1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy Vie Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Back when 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,799 Speaker 1: we did our podcast on Executive Order nineties sixty six 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: and the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War Two, 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 1: we've very very briefly mentioned the segregated units for soldiers 7 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: of Japanese descent that were created during the war, and 8 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: those were the one Infantry Battalion and the four forty 9 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: second Regimental Combat Team whose name we mangled as for 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:44,959 Speaker 1: twenty second thanks to a typo on my part. So 11 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: I had been planning to do an episode on the 12 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: four forty seconds. Since then, we've gotten a lot of 13 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: requests for it. We had gotten requests for it before that. 14 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: When I finally got into the research, I realized you 15 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: really cannot cover the four forty second without also talking 16 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: about the one hundred, and then I realized that their 17 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: story is also connected into the story of the Military 18 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: Intelligence Service. All of those things have multiple common elements 19 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: in their background and like multiple connecting points between them. 20 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: So today we're going to talk about all three of 21 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: those and how they played a critical role in American 22 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,759 Speaker 1: involvement in the war. Also, I just wanted to note 23 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: that today's show is really about men, but there were 24 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: also Japanese American women who served in World War Two, 25 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: including in the Army Nurse Corps and the Women's Army Corps. 26 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: Those began accepting Japanese women in February and November of 27 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, respectively. So we're gonna start with the 28 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: Military Intelligence Service. Although the United States initially tried to 29 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: avoid becoming involved in World War Two, by nineteen forty 30 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: it seemed increasingly likely that a war with Japan was coming. 31 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: The American military had a clear need for military personnel 32 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: who were fluent in Japanese, and such service members were 33 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: in really short supply. Japanese Americans participated in the U. S. 34 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: Armed Forces going back to the Spanish American War in 35 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 1: eight and there was an all Japanese regiment of soldiers 36 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: from Hawaii during World War One, but by the start 37 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: of World War Two, there weren't many Japanese Americans in 38 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: the U. S. Military in general, and even fewer actually 39 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: knew how to speak Japanese. In ninety one, the War 40 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: Department realized the situation was dire. On top of the 41 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: lack of Japanese speakers in the military, the war was 42 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: approaching so quickly that there just would not be time 43 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: to train people as linguists unless they were already very 44 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: familiar with the language. So a small group of officials 45 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: started advocating for the military to look to the children 46 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: of Japanese immigrants to fill the gap. Known as nissa. 47 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: These were citizens of the United States who officials assumed 48 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,359 Speaker 1: would already be fluent in Japanese thanks to speaking Japanese 49 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: at home with their parents and other family members, and 50 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: sometimes having been educated in Japan. This was a really 51 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: controversial idea. Nissa were viewed with suspicion long before Japan's 52 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December seventh of ninety one, 53 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: and this was particularly true of Key Bay, which was 54 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: the term for nissa who had been educated in Japan. 55 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: Some people objected to Japanese Americans being allowed into the 56 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: service at all, while others objected to the idea of 57 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: the children of Japanese immigrants being allowed to handle really 58 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: sensitive tasks like translating captured documents and interrogating Japanese prisoners. 59 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: The idea also just wasn't as feasible as officials originally 60 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: had hoped. After serving thousands of NISSA about their knowledge 61 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: of Japanese, it was determined that only about three percent 62 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: of them were fluent enough to actually do the work. 63 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: So in late nineteen forty one, the War Department allocated 64 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: two thousand dollars to establish the first Army Japanese Language 65 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: School in a small aircraft hangar at the Presidio in 66 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: San Francisco, California. Nie Salman, between the ages of twenty 67 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: one and thirty six, had been required to register for 68 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: the draft under the Selective Training and Service Act of 69 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: nineteen same was true of all other men at the 70 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: same age living in the United States. When the language 71 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: school was established, Nie Salman were conscripted and screened before 72 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 1: being sent for training, and the first training class began 73 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: on November one, one, a little more than a month 74 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,160 Speaker 1: before the attack on Pearl Harbor of the sixties. Students 75 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: enrolled in that first class fifty eight were Japanese and 76 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: two were white. Some of these students had some familiarity 77 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: with Japanese already, some of them were even fluent speakers, 78 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: but even so This training was grueling. Even those who 79 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: were fluent in Japanese didn't typically know any Japanese military 80 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: vocabulary or the military concepts and tactics that those words represented. 