As part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month there was a small conference at Bolling AFB, DC yesterday, which I was fortunate enough to be able to attend. The three speakers and guests of honor;

Terry Shima – Mr. Shima was drafted into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in 1944 and arrived in Europe on VE Day as a replacement. He worked at the Public Relations Office in Italy until the until went back to the U.S. in 1946. Mr. Shima later joined the Foreign Service, and currently is the Executive Director of the Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA).

Joe Ichiuji – Drafted before Pearl Harbor, Mr. Ichiuji was classified 4C (enemy alien, unfit for military duty), discharged, and sent to an internment camp with his family in California. He later volunteered to go back into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, seeing action in Italy, France, and Germany, where his unit liberated one of the Dachau sub camps. His motivation for volunteering for the 442nd was to prove his loyalty as an American.

Grant Hirabayashi – Also already in the Army when Pearl was attacked, Grant was Mr. Hirabayashi was not classified 4C, but sent to the Militarily Intelligence Service. He became a ranger and served with Merrill’s Marauders in Burma, and later in India and China. The Marauders started with 3,000 men and ended with 500. [Interview]

It was a real pleasure to hear some of the stories of the greatest generation, which reminded me of some of what I heard from my grandfather, also a WWII vet. The links for Mr. Ichiuji and Mr. Hirabayashi go to the Library of Congress Veteran’s History Project, with text, photos, and audio. This generation is going fast and we should appreciate the time we have with them.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was a mostly Japanese-American unit and is the most highly decorated military unit of American’s armed forces. They earned their reputation:

Their bloodiest battle occurred during their rescue of the “Lost Battalion”. The First Battalion of the 36th Division had been given the assignment to clear a ridge deep in the Vosages, but had been cut-off by the Germans. The battalion, the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment (a former Texas National Guard unit), had been cut off since October 24,1944. The other two battalions of the 141st were unable to break through. The 100th /442nd, was ordered to rescue the Lost Battalion in a real-life “Saving Private Ryan” mission (More men were lost in the 100th/442nd in the rescue operation than there were to save in the 1st of the 141st.).

Mr. Shima, the youngest of the three, was the main speaker on Monday. He noted that only three of the 442nd who returned to the U.S in 1946 were original members; the rest were replacements, as all other unit members had earned enough points to come home, or were casualties.

Mr. Shima also related the story of Korean-American 2LT Young-Ok Kim. LTC Martin Pence, the 442nd commander, told the newly arrived 2LT Kim that he would be sent to another unit, as Pence had heard that the Koreans and Japanese didn’t get along, and most of the unit was Japanese. 2LT Kim replied that he was an American, and the other men were Americans, and he wasn’t going anywhere. 2LT Kim served his time with the 442nd.

All three told a few stories of their time in the Army and overseas. A common theme was the bitterness over the internment camps, and how things changed after the war.

Terry Shima, Joe Ichiuji, and Grant Hirabayashi