These Are The Japyanks

              THESE ARE THE JAPYANKS
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This spirit is manifest in everything they
do. Their eagerness to learn and their
stick-to-itiveness are legend around Camp
Shelby. Out of their own pockets they
have bought over $3,000 worth of military
texts and manuals; they study them as-
siduously and sometimes catch up their
instructors on technical points. On forced
marches, they walk their legs off before
falling out.
This contagious, "fighting" quality which
characterises their marches and maneuvers
is typified in their motto: "Go For Broke"—
soldier slang, born of the "crap" game,
meaning "to shoot the works" or risk all.
They believe that their conduct in battle
will determine the fate of all Japanese-
Americans in this country, and they are
determined  not to  fail their  responsibility.
Symbolism  in  the  Shoulder  Patch
Their Combat Team shoulder patch, the
flaming Torch of Liberty, symbolises their
goal: liberty for all, regardless of race or
ancestry—liberty from persecution, from
discrimination, from unjustified doubts;
liberty to live and to be considered a worthy
American. And, to a man, they are pledged
to "Go For Broke" to achieve that liberty.
These volunteers have proved themselves
in training. Recently, when the War Department announced the reclassification of
Japanese-Americans for military service, the
outstanding training record of the 442d
was mentioned as one of the principal rea-
sons for this change in policy.
The exploits of the 100th Infantry AJA
Battalion in Italy, where they spearheaded
the attack of the famed 34th Division, are
an inspiration to the men. Many of them
have brothers and friends in that activated
National Guard unit from Hawaii which
is proving its mettle in the blood of battle.
Many of those from the Islands and mainland have other brothers and friends serving with the U. S. military intelligence ini
the Pacific theater of operations.
"Judge Us on Our Record Alone"
Though their comrades-in-arms are performing their duties admirably and winning;
the plaudits of all with whom they come
into contact, the Japyanks of the 442cE
know that the eyes of America will be on
them when they are finally privileged to-
go into battle, for they are the first and.
only 100 per cent volunteer organization of
Japanese-Americans to be given the opportunity in combat with the enemy to prove
that their blood can mingle with that spilled
at Bunker Hill, at Gettysburg, at the
Marne, on Bataan.
These young Americans with Japanese
faces do not ask for sympathy, or for special favors. They ask only that they and
their kind be judged by their valor on the
battlefields. They don't expect the enemy
"Over There" to give them aid and comfort. But they do expect—as they feel they
have the right to expect—that, when the
war is won, Americans everywhere wilt
welcome them home as fellow Americans,,
and not as those questionable "Japs."
That is their faith. That is their hope.
And that is why these Americans of Japanese ancestry have taken this vow: "Mindful of the high purpose for which we volunteered, we pledge ourselves to so live
our lives and give our lives that neither our
country, America, nor our fellow Japanese-
Americans will ever be ashamed of our
conduct—to the end that all loyal Americans, of whatever nationality, will be privileged to share in the common lot and life
of all Americans without favor or prejudice."
(Reprinted from the July, 1944, issue of THE LINK, official
organ of the Service Men's Christian League.)
JAPANESE AMERICAN CITIZENS LEAGUE
413-15 Beason Bldg. Salt Lake City, Utah
By CORPORAL MIKE   MASAOKA
IF any group of American soldiers is imbued with the Crusader spirit of old it
is the 442d Combat Team, that unique
military organization of Japanese-American
volunteers now in training at Camp Shelby,
Mississippi.
Because they resemble the Japanese
enemy in physical characteristics, their
preponderant American traits often have
been either deliberately by-passed or maliciously misconstrued by those who question their loyalty and allegiance. Born, bred
and educated in America, they know, no
other country; their very lives and fortunes
are inextricably bound up in the destiny of
America.
But there are those who are determined
to make them pay for the crimes of the
enemy by playing upon their unasked-for
kinship with the Japanese race. So, like the
Christian knights of a feudal age, these
"Japyanks" (as the New York World'
Telegram referred to them in a recent article) are willing to give of their all to
prove their faith in their America—and to
win for themselves and their posterity the
privilege of being accepted as the true-blue
and loyal Americans they are.