81 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: The students who were already the most depth at Japanese 82 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: helped the students who were struggling, but overall everyone struggled 83 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 1: with the military knowledge and terminology. In addition to the 84 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: language and the military education, the students learned Japanese law 85 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: and social customs. They learned about interrogation and interpretation, as 86 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: well as as techniques for intercepting communications. And then on 87 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: top of all of that, they had to learn two 88 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: other styles of written Japanese. One was a formal writing 89 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 1: style called sorobun, which dates back to the Edo period 90 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: and was used among Japanese royalty. The other was so show, 91 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: which was a style of Japanese cursive writing that was 92 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: apparently really difficult to master for this first group of soldiers. 93 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 1: Classes began every morning at eight am and they ran 94 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: for ten hours. Lights out was at eleven PM, and 95 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: many of the students studied from the time. Classes adjourned 96 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: until lights out. Some kept studying well into the night, 97 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: either hiding under their eats with flashlights or studying in 98 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:06,039 Speaker 1: the latrine, which was lit at night. A handful of 99 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:09,119 Speaker 1: these students were ready to go overseas after about five 100 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: months of training, and as for the rest, a quarter 101 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: failed the program. The course of instruction was so demanding 102 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: that only forty five of the initial sixty students actually 103 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: graduated and went on to serve with the Military Intelligence Service. 104 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: After President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order ninety sixty six, 105 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 1: which removed Japanese Americans from the West Coast to concentration 106 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,839 Speaker 1: camps in other parts of the country, the Military Intelligence 107 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: Service School moved from the West Coast as well. It 108 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,159 Speaker 1: relocated to Camp Savage, Minnesota, and classes began there on 109 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: June one, ninety two. In nineteen four, it moved once again, 110 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: this time to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, which had more room 111 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: available for classroom facilities. The Military Intelligence Service Language School 112 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: was at its largest in early nineteen forty six, with 113 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: one sixty and actors and three thousand students. By June 114 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,840 Speaker 1: of that year, six thousand people had graduated from the program. 115 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: The Military Intelligence Services of work was absolutely critical to 116 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 1: the American military effort in the Pacific and Asia. Before 117 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: the end of the war. These men translated more than 118 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: eighteen thousand captured Japanese documents, and they interrogated more than 119 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: ten thousand prisoners of war. They wrote propaganda, they tried 120 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: to convince Japanese soldiers to surrender, and they worked with 121 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: civilians as the Allies took over territory that had previously 122 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: been colonized by Japan. General Douglas MacArthur said that the 123 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: niss A work in the Military Intelligence Service shortened the 124 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: war by two years. Some of this work took place 125 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: in combat on the front lines, but aside from the 126 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: dangers of combat, this work before the end of the 127 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: war came at a huge risk to their lives. Japan 128 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: considered them to be Japanese nationals, which made them traders 129 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: for working with the American military, which meant that they 130 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 1: would be executed if they were captured. The m I 131 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: S continued its work in Asia after the end of 132 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: the war as well. Soldiers from the m I S 133 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: were some of the first people on the scene after 134 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: the surrender of Japan. They provided some of the first 135 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: reports of what conditions were like in Japan, including the 136 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: near starvation conditions among its civilian population and the massive 137 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: destruction from Allied fire bombing campaigns and the bombings of 138 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the occupation of Japan. After the war, 139 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: NISSA members of the m I S made a cultural 140 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: and linguistic bridge between the occupying American troops and the 141 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: civilian population of Japan. They also served as translators during 142 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: war crimes trials, and they worked in the Civil Censorship 143 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: Detachment and the Counter Intelligence Corps, as well as the 144 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:55,559 Speaker 1: Allied Translator and Interpreter Service and the repatriation program. And 145 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:58,680 Speaker 1: all of this, the Japanese American soldiers were in a 146 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: really complicated social position in the United States. They were 147 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: the targets of