Sterner - Go for broke : the Nisei warriors of World War II who conquered Germany, Japan, and American bigotry

To My Grandchildren Dante and Skye Lundin1/2 White, 1/4 Black, 1/4 Korean100% American!

NNOCENTLY SOUNDING ENOUGH, Executive Order No. 9066 granted military authorities the power to declare entire regions to be military areas and to take whatever steps were necessary to remove from the area any persons thought to be a sabotage or espionage threat. It was a relocation provision designed to move Japanese American citizens from their homes. Most lived in Hawaii and on the west coast, and were forcefully moved to controlled

The headlines in the San Francisco Examiner aptly interpreted the true meaning of Executive Order No. 9066 with headlines that read: Ouster of All Japs in California Near!

I am an American became the cry of thousands of citizens of Japanese origin, many of them posting signs on their homes and businesses to combat the hysteria and prejudice following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The cry went largely unheeded. From March to May 1942, more than 110,000 American citizens were uprooted from their homes and moved to relocation camps in Arizona, Arkansas, lost, homes sold quickly and far below market value; families were separated, privacy and dignity stripped from men, women and children, all because of their ethnic heritage. Persons with as little as one-sixth Japanese heritage. Even Japanese children raised in white foster homes were deemed potential threats to national security. During one Congressional hearing on the matter a Japanese-American asked, Has the Gestapo come to America?

A week earlier the 275-man battalion had dug in on the heavily wooded hillside in the rugged Vosges Mountains. Suddenly surrounded, they were cut off from all support, alone, and without

headquarters to report their situation. The coded message read:No rations, no water, no communications with headquarters...
four litter cases.

returned. The soldiers were hungry, thirsty, cold, and alone. The battalion had been whittled down to 211 men who would become known as the soldiers of the Lost Battalion.

Jim Logan, and William Crawford. Perhaps it was the example of men of valor such as these that had sustained the 211 survivors of the Lost Battalion for a full week. But time was running out as quickly as was ammunition. Sergeant Guy knew that his beleaguered soldiers needed more than courage if they were to survive... they needed a miracle.

In the distance the man seemed quite small. Even as he continued up the hill, closer to Sergeant Guys position, his stature grew only slightly.

The approaching soldier was close enough now for Sergeant Guy to recognize the uniform. Then he noticed the eyes, the oval eyes of oriental heritage. It was a Japanese soldier in an American uniform. A feeling of euphoria swept over the exhausted sergeant. Hed seen these soldiers before, Nisei warriors of the Japanese-American unit that lived by the motto Go For Broke. The Lost Battalions miracle had been delivered... all the way from Hawaii.

B Company moved slowly through the Italian countryside near Chinsana, as they knew the enemy was nearby. Two days earlier one of the battalions squad leaders, Sergeant Conrad Tsukayama

Just ten days after their arrival in Italy, the 100th lead the advance into Monte Milleto. Sergeant Shigeo Joe Takatas platoon was the point element, leading the rest of the battalion along a portion of road bordered by a gully on one side and an olive grove on the other. The advance element had just rounded an S curve at 0915, when the ground began to rumble with the sudden force of explosions. Enemy mortars and artillery began to rain from the heavens, driving the untested soldiers of the 100th to the ground. From a clearing ahead of them came the sound of enemy machine guns. Sergeant Takata rose and began to advance towards the enemy gun,

position. The other young soldiers watched in horror as an enemy round struck him in the head, driving him to the ground. To their astonishment, the sergeant slowly began to rise back up, blood