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500 Leis from Hawaii Hail Returning 442nd Heros

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 James A. O'Brien, public relations director of the Territorial Council on Veterans Affairs, who has in making the arrangements for the presentation of the leis. These arrangements have now been officially designated “Operations Aloha.” According to a late communication received from O'Brien in Honolulu, “the school children of Hawaii will provide leis for their big brothers and fathers who are returning home from the wars.” Although Dr. Miles Carey, principal of famed McKinley High School, has assured O'Brien that the...

Army Set To Honor 442nd Plan Impressive Welcome For Famed Combat Team Expected to Arrive Today

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 New York harbor this afternoon, a few days ahead of schedule, according to the latest War Department announcements. The Wilson is expected to dock at pier 84, North River, at approximately 3:30 p.m. At the mouth of the harbor they will be met by two Army welcome boats decorated with a 442’s regimental colors and Insignia, equipped with a band and loud speakers, and a press boat loaded with newsreel cameramen and correspondents. Two fire boats from the city will...

Ceremonies At Kilmer to Fete Team

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 the colors, introductory remarks will be made by Captain E. H. McDowell, Special Services Officer of Camp Kilmer. Johnny Pineapple’s entertainment, straight from the Hotel Lexington Hawaiian room, will then take the stage. The official military services which will follow will feature an address by General Alfred M. Gruenther, representing the Assistant Secretary of War, who will be introduced by Col. Herald L. Duffie, camp Commandant. Generals Wiley and Ewart Plank will also speak. In addition, the War Department's Deputy...

Earl M. Finch Flies East For 442nd Deactivation

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 Regimental Combat Team. Finch, mild mannered but effective, switched plans to tour the West Coast in behalf of the Nisei, and reversed his direction when he was advised of pending arrival of the Wilson Victory. He wired the War Department that he would stand by to do everything he could for the boys. And in Finch's language, that's plenty. He is staying at the Astor Hotel which is his New York headquarters. Through no desire of his own, Finch’s work...

Issei Fathers of GIs Seek U. S. Citizenship

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...