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passenger train with seats, but boxcars. We reached the assembly center near Bruyeres in the Vosges
Mountains. On Oct. 18th, we entered Bruyeres and stayed that night in a civilian house. The next day,
we were ordered to take Hill "D" which we did without meeting opposition. (Hill "D" was re-taken
by German troops that night. Co. K was not ordered back, but others in our regiment fought fiercely
to secure it again.) For years, the enemy had been well established in the area. They held all the high
strategic areas and knew the terrain well. Our job was to keep pushing the enemy east and to force a
retreat—which we did. But there was bitter fighting and we paid dearly for our success.
We were due for some scheduled rest by Oct. 25th. What we didn't know was that the 1st Battalion of
the 141st Infantry from Texas had been cut-off and surrounded on a ridge farther east, between the
towns of Gerardmer and St. Die. We were ordered to the area on the 26th and were ready for action in
the early hours ofthe 27th with our objective: to rescue the "Lost Battalion"—as it would later be
known. The Battle ofthe Lost Battalion lasted about three days, but they were terrible days. At one
point in the battle, Co. K went through a mined area. A German had just been using our own machine
gun (abandoned by the 141st) against us—then, somebody took him out. As I advanced, I came across
two guys from my squad struggling to get the bolt out of that machine gun. I was glad I learned how
to do things like this at Cp. Blanding. It just took a few seconds to take it out and now the machine
gun would be useless in the case ofthe enemy recapturing the position. I then found piles of U.S.
grenades and bandoliers and have since wondered how they could have left so much behind that the
enemy could have or may have used. Did they give-up too easily? Were they captured or killed? I
guess I'll never really know.
Our advance toward the Lost Battalion was difficult, but we never went backward. My squad Sgt.,
Gordon Yamashiro was killed on Oct. 28th. He was a good leader who always showed concern for
everyone. When we finally broke through (Oct. 30th), Co. I was the first to make contact with the
happy Texans. I remember seeing them, but there was no time for celebrating because we were
immediately ordered to push to the end ofthe ridge which was their original objective. A patrol went
out, but we didn't know what happened to them. A second patrol went out and they must have run
into heavy opposition because they were crawling back. T threw two grenades where T saw some
enemy fire, then I ran to the side. I saw a German hiding behind a tree. I took several shots at him.
The next thing I saw was his body prone on the ground, so I must have got him. We eventually
reached our objective. It has been written that a day after the rescue ofthe Lost Battalion, Co. K was
down to 17 riflemen and had lost all officers. (Co. I had even more losses.) Our regiment took over
800 casualties to rescue about 211 men ofthe 141st. All I knew at the time was that we had lost a lot
of guys and I felt real lucky to be alive. But in less than two weeks, I would be hit twice. The first
time, it was a very minor wound that required just field aid. The second time took me out of action.
A tree burst from artillery or mortar fire sent a shard of wood through my right elbow.
I was wounded on Nov. 12, 1944. When I first got hit, the pain was terrible and blood was spurting
from my arm. I looked around and saw James Okubo, our medic, in his hole. I called to him and told
him to stay were he was because I could still move. It was some distance, but I got up and ran.