suspicion and racism, including from other members 148 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: of the military, especially after the signing of Executive Order 149 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: ninety six. They were criticized by some of the other 150 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: Japanese Americans for working with the same government that was 151 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: incarcerating them on mass There's also the like the basic 152 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: mental gymnastics to work around with the idea that Japanese 153 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: Americans were so dangerous that they needed to be moved 154 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: away from the West Coast. Except for this group of 155 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: Japanese Americans also being moved away from the West Coast, 156 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: specifically to do very specific work that was very sensitive 157 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: for the military. Being deployed to Asia added its own 158 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: layer of complication. Unlike the hundredth Infantry Battalion and the 159 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: four Regimental Combat Team who served in Europe, the m 160 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: I S was serving in a place where they were 161 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: likely to see people who were known to them and 162 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 1: their families who sometimes were their family. As one example, 163 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 1: taka Jirohega, who was born in the United States but 164 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: educated in Japan, reported encountering childhood friends and a former 165 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:13,199 Speaker 1: teacher during the Battle of Okinawa. During the latter part 166 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: of the war, new members of the Military Intelligence Service 167 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: were conscripted, conscripted, or they were transferred in from the 168 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: one d Infantry Battalion or the four forty two Regimental 169 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: Combat Team, and we will start getting into those units 170 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 1: stories after a sponsor break. As we briefly mentioned earlier 171 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: in the episode, President Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and 172 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: Service Act on September sixteenth, ninety and this was the 173 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,679 Speaker 1: nation's first peacetime draft legislation. It was passed in anticipation 174 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: of American involvement in the war This Act required all 175 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: men between the ages of twenty six and thirty five 176 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: who were living in the United States to register for 177 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:00,640 Speaker 1: the draft. Starting on October sixteenth of that year, people 178 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:05,200 Speaker 1: were also enlisting, including significant numbers of Japanese Americans living 179 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,959 Speaker 1: in the territory of Hawaii, were almost of the population 180 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: was of Japanese descent. Thousands of niss living in Hawaii 181 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: joined the Hawaii National Guard. By late roughly half of 182 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: the two and two hundred nine regiments of the Hawaii 183 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 1: National Guard were Japanese American men. There were also many 184 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: Nisse among the reserve officers training corps at the University 185 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: of Hawaii. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, some of 186 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: these men were the first ones on the scene. The 187 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: r OTC cadets were ordered to report report for duty 188 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: in the afternoon of the attack. They were invited to 189 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:46,199 Speaker 1: join the Hawaii Territorial Guard. The h t G had 190 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: been formed to replace the local work of the Hawaii 191 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: National Guard, which had been ordered to active service or 192 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: federalized for the war effort. Many of the second Battalion 193 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: of the two Infantry of the National Guard were on 194 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,439 Speaker 1: duty in Oahu when the attack happened, and they actually 195 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor. All of these men 196 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 1: immediately came under suspicion because of their Japanese ancestry. For 197 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: three days after the attack, the National guardsmen were disarmed 198 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 1: and put to work doing things like digging trenches and 199 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 1: stringing barbed wire while under guard. Although their weapons and 200 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: ammunition were later returned. They spent most of the next 201 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:29,320 Speaker 1: few months doing manual labor and construction in the Hawaiian Islands. Then, 202 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:34,200 Speaker 1: on January five, two, the War Department issued a directive 203 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:39,199 Speaker 1: that classified Japanese American men as four seats or aliens, 204 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: not acceptable to the armed forces, even though they were 205 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: citizens of the United States, and even though there were 206 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: Japanese Americans already serving in the military, and there had 207 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 1: been since the late nineteenth century. At about the same time, 208 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: commanders were giving the option to either discharge Japanese soldiers 209 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: who were already reporting to them or to reassign them 210 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:04,680 Speaker 1: two so called harmless duties. More than six hundred Japanese 211 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,959 Speaker 1: American soldiers who were already serving at that time were discharged, 212 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: most of them honorably, and others were sent to Camp Robinson. Arkansas, 213 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:17,679 Speaker 1: where they were assigned to do menial labor. On January 214 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: twenty one, General Dalos Emmons, who had become Hawaii's military 215 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: governor when it was placed under martial law, ordered the 216 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: HTG to be disbanded. A day later, it had reformed 217 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:34,200 Speaker 1: without its former NISSE members, effectively excluding them from serving. 