Pacific,” a Hawaiian publication, and wife of...
Three generals, a brass band, civilian dignitaries, a top nite club show, and 35,000 troops will fete the returning 442nd Regimental Combat Team in an elaborate program scheduled for July 3 at 2:00 p.m., in the Camp Kilmer bowl, New Jersey. Following the salute to...
All New York is prepared to do honor to the returning 500 Japanese American soldiers who comprise the remnants of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Escorted by Army fighter planes and a Navy blimp from Lakehurst, N. J. The Wilson Victory will steam into...
Coalville, Utah — In an Army Service photo recently sent to the Summit County Bee, Coalville newspaper, and forwarded to his father, Pfc. Noboru Morio of this city is shown being congratulated by Brigadier General Francis H. Oxx, commanding general of the Peninsular Base Section...
Donauworth, Germany — Twenty-six states, the Territory of Hawaii and the District of Columbia are represented in the home addresses of officers and men of the 522nd (Japanese American) Field Artillery Battalion now stationed here. Hawaiian leads with 331 men out of the battalion and...
With the 5th Army in Italy — Sergeant Yoshio Nakagawa of Mount Eden, California who led a hazardous reconnaissance patrol into enemy territory recently was awarded a 5th Army commendation for valorous conduct in action. He serves in the 442nd Japanese American Combat Team. He...
Walla Walla, Wash. — Awarded the Bronze Star and Presidential Unit Citation for heroic achievement and outstanding service in combat, and the Purple Heart with one cluster for wounds received in action, Pfc. Archie Atagi is a patient at McCaw General Hospital, Walla Walla, Wash....
Tombolo, Italy — when Pfc. Jack T. Yasuda of L company was sworn in on Sept. 30, he became the first Japanese American soldier of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team to reenlist in the Regular Army. A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, Pfc. Yasuda was drafted...
With the 5th Army – Italy Pfc. Tadao Harito of Heart Mountain, Wyoming, medical aid man with the 442nd Combat Team, administered aid to 12 wounded men in a mine-infested field under the impact of hand grenades, mortar and small arms fire. In the vicinity...
Heart Mountain was grieved this week with the death of three more of its soldiers — 2nd Lt. Hitoshi “Moe” Yonemura, Pvt. Jim Nagata and S/Sgt. Joe Hayashi — who were killed as the world famous 442nd combat team closed in on the Nazi enemy...
Return of the Japanese American 442nd Infantry Regiment, to the Italian front was a “well-kept secret,” Sgt. Stan Swinton, staff correspondent of Stars and Stripes, army newspaper for the European theater of operations, reported in a recent dispatch. According to Swinton, the 442nd left France...
Washington, D. C. — American doughboys of Japanese ancestry carried the brunt of the attack which finally smashed the German hordes in northern Italy and led to their unconditional surrender to the allied armies on Wednesday, press dispatches revealed this week. Sensational gains before the...
Hunt , May 2 — 5 Japanese-American soldiers were killed and 22 were wounded in the Fifth Army’s push to drive the Germans out of northern Italy, according to War Department telegrams received this week by the soldiers’ families here. All were members of the...
War Department telegrams this week announced two more casualties among Gila boys. The two boys slightly wounded are: Pfc. George Harada, son of Mrs. Kinu Nakaoka, formerly of Los Angeles, slightly wounded in Italy, April 10. Pfc. Toichi Doi, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tonokichi...
The 100th or “One Puka Puka Battalion,” rated by “Axis Sally” as the 7th U.S. Army’s “secret weapon,” boasts officers with the highest I.Q. In the Army, that it has lost only three of its soldiers as prisoners of war, that it has approximately 1600...
Injuries to three more former Gila boys were announced in War Department telegrams sent to their families. Seriously Wounded: Pfc. George Nakada, whose family, now relocated in Azusa, Calif., was wounded in Italy, April 7. Pfc. Tom Kataoka, formerly of Fresno, Calif, wounded in Italy,...
About one thousand persons from all walks of life paid final respects to Sgt. Katsumi L. Takasugi in the flower-bedecked Butte High School auditorium yesterday. Sgt. Takasugi had fallen in battle in Italy on April 5. The color guard posted the colors as the buglers...
Private Koo Ito, Nisei hero who last 4th of July lost his right leg when hit by a burst of German shrapnel in Italy, has returned to an Army hospital in Battle Creek, Mich., after a month’s convalescent leave in Long Beach. This disabled veteran,...