Somehow, I had stopped bleeding by the time I reached James. He quickly cut through my thick wool
thermals, wool shirt, and outer jacket, put a tourniquet on me and treated my wound. He did a great
job. Everybody really liked James and we knew we could always count on him. I was next treated at
the field hospital and then I went, by train, to a hospital in Aix-en-Provence. By Nov. 19th, the whole
battalion was out ofthe Vosges Mountains and in the south of France. There were about two-
3
Tom Kawano ~~ Military Hi story
Object Description
| Title | Tom Kawano's History |
| Description | In the pursuit of redress for Japanese Americans, Tom Kawano shares his own experience in the 100th/442nd battalion. |
| Subjects | Redress and reparations |
| Type | image |
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Language | eng |
| Collection | Hirasuna Family Papers |
| Collection Description | 5 items |
| Project Name | California State University Japanese American Digitization Project |
| Rights | Rights not yet transferred |
Description
| Local ID | csufr_hfp_1438 |
| Project ID | csufr_hfp_1438 |
| Title | Page 3 |
| Creator | Kawano, Tom: author |
| Date Created | Unknown |
| Subjects | Redress and reparations |
| Type | image |
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Language | eng |
| Collection | Hirasuna Family Papers |
| Collection Description | 8.50 x 10.90in |
| Rights | Rights not yet transferred |
| Transcript | passenger train with seats, but boxcars. We reached the assembly center near Bruyeres in the Vosges Mountains. On Oct. 18th, we entered Bruyeres and stayed that night in a civilian house. The next day, we were ordered to take Hill "D" which we did without meeting opposition. (Hill "D" was re-taken by German troops that night. Co. K was not ordered back, but others in our regiment fought fiercely to secure it again.) For years, the enemy had been well established in the area. They held all the high strategic areas and knew the terrain well. Our job was to keep pushing the enemy east and to force a retreat—which we did. But there was bitter fighting and we paid dearly for our success. We were due for some scheduled rest by Oct. 25th. What we didn't know was that the 1st Battalion of the 141st Infantry from Texas had been cut-off and surrounded on a ridge farther east, between the towns of Gerardmer and St. Die. We were ordered to the area on the 26th and were ready for action in the early hours ofthe 27th with our objective: to rescue the "Lost Battalion"—as it would later be known. The Battle ofthe Lost Battalion lasted about three days, but they were terrible days. At one point in the battle, Co. K went through a mined area. A German had just been using our own machine gun (abandoned by the 141st) against us—then, somebody took him out. As I advanced, I came across two guys from my squad struggling to get the bolt out of that machine gun. I was glad I learned how to do things like this at Cp. Blanding. It just took a few seconds to take it out and now the machine gun would be useless in the case ofthe enemy recapturing the position. I then found piles of U.S. grenades and bandoliers and have since wondered how they could have left so much behind that the enemy could have or may have used. Did they give-up too easily? Were they captured or killed? I guess I'll never really know. Our advance toward the Lost Battalion was difficult, but we never went backward. My squad Sgt., Gordon Yamashiro was killed on Oct. 28th. He was a good leader who always showed concern for everyone. When we finally broke through (Oct. 30th), Co. I was the first to make contact with the happy Texans. I remember seeing them, but there was no time for celebrating because we were immediately ordered to push to the end ofthe ridge which was their original objective. A patrol went out, but we didn't know what happened to them. A second patrol went out and they must have run into heavy opposition because they were crawling back. T threw two grenades where T saw some enemy fire, then I ran to the side. I saw a German hiding behind a tree. I took several shots at him. The next thing I saw was his body prone on the ground, so I must have got him. We eventually reached our objective. It has been written that a day after the rescue ofthe Lost Battalion, Co. K was down to 17 riflemen and had lost all officers. (Co. I had even more losses.) Our regiment took over 800 casualties to rescue about 211 men ofthe 141st. All I knew at the time was that we had lost a lot of guys and I felt real lucky to be alive. But in less than two weeks, I would be hit twice. The first time, it was a very minor wound that required just field aid. The second time took me out of action. A tree burst from artillery or mortar fire sent a shard of wood through my right elbow. I was wounded on Nov. 12, 1944. When I first got hit, the pain was terrible and blood was spurting from my arm. I looked around and saw James Okubo, our medic, in his hole. I called to him and told him to stay were he was because I could still move. It was some distance, but I got up and ran. Somehow, I had stopped bleeding by the time I reached James. He quickly cut through my thick wool thermals, wool shirt, and outer jacket, put a tourniquet on me and treated my wound. He did a great job. Everybody really liked James and we knew we could always count on him. I was next treated at the field hospital and then I went, by train, to a hospital in Aix-en-Provence. By Nov. 19th, the whole battalion was out ofthe Vosges Mountains and in the south of France. There were about two- 3 Tom Kawano ~~ Military Hi story |
