The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum hosted a previewing of the Congressional Gold Medal exhibit on March 9, 2013 for the Nisei World War II veterans. The museum is one of only seven museums in the country to host the Congressional Gold Medal exhibit. For your viewing, photos of the event:
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The Go For Broke Bulletin is a quarterly publication of the 442nd. Here is the current publication: Volume 65, No. 1, October – December 2012
Our annual Sons & Daughters of the 442 RCT Christmas Party was held on December 16, 2012 at the Treetops Restaurant in Manoa Valley. Thanks to our hardworking chairperson, Ann Kabasawa, it was filled with delicious food, fun games, fellowship and door prizes! Attending were 442 Veterans and spouses, Sons & Daughters of the 442RCT and their children and grandchildren. A General Membership Meeting was also held for the election of the 2013 officers. Our current officers were re-elected for the 2013 term. Our thank you to Wes Deguchi (President), Al Sadanaga (1st Vice-Presdient), Wade Wasano (2nd Vice-President), Susan Yoshitomi (Secretary), and Shirley Igarashi (Secretary) for voluntering in their respective positions and meeting the challenges of the coming year. Your time and dedication is appreciated by all. For those who were unable to attend, check out our photos and plan to attend in 1013, the date has been reserved for December 15, 2013 at the Treetops Restaurant in Manoa Valley.
Dear Friends of the 442nd RCT,In the past year the veterans of the 442nd RCT, the 100th Infantry Battalion and the MIS received much deserved recognition by being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their bravery and heroism during World War II. They are the highest decorated military unit for its size and length of service in history and their post-war successes in life is also an amazing story.In March 2013, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team will celebrate their 70th Anniversary. We, the Sons and Daughters and friends of the Nisei veterans, are planning a weekend of events to bring them together from across the country and all fighting units to celebrate their friendships, their families, and their achievements during and after the war. In addition, at a Joint Memorial Service they will have the opportunity to solemnly honor their comrades killed in action and remember their veteran brothers of 70 years who have passed away.
Through these events, we also hope to inspire the next generation of young Americans to keep the Nisei soldiers’ legacy alive by gaining a deeper understanding of how the sacrifices, courage, and determination of their fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers and uncles have greatly influenced our nation as well as all of us personally. Therefore, our theme for this 70th year is “The Legacy Lives On” and we are involving the veteran’s descendants and young supporters with major roles throughout the weekend.
This letter is to ask for your support to help defray expenses for this celebration. A major part of our expense will be to honor every veteran and widow of a veteran by covering the cost of their meals at our official functions, including the Anniversary Banquet at the Hilton.
Today, many of the veterans are in their late 80’s and into their 90’s and are still active in the community, interested in the affairs of their country, and involved with friends and family. They continue to be amazing role models living exemplary lives with a sense of humor and grace.
With your support we will be able to give them a most memorable and fitting tribute in celebration of their 70th Anniversary. We hope you will find our purpose to be worthy of your support. Please contact us if you have any questions. Thank you for your consideration.
Very Respectfully,
Clayton and Gwen Fujie, Co-Chairs
70th Anniversary of the 442nd RCT
Tel. 691-9693 or 888-9374
The activities in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, including the 100th Infantry Battalion, the Military Intelligence Service, and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion, veterans, families and friends, will consist of, and may not be limited, to the following. Please register early as space is limited
9:00 a.m. Recognition at City Hall sponsored by Council Members Chang and Kobayashi
8:00 am – 11:30 am – Optional Tour of Honouliuli Internment Camp
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm – 100th Battalion Veterans Memorial Building (aka 100 Clubhouse or Club 100)
“At Ease” an informal Hawaiian style get-together. Enter your international pupu from Italy, France, Germany, Japan, Hawaii and the mainland to win a prize! Aloha shirt, mu’umu’u, shorts, tee-shirt! Come and talk story with our veteran heroes. 442nd RCT Logo merchandise will be available for sale.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Meeting of the various Sons and Daughters organizations and individuals will meet to share their “living legacy” ideas and plans for the future.
9:00 am – 10:00 am – Remembrance Service at Fort DeRussy
10:00 am – 11:30 am – Tour of the U.S. Army Museum at Fort DeRussy
11:30 am – 2:00 pm – “Just-like-the-old-days” 442 Family Picnic with bento, door prizes, games, a shadow box demonstration, shaved ice stand, 100/442 Manga book sales & Chibi logo merchandise
Evening – FREE for chapter get-togethers or relaxing inWaikiki. (Item Chapter is already planning a party. Place TBD. 5:00 p.m.)
