War

1,432 Nisei soldiers, recruited before Pearl Harbor, depart Hawaii on S.S. Maui for training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. Before departure from Hawaii they had been formed as the Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion. On arrival at Oakland, California, they are renamed as the 100th Infantry Battalion, a name destined to make military history. It is designated “Separate” to indicate it is not part of a larger Army unit.

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.

The 100th Battalion departs Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, moving by train to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, for further combat training.

The troop ship USAT Royal T. Frank torpedoed while transporting trainees from Oahu to Hilo; 17 die in the attack.

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.

The US military draft system declares AJAs as 4-C aliens (category 4C), and therefore not eligible to be drafted into military service.

Japanese Americans serving in Hawaii Territorial Guard dismissed without explanation.

Battle of Bataan begins in Philippines – US/Filipino forces surrender on April 9, 1942, the largest surrender in US history; 60,000 Filipino and 15,000 US POWs forced into 60-mile Bataan Death March.

Decisive US victory in the Battle of Midway Island assures that Japan will not be invading Hawaii.

Secretary of Navy Franklin Knox visits Hawaii December 11 & 12 to assess the situation. In December 14 report, he calls for mass incarceration or removal of Japanese Americans in Hawaii.

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.

Lt. Gen. Delos C. Emmons, Hawaii’s military governor, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and prominent local leaders argue successfully against mass forced interment of Hawaii Japanese. This is foreshadowed by General Emmons’ immediate creation of the Morale Section and subsequent deflection of direction from the War Department in Washington DC to begin mass internment.

Sand Island Camp opened in Honolulu for about 300 arrested Issei & Nisei, followed days later by camps on Hawaii island, Maui, Kauai & more arrests.

298th & 299th Infantry Regiments of the Hawaii Territorial Guard are federalized. Over the coming year, their ranks swell with 3,000 Hawaii draftees, half of them Nisei.

10:00 am – Hawaii Territorial Governor Joseph B. Poindexter calls University of Hawaii ROTC cadets to form the Hawaii Territorial Guard. Its primary mission is to protect critical infrastructure from sabotage.

Japan attacks Philippines, Singapore, Malaya, Hong Kong.

7:48 am – Japan begins attack on Pearl Harbor and 6 airfields on Oahu; 8 battleships sunken/ damaged, 64 of 223 Army aircraft destroyed; 2,335 military & 68 civilian deaths.

Japanese military forces capture Manila, Philippines.

Ten days after the Pearl Harbor attack, Lt. Gen. Delos C. Emmons is appointed as the Military Governor of the Territory of Hawaii and commander of the Hawaii Department of the U.S. Army. A 1909 graduate of West Point, Emmons served most of his career in the development of the Army Air Force. He is familiar with Hawaii having previously served two years there as the commander of the 18th Composite Wing, and Air Officer of Hawaiian Department.

11:30 am – Martial law declared in the Territory of Hawaii: habeas corpus suspended; mandatory curfew; gas rationing; civil courts closed; mail/press censored. The civilian governor becomes subordinate to the Military Governor.

Territorial governors wartime:

Joseph B. Poindexter (1934-1942)

Ingram M. Stainback (1942-1951)

Military governors:

Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short – December 7-17 1941

Lt. Gen. Delos C. Emmons – December 17, 1941-June 1, 1943

Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson – June 1, 1943-October 24, 1944

Morale Section of the Military Governor’s Office established, headed by Shigeo Yoshida, Hung Wai Ching, and Charles Loomis. Very important subcommittees were created in this wartime element of the Territorial government, in particular the Emergency Service Committee, which worked with the Americans of Japanese ancestry community.

On Sep 1, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders mobilization of National Guard nationwide.

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.

Battle of Corregidor ends with the surrender of all US Forces in the Philippines.

US establishes peacetime draft in September 1940, but there are no significant inductions until January 1941.

US proclaims neutrality, but President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares “state of national emergency” on September 8, 1939.

Varsity Victory Volunteers are organized with 169 University of Hawaii ROTC students, most of whom had been in the Hawaii Territorial Guard. They are assigned as a labor battalion for the U. S. Army Engineers on Oahu.