218 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: The next month, these ousted members, along with other NISSA 219 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: went on to form the Varsity Victory Volunteers or Triple V. 220 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,760 Speaker 1: The Triple V volunteered to do manual labor for the military, 221 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: which included rock breaking, road resurfacing, and assembling prefabricated buildings 222 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: in furniture. They also cooked for military units, and they 223 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: arranged all kinds of community involvement, from buying war bonds 224 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 1: to donating blood, and they participated in all these efforts themselves. 225 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,320 Speaker 1: On February nineteen of that year, President Roosevelt signed Executive 226 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 1: Order six, which was the first of several actions paving 227 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: the way for the mass removal and incarceration of Japanese 228 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,960 Speaker 1: Americans from the West coast of the United States. We 229 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: mentioned that briefly before the break. We're not going to 230 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: go over all the details because there's a two part 231 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: podcast on this in the recent archive, but more than 232 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:31,120 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand Japanese Americans were held in concentration camps 233 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: for years. About two thirds of the people who were 234 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: incarcerated were citizens of the United States, and more than 235 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 1: half of them were children. In Hawaii, where we're talking 236 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: about right now, the Japanese population was too large to 237 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: incarcerate everyone, So while there were people who were incarcerated, 238 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: everyone else was subject to things like really strict curfews, 239 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: movement restrictions, and the closure of all Japanese language schools. 240 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: Like Hawaii was under martial law, and to some extents 241 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: of this affected everyone, but the restrictions on Japanese Americans 242 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: were a lot more strict. Simultaneously, the United States still 243 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: had thousands of Japanese Americans serving in the National Guard 244 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: and didn't quite know what to do about it. General 245 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: Emmons and General George Marshall were convinced that they were 246 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 1: a massive security risk, especially after receiving intelligence reports that 247 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 1: the Japanese Navy was headed towards nearby Midway A toll, 248 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: so they transferred all niss A personnel out of the 249 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: Hawaii National Guard and into a newly created Hawaiian Provisional 250 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: Infantry Battalion. This battalion, made up of one thousand, four 251 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: hundred six enlistes and about thirty officers, about half of 252 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: whom were white, was secretly sent to the mainland on 253 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: June five. People may wonder whether the Nie How incident 254 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: that had happened after the bombing of Pearl Harbor was 255 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: part of this. That really comes up a lot more 256 00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: often today with people trying to like retroact to ly 257 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: justify Executive Order ninety sixty six. Then it was an 258 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: actual massive concern people at the time. It was like 259 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: a much There was a lot more going on that 260 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:13,359 Speaker 1: was not about that one incident. After arriving in San Francisco, California, 261 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 1: on June five, nine two, the Provisional Infantry Battalion was 262 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: designated the one hundred Infantry Infantry Battalion Separate. That separate 263 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: signified that they were essentially on their own. The one 264 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: wasn't connected to any other units. They didn't have a 265 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: parent company that they were reporting up through. They were 266 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: sent to train at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin, with the 267 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: men divided up among three different trains traveling along three 268 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: separate routes for the sake of secrecy. In January of 269 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, they moved to Camp Shelby in Mississippi 270 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: for further training, in part because the military still hadn't 271 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: figured out what to do with them. The men had 272 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: experienced some racism in Wisconsin, including the white officers who 273 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: were criticized and ridiculed for their support of the Japanese troops, 274 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 1: but for most of them, Mississippi was their first experience 275 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: with the racial segregation that was entrenched in the American South, 276 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: and they occupied an odd place in that system. They 277 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,399 Speaker 1: were typically considered white in terms of being able to 278 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: access things like restrooms and restaurants, but at the same 279 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,359 Speaker 1: time they were definitely not white, and not far away, 280 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: other Japanese Americans were being held in concentration camps under 281 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,159 Speaker 1: armed guard. Yeah, this is the first time most of 282 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: them had been in that type of segregated environment. It 283 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 1: was also the first time that a lot of the 284 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:40,439 Speaker 1: people that were living in this part of the country 285 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: had seen a lot of Japanese Americans like there was 286 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 1: a whole unfamiliarity with one another's uh social norms. And then, 287 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 1: as we have discussed on the podcast, before race is 288 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 1: a social