What Made Them Great?

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 was difficult to talk of one's own and their exploits.

“I would put it in two words, comradeship and pride.”

It was the comradeship which ranged from “giving the shirt off your back”—what's mine is yours—to the sacrifice of life for another. The pride which stood against fear and the best the enemy had to offer. These qualities were the commonplace, not the unusual, and taken for granted.

I remember an April morning in the north Apennines. Fog covered the valley floor and the entrenched enemy. Beyond rose the rugged peak of Mount Tomaggiore, the company objective. The forward observation party was dug in on the top of a knoll overlooking the enemy. It was under continuous artillery fire.

Below the knoll, two squads, unable to take the enemy advancing on the flanks in a pincher movement. rifle, BAR and Thompson submachine gun fire, as well as the sound of the enemy's burp guns came crackling up through the still air.

Moe — some of the officers affectionately called him flattop — went to the edge of the knoll to observe and see if he could direct friendly artillery fire on the enemy.

I can remember the former UCLA cheerleader coming into company headquarters, singing, “— would you like to be a mule… The mule is an animal with long funny ears…”

Moe did not have to expose himself, but he leaned against a dead tree his arm wrapped around it so he could look down. A sniper's bullet came up from the valley floor, pierced the stump and his body, killing him instantly.

He wanted to make it easier for the boys.

Take me back

A few days later in Carrera, Italy, Min who would never see Alameda again was mortally wounded when an enemy 88 shell burst in the room in which he and two others were sleeping. Two of his men were seriously hit. As shells continued to hit around the building, he ordered his men to remove the other two casualties to the protection of the lower floor, waiting to be carried down last.

He refused transfusion, ordering the medics to give it to the others. Taken to the rear he rebelled saying, “take me back up front. The boys need me. I'm not doing any good here.” He died the next day.

His last thought was that his men were fighting up ahead and they needed him. History is the story of the wounded 442nd boys who went AWOL from the hospitals to rejoin their comrades because the latter needed them.

The officer Lived On

Near Bruyeres in eastern France the men were trying to cross an open field against a strong force of the enemy who were not dislodged until a Task Force was sent around to take them from the rear. The wounded lay out in the open, but the medics of the 442nd went out and brought them in. They disregarded smalls arm fire and shell bursts of enemy artillery. A medic from a neighboring outfit observed them, said “you're either damn fools or heroes.”

Some days later the infantrymen were slugging their way through the dark forest of the Vosges mountains. Suddenly a barrage fell on the advancing columns, which were caught without the protection of foxholes. The colonel hit the ground. An instant later a nisei soldier threw himself over his officer. I do not remember if he was killed or wounded but his officer lived to fight out the war.

The Other Guy First

The story of Aoyama is well known. He became one of the heroes of America. He was with a forward observation party on Hill 140. There both of his feet were blown off by the explosion of an 88 shell. He retained presence of mind enough to apply a tourniquet to one of his legs while his officer did the same to the other. With casualties so heavy, it was dark before he was carried into the aid station.

Unable to see the extent of wounds suffered by the men, the medics called out for those most seriously so they could be treated first. Each time that Aoyama was approached, he said that he was all right, and told the medics to take care of the others first. It was not until the last man was it taken care of that the medics learned that his fate had been blown off. He died the next day.

Such incidents, to a lesser or greater degree could be multiplied 100 times. This was what the major meant by comradeship and pride This is why the 442nd which we are welcoming back today bears the stamp of greatness.

Blood and Guts

In July of the previous year, near Castellini, Italy, a nisei and his officer were digging their foxholes during a mortar barrage. One shell exploded on the edge of the nisei’s foxhole. A fragment scooped out his brain and deposited in the officer's lap. Shocked out of his senses, the officer ran around the hillside through the barrage. One of his men brought him down in a football tackle and dragged him to the security of a foxhole.

In the same engagement the fight for steep and rocky Hill 140, Corporal Aoyama deliberately sacrificed his life for the benefit of his comrades. It was one of the tougher fights that the men had, and casualties ran high.

George, a medic, whose duties were at the battalion aid station, voluntarily went forward and was mortally wounded by a sniper who disregarded his Red Cross brassard, a band worn around the arm. I remember medic litter parties marching up the hills, a large Red Cross flag flying at the head the end of each party. I remember one casualty born down the hill, one arm and one leg blown off, his form still but alive beneath the blanket. On the trail, I met Dick from Seattle, thirty-five years old and with a bad heart. He was resting in the shade before he made his second trip up the hill to carry down the wounded. This was the situation, and this was the spirit of the boys.

[Editor Note: By Tooru Kanazawa, formerly of the Cannon Company, who was a member of the original 442nd Combat Team. He has participated in all of the four campaigns fought by the regiment. He is a holder of a Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge.]