The 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) departs Camp Shelby, Mississippi, by train for Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. On August 21 they board the S.S. James Parker at Staten Island, New York, and begin their voyage to the combat zone in Italy.
Cannon Company of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team is activated at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Its primary weapon is six light, truck-drawn, 105mm howitzers. They will provide close support to the regiment’s three infantry battalions, supplementing the fire power of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion.
Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team authorized by War Department, composed of: 1 infantry regiment, 1 field artillery battalion, 1 engineer company, 1 medical detachment, and an army band. The cadre to organize, train, and lead the combat team is quickly formed and sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, to prepare for the arrival of the thousands of young Nisei men who are expected to respond to the call to volunteer. The officers selected are almost all experienced Caucasian soldiers and are given orders to report to Camp Shelby typically within 2 weeks. The enlisted cadre are AJA soldiers, many of whom had been drafted before Pearl Harbor and are now sidelined in menial tasks because of their ancestry.
The 2,686 volunteers from Hawaii for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team are sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, for training. Over 100 have fathers in internment camps. They sail on the S.S. Lurline for Oakland, California, where they board three trains that will take separate routes to Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
First wave of 442nd replacements (mostly from Hawaii) to the 100th (Separate) in Italy depart Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The 10 officers and 165 enlisted men are sent to Fort Meade, Maryland, for shipment to Italy. They arrive at San Giorgio, Italy, on March 10, 1944.
The War Department plans for the 442nd RCT call for 4,000 men, 1,500 to come from Hawaii and 2,500 from the Mainland concentration camps where the west coast AJA families have been imprisoned. However, the expectation from the concentration camps is not met and the quota from Hawaii is increased. 10,000 volunteer in Hawaii and 2,686 are enlisted beginning Mar 23, 1943. They are sent to Schofield Barracks on Oahu island to organize and prepare for shipment to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, to be trained as a combat-ready regiment.
Company S added to the Combat Team, composed of Japanese Americans from Military Intelligence Service (MIS) Language School at Camp Savage, Minnesota. They are assigned to the 442nd for combat training prior to deployment to the Pacific Theater.
100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) lands at Salerno, Italy, and enters combat September 29. Sgt. Joe Takata of Hawaii is first Nisei killed in action in the war to defeat the Nazis. He is awarded Distinguish Service Cross posthumously.
War Department reclassifies Nisei men, allowing them to be drafted and to serve in the U.S. Army. This also opens the door to allow the U.S. Army to call for AJA volunteers for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.