A public memorial service for Sgt. Katsumi L. Takasugi, killed in action in Italy on April 5 will be held in the Butte High School auditorium next Tuesday morning, April 24, from 9:00. Each block is requested to send a delegate to the service. A...
More casualty notices hit Rivers in a bunch this week with the War Department telegrams announcing the death of two Gila boys and the wounding of seven others on the Italian front on April 5 and 6. Dead: Pvt. James J. Kanada, son of Mr....
Eleven more young Gilans have been called for active duty on Tuesday, May 1. The eleven are as follows: George F. Horii Mario L. Marubayashi John Y. Matsuda Minoru Monji Charles Y. Nishi Jinobu Nishimori Tommy Otani Benjamin Shiozaki Marcel R. Takata Yoshinori Takemoto Tom...
Seventeen men in all, 13 from Butte and four from Canal, left for active duty in the U. S. Army Monday night, after a send off ceremony at the Butte Amphitheatre. Hiroji H. Nishimura, chairman for the program, introduced speakers W. C. “Tom” Sawyer and...
Some 200 Nisei soldiers stationed at a camp near New York City were recently entertained by 125 Nisei girls from New York and vicinity at a party in honor of the soldiers at the Nyack, N. Y. USO. The program included singing by Miss Tubby...
Sixth Army Group, France — Working and fighting in the rugged Alpine mountains along the Franco-Italian frontier, an engineer combat company of the Japanese American 442nd Infantry Regiment is systematically laying a vast network of defense against possible enemy attack. Included in the engineers are:...
By Jack Furumura Pvt. Sanai Kageta, wounded 442nd veteran on convalescent leave, is visiting his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Isaburo Kageta and sister, Mitsuko, at 7-14-D. Kageta, who went overseas in August 1944 as a replacement for the nisei combat team was struck in the...
Photographs of two former Gilans now with the 7th Army in France have arrived at the reports office. Pfc. Chuck H. Mayeda, cannoneer in the famous 442nd combat team, is shown digging his foxhole. He is the son of Minaru Mayeda of 52-8-B here and...
This message to all American soldiers of Japanese ancestry was given last week by Harold L. Ikes “I have gained deep satisfaction, which must have come to you as well, from the announcement by the Western Defense Command that the West Coast mass exclusion orders...
Send offs for the thirteen young men who leave for active duty tonight will be held from 6:30 at the Butte auditorium and 7:15 at the Canal community stage. Short addresses will be given by representatives of the community councils and the administrative Staffs at...
Joe Tsujimoto, 20-year-old discharged veteran of World War II, was found dead at his home, 65-6-A, about 9:50 o'clock last night, with a knife wound through his heart, probably self-inflicted. John W. Nichol, police chief, stated that a coroner's jury is coming today. Their verdict...
13 young men of Rivers have been called to report for active duty in the United States Army on Saturday, Jan. 6, 1945. Again, Canal privates predominate with 9 calls from Canal and four from Butte. They are as follows: Canal: Makiji M. Kurata, Joseph...
Tokyo-born Henry Ebihara, 24, became the first to jump at the new War Department ruling permitting alien Japanese to enlist in the U. S. Army, this week's Time magazine reports. Ebihara, whose younger brothers and sisters are all citizens, was brought to the U. S....
Pfc. Fred Yamamoto, the first H3art Mountaineer to express his intentions of volunteering during the registration of 1943 and former member of the Sentinel staff who was killed in action in southern France Oct. 28, fought to ‘prepare for peace.’ Always a leader among young...
With The U. S. 7th Army in France — On the 7th day while Nazi guns kept hammering away, picking off one after another of the American lost battalion which had been cut off on a Vosges hill, 2nd Lt. Edwin Blonder, Cleveland, Ohio, an...
Featured in a recent issue of the Yank magazine, a weekly army publication having a world-wide coverage, was an article accompanied by several photographs, titled “The Battle of Belvedere,” which gave a detailed account of the participation of Japanese American soldiers in the battle for...
Cpl. Mark H. Tanouye, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Iwajiro Tanouye, 23-10-E, was reported to have been wounded in action recently in Italy, according to word received here. Attached to Battery A, 522 Field Artillery Battalion, 442nd combat team, Corporal Tanouye wrote from “somewhere...
Soldiers of the Japanese American Combat Team in training at Camp Shelby are well equipped to put the bite on the Axis. Routine examinations of incoming men have revealed an amazing healthy condition of their teeth, according to Capt. Wayland F. Hogan, regimental dental surgeon....
