My great grandfather’s brother served in the 100th battalion and died as a war hero on the Road To Rome. He not only lead his comrades threw a mine field under machine gunfire then crawled under barbed wire which was mined. In Italy, he left his trench to uncover his comrade who was buried completely under debris, reviving him and taking his place. The 100th battalion did missions along side the 442s that were deemed as suicide. Gary Truro Hisaoka(My great grampa’s brother) also saved the one in charge, single handedly, under gun fire and was never mentioned for it.
Such magnificent fighting men! A huge shame that their losses were so great, but they made their point in the best way possible. Honour to them all ...
As a teenager I had the privilege of interning for Senator Daniel Inouye . He lost his arm charging a machine gun nest of Nazis fighting for the 442 and he was awarded the Medal of Honor .Great Soldier and Statesman .
I'm reading an excellent book titled "Facing the Mountain" about the American Japanese who fought in these units. Unbelievable brave........To say "Thank you for your service" is simply not enough for the brave young men who joined during the discrimination that they endured back home.
Great video as usual, your commentary is always very calm and helps take the information in, very underrated channel. I think a video on the German WW2 Free Arabian/Indian/Chinese Legion along with the Iraqi pro-German coup would be interesting, possibly you can find some information on the subject not very known
Being an American of part Japanese ancestry, the 442nd RCT are one of my favorite parts of US history. These men were pioneers for the desegregation of the US military. Sadly many of my fellow Americans never heard of the brave men of the 442nd RCT because our schools rarely teach about them or just briefly mention them in our textbooks.
It's because, even after 80 years America/Americans still aren't ready to have Asian heroes. So, instead of making a big block buster movie about the 442nd, they make movies like Saving Private Ryan, instead. As much as I loved Saving Private Ryan, that movie's characters were fictitious. They could have made a REAL movie about the 442nd, instead. The Rescue of The Lost Battalion was an epic battle of helplessness, despair, determination, tragedy, and victory. But, like I said, Americans still aren't ready to accept 5'3" 120-lb Japanese-American men as their heroes.
I had the honor and the privilege to meet a Japanese American World War Two Veteran yesterday in Long Beach California who fought in Europe . I just wanted to thank him and his fellow veterans for their sacrifice and courage and that there were still people that will always remember them. He told me that he lost a good friend by a sniper just a day before the war ended in Europe. I could tell it still bothered him. God bless them all for everything they did.
An amazing revelation!! Wow!! I thought I knew all about WWII. I knew about the internment camps for Japanese Americans but I did not know they served with honour for the country they were born in. Wow. Thanks!!
You also may not know about the thousands of German and Austrian Jews who fled to Britain to escape Nazi persecution. Very many fought for Britain during WW2..... Very many of them chose to change their names to English sounding ones, to avoid being shot if taken prisoner.........
Japanese Americans showed us how to overcome prejudice against their group by self sacrifice, hard work, being good citizens and not by protesting, nor by anti-discrimination legislations.
One of my favourite stories from World War 2! Especially when I exclude the laundry list of those related to the Polish units. BTW there is a movie "Go For Broke!" from 1951 about the 442nd, staring six real veterans of the unit.
I was told by 442nd RCT veterans that almost all of the Japanese American extras in the movie were actual veterans. My father who was the 1st Sergeant Fox Company 442nd RCT was present at the filming but was not in the movie. The veterans were sometimes used as German soldiers in the movie and you have to remember that the movie was made only five years after WWII.
I was told by my father who was the 1st Sergeant Fox Company 442nd RCT from March 1943 through March 1945 that Fox Company was composed of equal numbers of Japanese Americans from Hawaii and US Mainland. I found out that most of the soldiers had dual citizenship from Japan and from the US because their parents had registered their names in Japan but few of them even lived in Japan. They fought for the US even though many of them had families interned during WWII including my father's family who were interned in Manzanar Interment Camp located near Lone Pine, California. I was also told that soldiers fought to make conditions better for their families living in the US and many were killed in the war which earned respect of the US citizens. I am glad that I was born just after WWII and was not in an internment camp.
Very interesting video! Please keep up the great work. I did think Hawaii was basically an internment camp, due to the fact it was under Marshall law at the time. But I could be wrong. Also Lost Batallion is great Sabaton song!!!
Actually Hawaii did not intern anyone. Not a single piece of evidence that any Japanese American was disloyal during the war. They robbed them of their assets too.
