Nisei In Uniform

              100th BATTALION
T:
HE first Nisei unit to engage in active combat was
the 100th Infantry Battalion which had been organized around a cadre of national guardsmen
from two Hawaiian infantry regiments. Many of
the men in the 100th Battalion had gone through
the attack of December 7, 1941, in the Honolulu
area. One Nisei soldier had been killed by the
attackers. Two others assisted in capturing the
operator of a one-man submarine which had
grounded on a reef off the island of Oahu—the first
Japanese prisoner to be taken by the United States
in World War II. Still another led a detachment
of soldiers that took into custody a Japanese aviator
who landed on the island of Niihau and terrorized
the natives there before his capture.
In June, 1942, the 100th Battalion was transferred
from Hawaii to the mainland for training, first at
Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, and later at Camp
Shelby, Mississippi. It embarked for Africa in
early August, 1943, and joined the invasion army at
Salerno, Italy, in late September.
About one month later, on October 21, the War
Department issued a release stating that the battalion had come through its "first test under Nazi fire
with colors flying." An Army officer, reporting on
a visit to the unit, observed that "these soldiers are
as far away from the stereotyped picture of the
evil-doing sons of Japan as the ail-American boy is
from a headhunter. It's in their faces. They obviously believe in what they're doing, and look
calmly secure because of it."
The 100th Battalion participated in the landing
at Salerno and in every major action in Italy after
the landing. It made four drives across the Volturno
River, and aided in the capture of Cassino. It took
an active part in the march on Rome, and spearheaded the American attack on Livorno, in the campaign to expel the Nazis from the upper ranges of
the Italian Peninsula.
On July 27, 1944, for its "outstanding performance of duty in action" at Belvedere and Sasseta
in breaking up the enemy's defenses, Lt. Gen.
Mark W. Clark, Commander of the Fifth Army, conferred on it the War Department's Distinguished Unit
Citation.    At that time, individual members of the
battalion had received 11 Distinguished Service
Crosses, 44 Silver Stars, 31 Bronze Stars, and 3
Legion of Merit decorations. Fifteen battlefield commissions had been conferred for superior leadership
in combat.
In addition to these citations and promotions for
valor and military proficiency, more than 1,000
Purple Hearts had been awarded as a result of the
casualties suffered by the Unit. Not all of the men for
whom the medals were authorized were able to receive them in person; many had died on the battlefield.
In Honolulu, on March 11, 1944, Col. Kendall
J. Fielder, Chief of Staff for Military Intelligence in
the Central Pacific, presented Purple Hearts to the
nearest of kin of 60 of these Nisei soldiers who had
fallen on Italian soil. "This is not a happy occasion
for you or for me, but it is a proud one," he said.
"You are the mothers and fathers, the wives, the
sisters and brothers of American soldiers who gave
their lives for our country . . . Your boy was an
American and he fought and died as hosts of good
Americans have always done and always will do
when the cause of freedom is threatened ... He
knew the sweetness of liberty and he knew the foulness of the totalitarian system for he had seen both
of them at first-hand.
"He knew also, as you must know, that there are
some good Americans who, out of righteous anger,
were slow to accept the fact of his whole-hearted
Americanism. He didn't need to die to prove it to
himself, or to you, or to other Americans that he was
fine and loyal and brave. His willingness to serve
America by fighting for her proved that."
The officers directly associated with the 100th
Battalion have been unanimously enthusiastic about
the quality and spirit of the men. Lt. Col. Farrant
L. Turner, who commanded them before he was
invalided home, stated that he had "never had
more whole-hearted, serious-minded cooperation
from any troops." War correspondents have reported extensively and in highly complimentary
terms on many exploits of the unit in combat with
the enemy. These fighting Americans have given
proof, far beyond the argument of words, that they
are good Americans.
On a map of Italy, Lt. Shigeru Tsubota points to the spot, near Salerno, where the 100th Infantry landed
with the Allied invasion army. Tsubota, a graduate of the University of Hawaii, received a severe leg
wound, on September 30, 1943, while directing the placement of machine guns to secure the flank of his
unit.    He hopes to be able to rejoin his unit when he recovers from his wound.