Fifty-four officers and men of the 442nd Infantry enjoyed a week-end trip to New Orleans. Leaving Saturday afternoon by bus, they arrived in time to have dinners at Antoine’s and Arnaud’s, famous dining houses in the French Quarter. In the evening the men were guests...
A birthday is a birthday even in the army, so Chaplain John T. Barrett of the 442nd Combat Team delivered three huge birthday cakes to three privates on the rifle range. The men who received the cakes from their families in Hawaii were Pvts. Toshi...
The 100th Inf., representing Camp Shelby, defeated the Ingalls Shipyard team 10-3 Sunday afternoon at Camp Shelby. Lt. Paul Froming, pitching for the 100th allowed 4 hits. Tom Clark and Bill Hefflefinger, Ingalls pitchers, gave up 12 hits to the service teams. Blackie Hamamura hit...
The 442nd Inf. Baseball team won its second game in the second-half of the Camp Shelby Non Divisional Baseball League tournament Wednesday beating the 896th Ord. 13 – 0. Kamada and Higuchi allowed only four hits between them while their teammates were collecting 11 hits...
A thirty-six-year-old father with a wife and a 15-year-old son volunteered for combat duty with the Japanese Americans in training at Camp Shelby because he saw the Japs shoot down his friends at Schofield Barracks on that memorable Sunday in 1941. Pvt. Joseph R. Itagaki...
Pvt. Robert Kubo, Co. H, 442nd Combat Team, was with the civil service in Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, his home. It's very hard for Pvt. Kubo to talk for any length of time, without mentioning the beauty and wonder of “the Islands.” He has a hobby,...
Members of the 442nd Combat Team nine are celebrating their 11 to one victory over the 265th F. A. The 442nd Inf., Champions of the first half of the Camp Shelby Non Divisional Baseball League, won their first game of the second-half Monday night by...
The Fri-Sun Recreational Club celebrated its second anniversary July 17 in the day room of the 232nd Engs. of the Japanese American Combat Team. The Fri-Sun, a club created especially for and by defense workers in Hawaii, got its name from the meetings and dances...
Mrs. J. T. Barrett and Chaplain Barrett of the 442nd Combat Team are now living in New Augusta. Mrs. Barrett’s sister, Miss Pauline Roper has returned to McKenzie, Tenn. after a visit to Chaplain and Mrs. Barrett Mrs. Violet Masuda welcomes visitors at the USO...
The first preliminaries of the Camp Shelby Championship Boxing Tournament were held last night at the outdoor arena. Approximately 3000 soldiers were present. The bout between Sgt. Fred Holmes and Cpl. Tommie Sapovino was the best of the evening and their slugging raised cheers. The...
What's in a name? Not enough, according to 2nd Lt. Elmo M. Massengale, postal officer of the Japanese American Combat Team at Camp Shelby. Here are some of the problems the postal officer and these clerks have to cope with: There are 69 sets of...
The 442nd Infantry team won the non-divisional championship Wednesday by defeating the 631st Tank Destroyers 2 to 1 on the diamond at 51st street and Highway 24. It was one of those storybook endings when two men out the ladder hit a home run into...
Drilling doubly hard in order “to catch up” with their fellow Japanese Americans who were inducted earlier, late comers to the Nisei Combat Team at Camp Shelby are putting in hard licks as members of the recruit training class which assembles daily in the area...
Sgt. Kazu Nishimoto says that Kauai, Hawaii, is “The Garden Island”; like the Garden of Eden, he interpreted. Sgt. Nishimoto is with Co. A, 442nd Inf. It has not been long since the Sergeant recovered from a blossoming case of measles. Not only a birthday...
Major Oland Russell, 442nd Combat Team stated today that the September issue of “The Ring,” foremost magazine devoted to boxing and wrestling articles, will contain a write-up of the 442nd boxing team. This team proved to be so good it has had very few challenges...
Via airmail, $5 was sent to the commanding officer of Hdq. Co., 2nd Btn., 442nd Inf. with the request that a birthday cake be sent to celebrate the twenty-first anniversary of Pvt. Tokuo Kaneshige. The gift was sent from his aunt, Mrs. Ruth H. Roden,...
Sgt. George Matsumoto of Dental Clinic No.1 was having a cool soft drink with one of his patients, Pvt. Toshio Kawato, of 442nd Inf. Regt., at Guest House 3, next to the clinic. Sgt. Matsumoto has been here five months, coming from San Francisco; his...
The preliminary bouts of the Camp Shelby championship boxing tournament will begin at 8 p.m. Thursday July 15 at the outdoor arena east of the Field House. In the event of rain the matches will be held inside the Field House. There will be more...
