First Nisei From 442nd Unit Reenlists Into Regular Army

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 into the pre-war army in Oct., 1941, from Los Angeles, Calif., when he was working as a truck driver in the wholesale produce market.

He joined the 442nd as a replacement while the Japanese American unit was in Naples preparatory to leaving for France in the fall of 1944. As a rifleman in L company, he fought through the Rhineland, North Apennines and Po Valley campaigns and wears the Distinguished Unit Citation with oak leaf cluster for having been a member of the O'Connor Task Force and having participated in the rescue of the Lost Battalion.

Discharged on Sept. 29, he technically enjoyed one day as a civilian before beginning a new three- year “hitch.”

Interviewed on his reenlistment, Pfc. Yasuda simply declared that he “likes the army.”

After returning to the United States and Hawaii on furlough, he expects to return to the continent for at least a part of his next three years.

Although Yasuda is the first to reenlist for a three- year period, 13 other 442nd soldiers have been accepted as Class II volunteers, for service in this theater not to exceed the duration of six months.