Yost Israel A. S. - Combat chaplain : the personal story of the World War II chaplain of the Japanese American 100th Battalion

YOST

A u t o b i o g r a p h y / m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y In OCTOBER 1943, twenty-seven-year-old combat infantry chaplain Israel Yost arrived in Italy with the 100th Battalion, a little-known National Guard unit of mostly Japanese Americans from Hawaii.Yost was apprehensive when he learned of his assignment to this unusual unit composed of soldiers with whom he felt he had little in common and C O M B A T

who were mostly Buddhists. But this would soon change. Before long Yost found himself living and working shoulder to shoulder with these men under enemy fire in freezing temperatures and mountainous terrain. In the midst of the difficulties and dangers, cOMBAT

he had many opportunities to experience and observe the generosity of the soldiers toward himself and others, including the Italian peasants they encountered. He wrote to C H A P L A I N

his wife of their obsession with finding fresh food to supplement their C-rations, their largely unintelligible Island pidgin, and his friendships with Captain Katsumi Kometani, the battalions morale officer and dentist; Captain Jack Mizuha, later a Hawaii Supreme

Court justice; and Lieutenant Spark Matsunaga, who would go on to serve many terms as a senator from Hawaii.

For the next nineteen months at the frontfrom Salerno to Monte Cassino to Anzio T H E P E R S O N A L S T O R Y

to Bruyres, FranceYost assisted medics, retrieved bodies from the battlefield, buried enemy soldiers, struggled to bolster morale as the number of casualties rose higher and higher, and wrote countless letters of condolence, all in addition to fulfilling his minis-cHAPLAIN

O F T H E W O R L D W A R I I C H A P L A I N

terial duties, which included preaching in the foxholes. Although his sermons won few converts,Yosts tireless energy and concern for others earned him admiration from his O F T H E J A P A N E S E A M E R I C A N

fellow soldiers, who often turned to him as a trusted friend and spiritual advisor.

At wars end, no other battalion would receive as many decorations and honors as the 1 0 0 T H B A T T A L I O N

100th.Yost returned to Pennsylvania and the life of a small town pastor. Forty years later, with the help of the letters he had written almost daily to his wife and his field diaries, he wrote of his wartime experiences in the hopes that they might one day be published as a record of the remarkable character and accomplishments of the 100th. CombatChaplain presents this heartfelt memoir intact with the addition of photographs and subsequent letters and speeches by Yost and other veterans.

Israel Yost was a man of faith who was also a man of courage and hope. His memoir

is a testament to his humanity, his integrity, and his unwavering support of Japanese American soldiers who were not only fighting the enemy abroad, but also social injustice at home. His personal account of his two years with the 100th Battalion provides the unique perspective of a military chaplain who begins with no experience or understanding of Japanese Americans, but who quickly forms an unbreakable bond with the Nisei soldiers he served. Daniel K. Inouye, U.S. Senator ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-3082-3

ISBN-10: 0-8248-3082-2

Cover design: Liz Demeter

I S R A E L A . S . Y O S T

u n i v e r s i ty o f hawa i i p r e s s

www.uhpress.hawaii.edu

h o n o lu lu, hawa i i 9 6 8 2 2 1888

M O N I C A E . Y O S T A N D M I C H A E L M A R K R I C H , E D I T O R S

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C o m b a t

C h a p l a i n

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C O M B A T

C H A P L A I N

T h e P e r s o n a l S t o r y o f t h e

W o r l d W a r I I C h a p l a i n

o f t h e J a p a n e s e A m e r i c a n

1 0 0 t h B a t t a l i o n

I S R A E L A . S. Y O S T

Monica E. Yost and

Michael Markrich, editors

A L atitude 20 Book

University of Hawaii Press

Honolulu

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2006 Estate of Israel A. S. Yost

All rights reserved

Printed in United States of America

11 10 09 08 07 06

6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yost, Israel A. S., 19162000

Combat chaplain : the personal story of the World War II : chaplain of the Japanese American 100th Battalion / Israel A. S. Yost ; Monica E. Yost ; Monica E. Yost and Michael Markrich, editors.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-3023-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 0-8248-3023-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)

ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-3082-3 (pbk : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 0-8248-3082-2 (pbk : alk. paper)

1. Yost, Israel A. S., 19162000. 2. United States. Army. Infantry Battalion, 100th. 3. World War, 19391945Personal narratives, American. 4. World War, 19391945ChaplainsUnited States

Biography. 5. United States. ArmyChaplainsBiography. 6. Japanese American Soldiers. 7. World War, 19391945CampaignsItaly.

8. Chaplains, MilitaryUnited StatesBiography. I. Yost, Monica Elizabeth, 1942 II. Markrich, Michael. III. Title.

D810.C36U69 2006

940.54'78092dc22

2006007355

Maps in this book are from The Story of the 442nd CombatTeam: Composed of 442nd Infantry Regiment, 522nd FieldArtillery Battalion, 232nd Combat Engineer Company.

Information-Education Section, MTOUSA, 1946.

University of Hawaii Press books are printed on

acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources

Designed by Liz Demeter

Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group

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C O N T E N T S

Foreword

Monica E. Yost

vii

ix

List of Abbreviations

xiii

The Assignment

1

The Making of the 100th

19

From Parson to Chaplain

31

Back to Serious Business

47

How Long in These Hills?

66

A Reprieve before Cassino

93

Failure at Cassino

113

Anzio and Rome

136

North to Pisa

158

La Belle France

180

On the Border

205

Italian Finale

226

Three More Months

251

Afterword

Monica E. Yost

281

Appendix: Memorial Address

100th Infantry Battalion

293

Works Cited

299

Index

301

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F O R E W O R D

Monica E. Yost

FOR ME this book is a tribute not only to my father, but also to the men of the 100th Battalion. Reading my fathers memoir and other materials about the 100th that he saved was an emotional experience for me not only because of the picture I saw of him, but also because of what I learned about the men with whom he served. I was touched deeply by their bravery, their stamina, their strong bonds of camaraderie, and their kindness to an outsider from Pennsylvania. Every time I read certain pages as I worked on editing the manuscript, I felt sadness for the men who died, the families who never saw their loved ones return, and the men who did return but with disabilities and traumatic memories. I am pleased that this book will add to the historical record about the exceptional men of the 100th. And I have an overwhelming sense of how fortunate I am that my father was one who did come home in good health.