Sunday, March 24– Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel
9:30 am – Hospitality Room for all chapters opened – Coral Ballroom I
10:30 am – Doors open to Coral Ballroom II, III, IV
11:00 am – 2:00 pm – 70th Anniversary Luncheon and Program (including exhibits, photo taking, 442nd RCT logo merchandise sales, autograph signing, DVD/book sales)
11:00 a.m. – State of Hawaii Legislature recognition. Bring your families to witness the honor
1:00 p.m.- Special Tour to Punchbowl, C-17 “Spirit of Go for Broke” and USS Missouri
6:30 p.m. – “Valor With Honor” Documentary screening at The Honolulu Museum of Art’s Doris Duke Theatre. Meet writer/director, Burt Takeuchi, and stay for Q&A session after the screening.
All official activities will be FREE to Nisei veterans and widows of deceased veterans
For further information: Call Gwen Fujie at 691-9693 or 888-9374 or the 442nd Veterans Club at 949-7997
?> ?>“They bought an awful hunk of America with their blood. You’re damn right those Nisei boys have a place in the American heart, now and forever. We cannot allow a single injustice to be done to the Nisei without defeating the purposes for which we fought.”
General Joseph “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell
Please help us honor the 442nd Regimental Combat Team on their 70th Anniversary scheduled for March 22 – 24, 2013. With your donation we will be able to host a weekend for veterans, widows, and their families and friends from across the country. To encourage participation by our Nisei veterans and widows of veterans from all units, we will cover the cost of their event meals, including the premier event – the 70th Anniversary banquet, and we need your help.
The activities planned for all of them, including the 100th Infantry Battalion, the Military
Intelligence Service (MIS), and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion are:
Our Levels of Giving are divided into seven groups listing the seven campaigns the Nisei soldiers fought in from the beginning to the end of their European service. We’ve chosen to list them for educational purposes and in memory of those killed in action in those campaigns. (Please visit www.goforbroke.org for more information about the campaigns and the other battlesvaliantly fought by our Nisei soldiers.)
All donors will be recognized in our official program booklet. “Central Europe” and “Po Valley Campaign” donors will, in addition, receive a replica of the Congressional Gold Medal and a Certificate of Appreciation from the 442nd RCT.
Please fill out the form below or download this donation form and mail.
Checks may be made to the 442nd Veterans Club and sent to 922 Wiliwili Street, Honolulu, HI 96826. Mahalo!
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Click here for information about the tour: Honouliuli Tour
SCHEDULE FOR HONOULIULI TOUR:
8:00 am Check-in at the 100th Infantry Battalion clubhouse
Show 11-minute video on Honouliuli presented by JCCH.
(Restroom break)
8:30 am Leave for Honouliuli via Robert’s bus
9:15 am Arrive at Monsanto
(Restroom break)
9:30 am Honouliuli Tour via 5 mini-buses (12-13 people in each bus)
Water bottles provided by Monsanto.
10:30 am Return to the Monsanto building
(Restroom break)
10:45 am Return to 100th Clubhouse via Robert’s bus
11:30 am Arrive at 100th Clubhouse.
Please note that this tour is geared for veterans, wives, widows, and caregivers.
Due to limited seating, priority will be given to this group when registering for this event.
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Remembrance of Senator Dan Inouye’s Punchbowl Memorial Service
By Grace Tsubata Fujii
December 23, 2012, Sunday: WWII AJA 100Bn/442RCT/MIS/1399thBn veterans and families (Limited to 100) were accorded VIP treatment at Senator Daniel K. Inouye’s memorial service at the National Memorial of the Pacific (Punchbowl). We reported at 6:00 am to the 100th Battalion Veterans Clubhouse. An hour later boarded 2 buses arriving at Punchbowl around 7:30 bypassing other waiting vehicles without our having to go through mandatory body checks at the entrance as other guests. Was shocked that we had special 442 RCT seating and able to view the ceremony so well. Glad our sturdy veterans weathered their long 8 hour day. Huge Appreciation to Command Sgt. Major Beau Tatsumura for coordinating with senator’s office in securing this security clearance with VIP status.
There was a huge group of 100Bn/442RCT Army reservists on duty hovering over the veterans and families, offering water bottles, escorting us to potty breaks and inquiring as to our well-being, making sure we were comfortable, passing sun-screen lotion, holding umbrellas to shield us from the hot sun. You could tell that they were enjoying their duties as much as we appreciated their concerns and reassurance. The EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) reservist returned time and again to check on the veterans. So caring. Huge Mahalo to these gentlemen also.
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he Go For Broke Bulletin is a quarterly publication of the 442nd
Here is the current publication: Volume 64, No. 4, July – September 2012
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Here is an article on the 100th Battalion’s newsletter.