construct. It's not a thing like it's not 289 00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:00,639 Speaker 1: a biological imperative. And the Japanese trade knees at this 290 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:05,239 Speaker 1: point where in this nebulous space that was like with 291 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,320 Speaker 1: outside of the bounds of of what had been entrenched 292 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: in the south for so long. After spending about four 293 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: times as normal and training, and this in a wartime 294 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: atmosphere where people were being rushed to the front without 295 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 1: a lot training, the one Infantry Battalion finally left for 296 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: North Africa on August one. Before they left, they chose 297 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,879 Speaker 1: remember Pearl Harbor as their motto. Once they arrived in Africa, 298 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: their initial assignment was to stay in Algeria and guard 299 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: German prisoners of war, but their commanding officer insisted that 300 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: they be allowed to join the force that was advancing 301 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,959 Speaker 1: through Italy. They were allowed to do so, resulting in 302 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,720 Speaker 1: them becoming part of an advanced guard as the Allies 303 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:54,919 Speaker 1: moved northward and facing enormous casualties. When they arrived in Italy, 304 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: the one hundred had one thousand, three hundred men. After 305 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,160 Speaker 1: taking Monte Casino to the southeast of Rome, only six 306 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: hundred were still ready for combat as a result of 307 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 1: these massive numbers of casualties, the one infantry Battalion was 308 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 1: soon nicknamed the Purple Heart Battalion, and it needed replacements 309 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,399 Speaker 1: for all those killed and wounded members. Since it was 310 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: a segregated unit, those replacements had to be Japanese Americans, 311 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 1: and they came from the four hundred forty two Regimental 312 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,920 Speaker 1: Combat Team. We will get to their story after another 313 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:36,920 Speaker 1: quick sponsor break. As we mentioned earlier in the show, 314 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: the War Department directed that all Japanese Americans be classified 315 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: four C or aliens not acceptable to the Armed Forces 316 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:49,760 Speaker 1: on January five, two, and that direction stayed in place 317 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 1: for more than a year. On January twenty ninety three, 318 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 1: the Secretary of War issued a press release that described 319 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 1: the right to serve in the military as one belonging 320 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: to every citizen regarding regardless of their national origin. And 321 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,399 Speaker 1: this was the first step in reversing the policy that 322 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: had barred Japanese Americans from enlisting and were the one 323 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: hundred were all people that had been in the National 324 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: Guard before the attack on Pearl Harbor, and then there 325 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:18,920 Speaker 1: was this long period where Japanese Americans were not allowed 326 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 1: to enlist. The next step was to create a segregated 327 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:26,679 Speaker 1: unit for those newly eligible Japanese soldiers. This unit was 328 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: the four hundred forty second Regimental Combat Team, which was 329 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: activated on February one three. The four incorporated the five 330 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:39,199 Speaker 1: hundred twenty second Artillery Battalion, the two hundred thirty second 331 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 1: Combat Engineers Company, along with an anti tank company, a 332 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 1: cannon company, a medical company, and the two hundred six 333 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: Army Ground Forces Banned. This decision to allow to allow 334 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 1: Japanese Americans into the military came about after months of 335 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: advocacy on the part of civil rights organizations and Japanese 336 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: Americans themselves, particularly the Japanese American Citizens League. The existence 337 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,640 Speaker 1: and the diligent work of the Triple V remember those 338 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 1: are the people that had been kicked out of the 339 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: Hawaii Territorial Guard and responded to that by volunteering to 340 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: do manual labor for the army was brought up as 341 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: evidence that NISSA were loyal Americans who should be allowed 342 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 1: to serve. The nation of Japan was also using the 343 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: mass incarceration of Japanese Americans and its propaganda, basically using 344 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: that as evidence that the United States was targeting Japan 345 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: because of its race. So allowing Japanese service members was 346 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,640 Speaker 1: kind of a pr move. All of this together influenced 347 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: the decision to start allowing NISSA to enlist and serve, 348 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: and this service was, at least in the beginning, voluntary, 349 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: because Japanese Americans were allowed into the military, but they 350 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: were still excluded from the draft. These volunteers were to 351 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,639 Speaker 1: come from both Hawaii and from the concentration camps for 352 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,479 Speaker 1: the Spanese American population of the West Coast had been 353 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,160 Speaker 1: incarcerated for about a year, and the response from those 354 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:10,040 Speaker 1: two places to the call for volunteers was completely different. 