Twenty-three members of the Japanese-American Combat Team returning to Camp Shelby Sunday evening, acclaimed their weak-end in Bogalusa as guests of the YWCA a most pleasant one. Arriving early Saturday evening, the enlisted men and officers were welcomed with a dinner at the YWCA after...
Unable to solve the slants of pitcher Beddingfield, the 442nd Inf. baseball team lost its return match with the Meridian Moss Specials 5 to one Sunday at Meridian. Uchigaki started on the mound for the Combat Team but was replaced by Higuchi after the second...
One hundred and twenty-five Japanese American graduates of the Military Intelligence Language School at Camp Savage, Minn. have arrived at Camp Shelby to undergo a stiff eight-week training cycle with the Japanese American Combat Team. Undaunted by the hot weather of Mississippi after a spring...
If Pvt. Earl Kubo is fortunate, he may yet find the July 7 copy of the Hattiesburg American in which is an article of Kubo’s pre-induction and army life. We searched the entire company area for an “American” newsboy, but none could be found. Pvt....
June 3, 1943 passed uneventfully for Pvt. Charles Saiki of the Japanese American Combat Team. It was his birthday and he wasn’t up to par for he thought his mother and girlfriend Agnes Kurisu had forgotten him. But it wasn’t so. Way out there in...
A check for $7098 has been sent to Honolulu as a gift to the Hawaiian Islands infantile paralysis fund following a brief campaign among the members of the 442nd Combat Team at Camp Shelby. It was announced previously that the 442nd had raised $6,800. Additional...
Nine birthday cakes have been presented this week to soldiers in the Japanese-American Combat Team in celebration of their birthdays coming within this period. Capt. John T. Barrett, senior regimental chaplain, presented the cakes to the men. For Pvt. Koichi Okamoto it wasn't a cake...
Intent to reverse the 4 to 1 loss of their first meeting, the 442nd Infantry baseball team will play the Meridian Moss specials in a return game Sunday in the Meridian ballpark. Rounding into form after successive wins over the Hattiesburg semi-pro team and the...
New Orleans Blues will entertain the soldiers when Walter Pichon, colored pianist, comes to Service Club No. 5 Monday night through the courtesy of Earl Finch, owner of the Rolfin Stock farm. Formerly with Fats Waller’s orchestra, Pichon is noted as a piano stylus of...
Twenty-five non commissioned officers of the Japanese American Combat Team will spend the weekend in Bogalusa, LA., on the invitation of the Bogalusa Young Women's Professional association. The occasion marks the third time the enlisted men and officers of the Combat Team have been guests...
Lt. Norman Gilbert, Special Service Officer, is providing a lot of recreation and fun for the men of the 442nd Infantry. The baseball team will go to Meridian on specially chartered buses Saturday and will return Sunday. Twenty-two members of the squad and about a...
Pvt. Takashi Halo Hirose of the Japanese American Combat Team at Camp Shelby is only 19 years old but already he has seen large slices of the world through his ability to swim faster than adjacent competitors. In Hawaii they learned to swim early and...
Mrs. Ida Kim, assistant to Miss Ivelle O’Donnell, social Hostess of Service Club 5, is an extremely modest, but very efficient person. She will not talk about herself and does not like publicity but she is one of the busiest people around Camp Shelby. When...
Chaplain John T. Barrett, 442nd Combat Team, stated today that regular services will be held Sunday in the tent at 51st and 10th Ave. Chaplain Thomas E. West will conduct open air service in the Amphitheatre at the same hour, 10 o’clock, Sunday.
Pvt. Yuri Wada, Hanford, Cal., in civilian life was a newspaper man, working on the Pinole Times, a paper published near Hanford. When seen in Headquarters, 442nd Combat Team, Pvt. Yori had a big bar of chocolate candy near his typewriter. CPT. Walter Lesinski, 442nd...
Not many homes can fly four-star service flags, but Mrs. Earl T. Kubo has one in the window of 2203 Coyne street, Honolulu — and she's only 31 years old. It all comes of the fact that when there's a war on the Kubos and...
Enjoying a rest period at Service Club 2, during the noon hour, were Pvt. Masaichi Mayatake, Co. C, 1st Bn., 442nd Inf., Pvt. Shigeru Yokota, Co. G, 2nd Bn., 442nd Inf., and Pvt. Leonard Luna, Hdq., 1st Bn., 442nd Inf. Pvt. Luna was showing a...