Story and images courtesy of the Hawai`i Herald.
Volunteers gather at the clubhouse to collate and fold issues of the Puka Puka Parade. Pictured are, clockwise from left: Elsie Oshita, veteran Ted Hamasu, Kimi Matsuda and an unidentified woman.
“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 of Information and Wartime Experiences
This year, the Hawaii Hochi marks 100 years since Kinzaburo Makino began publishing the Japanese-language newspaper in December of 1912. Not too far behind the Hochi in publication years is the 100th Infantry Battalion’s monthly newsletter, creatively named the Puka Puka Parade. Since April 1, 1946, the veterans club has kept its members and their extended ‘ohana informed through the PPP.
“We have quite a large team [that works] largely behind the scenes,” said president Pauline Sato, who serves as overall editor and liaison to the club’s board of directors, which is made up of the various chapter presidents.
“Puka Puka Parade” was selected as the publication’s name way back in 1946, just a year after the 100th veterans returned home from the war. A panel of judges selected the name from a list of suggestions. It was Maui veteran Itsuo Shinyama who submitted the “Puka Puka” suggestion, which was a cinch for selection, given the two zeroes in the unit’s name and because throughout the war, many had referred to the unit as the “One Puka Puka.” After mulling over the suggestions to complete the name — suggestions like “Patter,” “Peeps,” “Hoomalimali,” “News,” “Monthly” and “Bulletin” — the judges finally decided on the word “Parade” because of its military connection. For his “Puka Puka” suggestion, Shinyama was awarded a grand prize of $10 from the club. Read more »
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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, 2010)
The World War II exploits of the Varsity Victory Volunteers, 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion are the stuff of legends and are even more gripping when retold because of the extra burden of race that the Nisei soldiers carried with them into battle. They fought not only fascism and totalitarianism, but hatred and prejudice in their own country.
But knowing that the eyes of America were on them, the Nisei soldiers fought bravely against the armies of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
Read more »
Thank you to Judge Thomas K. Kaulukukui, Jr. for allowing us to post the speech he gave at the 100th Infantry Battalion’s 70th Anniversary Banquet on July 8, 2012 at the Honolulu Country Club.
Good Morning to All.
I humbly offer all honor and respect to the Great Spirit who has made this day and who has given us a humble part in it; and to the sands of your birth, wherever that may be; to the memory of our ancestors; to the elders who are present; and to the leaders and other guests in attendance; and most of all, I bow in respect to the veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion, and to their descendants and other family members here today, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the 100th Battalion.
I was invited to offer my thoughts on the contributions of the 100th Battalion to the community. I was born in 1945, so I am a member of the “baby boomer” generation—the generation after the 100th Battalion veterans. This is the vantage point of my perspective. Most of you already know the specifics of some or most of the contributions of these veterans, but I humbly offer my own brief but broad perspectives on this topic. I have entitled my remarks “The Essence (S-sense) of the 100th Battalion’s Contributions to the Community.” I say “S-sense” because I will speak of 3 Ss. Read more »
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The Go For Broke Bulletin of the 442nd Veterans Club: Volume 64, No. 3, April – June 2012.
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 Battalion”
The Hawaii Herald (June 19, 1992)
The following historical profile on the 100th Infantry Battalion is excerpted from the chapter titled, “The Nisei Soldier” in Roland Kotani’s 1985 book, “The Japanese in Hawaii: A Century of Struggle.” The book was published by the Hawaii Hochi, Ltd. And was designated the official booklet of the Oahu Kanyaku Imin Centennial Committee.
On the barren Italian hillside, Masayuki “Sparky” Matsunaga huddled behind a terrace wall and prayed for the dawn. He could barely move his wounded leg. But the darkness seemed to be lifting from the corpse-strewn battlefield.
The young man from Hanapepe wondered if he’d ever be able to do anything about his Kauai High School teacher’s advise that he should become a politician. His father had always said, “Kuro ga ate fukai jinsei ga wakaru,” “Deeper understanding of human values comes only through personal suffering.” As he pulled his jacket close around himself, Masayuki though he’d become a compassionate politician with a definite understanding of human suffering-if he survived this war.
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The 100th Infantry Battalion held it’s 70th Anniversary celeration at the Honolulu Country Club on Sunday, July 8, 2012. About 350 people attended the milestone event, including a large group from Maui. The luncheon centered around the event’s theme, “For Continued Service, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”. Veterans from the 442 joined in the celebration.
Here are a few photos of the event, compliments of Wayne Iha, Clyde Sugimoto and Pat Thompson.
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