@@bricemantel6619 , mahalo for your reply. While it is true that 120,000 citizens of Japanese descent living along the West Coast were forcibly interned, a larger number (158,000) living in Hawaii were not, excepting for about 2,000. Unlike the drastically different treatment faced by mainland Japanese Americans who were subject to intense fear and suspicion in their everyday lives that eventually led to internment, courageous individuals who, along with the support of the large majority of Hawaii’s multi-ethnic residents, advocated the fair treatment of its fellow citizens. After reading the linked article, check out FBI head in Hawaii Robert Shivers, YMCA leader Hung Wai Ching, University of Hawaii regent Charles Hemenway, Honolulu Police officer John A. Burns, Colonel Kendall Fielder, and military governor General Delos Emmons among the countless government and community leaders in Hawaii who believed in and trusted their fellow citizens of Japanese descent that prevented mass incarceration from happening here. archives.starbulletin.com/2006/12/07/features/story07.html As a result of the differences in treatment, Hawaii provided the large majority of soldiers who served in the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd RCT.encyclopedia.densho.org/100th%20Infantry%20Battalion/?fbclid=IwAR0PUATmm39XYIMave1sm2Ghzo0493BjuMCeUhSuHuUgECv1Z8QT9Vewnas www.goforbroke.org/learn/history/military_units/442nd.php
The Purple Heart is also awarded for being killed in action. That is most likely the reason for the 9,500 give to this unit. Truly one heroic group of soldiers. 🇺🇸
Korea was Japan then. Of course, There were Koreans It should not be forgotten or taken lightly that there was a Korean officer named Capt. Kim Yongock in the 442nd. This is an important part of our history.
As usual for this channel, an excellent presentation of a remarkable combat unit, but if I may, I would like to make an observation; While I am not defending the internment of Japanese-Americans during the war, I would like to point out that it was a (misguided) matter of security rather than a matter of racism, because it did NOT only happen to the Japanese. While the existence of Japanese internment camps is well known, it is almost unknown that there were also internment camps for both Italian-Americans and German-Americans in the United States. The internment camps were established to confine people with connections (or suspected connections) to ALL THREE nations with which the United States suddenly found itself at war, whether Asian or European, regardless of race. Unconstitutional? Yes, without a doubt. Over reaction? Maybe. But it WAS applied to both Asian and Europeans which lessens the accusation of racism. (In the case of the latter, it may have actually been justified, since in several of the German internment camps the detainees actually held pro-Nazi rallies and celebrations.) BTW, I read the book "Go For Broke" and many of the Japanese-Americans in the 442nd, especially those from Hawaii who witnessed Pearl Harbor, were angry (major understatement) that they were NOT allowed to go to the Pacific and fight those who actually attacked THEIR country.
The Military Intelligence Service (MIS) consisting of 6,000 men served in all areas of the Pacific including in combat areas, with one group served with Merrill Marauders in Burma. www.misveteranshawaii.com/
Incorrect information. During WW2, the United States did place some Germans into internment camps, but the majority of them were German nationals who were living in the United States. In contrast, the Untied States interned Japanese-AMERICANS, who were born and raised in the United States, and who were U.S. citizens by BIRTH. Big, big difference. They interned practically all of the Japanese living in the Untied States. The government absolutely DID NOT intern all of the German-Americans and Italian-Americans living in the United States. There was absolutely NO justification for the mass internment of Japanese-Americans during WW2. No justification back then. No justification now.
@@user-sg8kq7ii3y No no justification, but you need to know that there were Japanese spies in Hawaii, who sent pictures of our planes, and ships to the Empire of Japan. They did arrest those spies and expelled them.
Good question, I will have to look into that. On this website (www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2019/3/19/japanese-canadian-vets/) it says from 1942 to 1945 Nisei were banned from participating in Canadian forces, although many tried very hard to enlist. There were only 32 Nisei serving in the Canadian armed forces during the war, apparently.
Yes I can also say very Proudly my Father also went to fight against the Germans in from Italy while my Grandparents were in camps my Father Passed following my Mother 2010 Kazuo and Sakaye I am a sansei and Have my parent pictures They didn't want any attention about during WW2 and camps.❤
It's not the same. President Roosevelt did not issue a executive order removing all people of German and Italian ancestry from the east coast of the U.S. If FDR treated everyone equally he should have also issued a executive order stating any person of German and Italian ancestry be removed from the east coast of the US.as he did the Japanese-Americans You have to understand the difference between word All and a few Germans and Italians imprisoned.
Franklin roosevelt and his intelligence military industrial complex knew date /time japenese were attacking their code breakers broke the japenese code. They allowed it to happen the inside jobe.
Although my late Father fought in TH Pacific Theater, as a child in th 60's he told me of the brave unit of men. Naturally, at the wars end, The great units of Black and Japanese hero's went back to segregation from living in White neighborhoods.
Why were they so highly decorated? The US army has a history of ignoring and not acknowledging anyone, anywhere, at any time that suited them to ignore?
Utterly ridiculous. The US is no doubt ashamed of this. During WW2, many German and Austrian Jews fled to Britain to escape Nazi persecution. Many of them eventually ended up fighting for the British armed forces in all three branches of the services. The RAF could boast at least one German born fighter pilot who had a quite successful career. Many more served active roles in both the Royal Navy and the British Army. Very many also took British citizenship, and changed their names to more English sounding ones, hopefully to avoid being shot by the Nazis if they were taken prisoner.....
@Brian-om2hh yes we are ashamed but as the Hawaiian Senato who fought with the division,the US is the only Nation that admitted they did wrong. So get over arrogance
The 442nd's official history says they received 810 Bronze Stars, 3,600 Purple Hearts, and 7 DUCs, not 9,500, 4,000, and 8 respectively. There is quite a lot of unnecessary embellishment surrounding this unit's history unfortunately.
@@girnucci I've read Orville Shirey's official history front to back, and read the 442nd's after actions reports. Most of these videos are embellishing the truth.