355 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: In Hawaii, where most of the Japanese population had not 356 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: been subject to mass incarceration, the response was huge. A 357 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: call went out for fift hundred Japanese Americans to enlist, 358 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 1: and more than ten thousand volunteered. Many NISA men were 359 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: eager to serve and eager to demonstrate their loyalty to 360 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,919 Speaker 1: the United States. The Triple V disbanded as most of 361 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:36,159 Speaker 1: its members joined the service, but that was overall not 362 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: how a lot of people in the camps felt about it. 363 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 1: They had been incarcerated for more than a year under 364 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: the blanket suspicion that they were a threat to the country, 365 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: and now that same country that had been incarcerating them 366 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,400 Speaker 1: was asking them to risk their lives in its service. 367 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: Another issue in the camps was a loyalty questionnaire more 368 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: formally known as the Application for Leave Clearance, that the 369 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,320 Speaker 1: War Department and War Relocation Authority required adults to fill 370 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 1: out starting in February of nineteen forty three. We talked 371 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: about this questionnaire more in our two part episode on 372 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: Executive Order ninety sixty six, but in general it was 373 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 1: viewed with intense suspicion. It included questions about willingness to 374 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: serve in the military, which some people were afraid would 375 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: commit them to serving. Another question asked people to forswear 376 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 1: their allegiance to the Emperor of Japan, but many of 377 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: the people taking it had no such allegiance to forswear, 378 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,439 Speaker 1: and this contributed to the suspicion about the idea of 379 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,200 Speaker 1: joining the military. When the four hundred forty two began 380 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:45,200 Speaker 1: training at Camp Shelby on March nine, there were two thousands, 381 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,919 Speaker 1: six eighty six volunteers from Hawaii and about fifteen hundred 382 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: from the mainland. The one battalion was actually still training 383 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: at Camp Shelby as well, and a lot of them 384 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 1: knew the recruits from Hawaiis. They were made a lot 385 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: of friendly connect shans from reconnecting with old friends. At first, 386 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:06,960 Speaker 1: there was a stark division between the new recruits from 387 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: Hawaii and the ones from the Continental US. The soldiers 388 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 1: from Hawaii were nicknamed Buddha Heads. There are a couple 389 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,640 Speaker 1: different theories about the origin of this name. It might 390 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:19,920 Speaker 1: have been a reference to the Buddhist religion that many 391 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:22,199 Speaker 1: of them followed, or it might have come from the 392 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:26,159 Speaker 1: Hawaiian word for pig. Because they were stubborn, the Buddha 393 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,640 Speaker 1: Heads gave the recruits from the Continental US the disparaging 394 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: nickname could talks, which was supposedly from the sound their 395 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: heads made when hitting the concrete. As that nickname suggests, 396 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: there were a lot of fights, and many of them 397 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: were instigated by the Buddha Heads. In general, the troops 398 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: from Hawaii thought that the troops from the Continental US 399 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: were stuck up and too serious and too worried about 400 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 1: what other people thought about them. And then the troops 401 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,919 Speaker 1: from the continental part of the country thought that the 402 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,760 Speaker 1: troops from Hawaii were loud and course and ignorant. There 403 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,960 Speaker 1: were also language barriers. Many of the troops from the 404 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 1: Continental US spoke Standard English and might also speak Japanese, 405 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: while a lot of the troops from Hawaii were speaking 406 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:14,439 Speaker 1: Hawaii Creole, which people in Hawaii often call pigeon. The 407 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:16,720 Speaker 1: two groups were so at odds with each other that 408 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: officers worried that they would never be able to work together. 409 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: Numerous accounts report that what finally brought the men together 410 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: was several recruits of Hawaii visiting the concentration camps that 411 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:31,400 Speaker 1: were nearby in Arkansas. Before that point, the Hawaiian recruits 412 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,679 Speaker 1: hadn't understood what conditions that those camps were like, or 413 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:37,679 Speaker 1: what it really meant to be incarcerated there. In the 414 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: words of Daniel in Away, who would later become a U. 415 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,400 Speaker 1: S Senator from Hawaii, quote, overnight, the situation and camp 416 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: shall be changed. Because the word went out like wildfire. 417 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,400 Speaker 1: The experiment worked. I went back and said, I gotta 418 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 1: tell you guys about these Mainlanders. You won't believe what 419 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,440 Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you. And this must have gone 420 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: on in every hut throughout the camp. The next day 421 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,120 Speaker 1: you thought you were visiting a new regiment. We were 422 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: blood brothers. The regiment was not formed when we volunteered, 423 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,439 Speaker 1: nor when we arrived at Camp Shelby. It was formed 424 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,639 Speaker 1: after this visit in late nineteen forty three. In early 425 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,280 Speaker 1: nineteen forty four, members of the four forty seconds First 426 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:20,160 Speaker 1: Infantry Battalion were leaving Camp Shelby to replenish the one 427 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:24,440 Speaker 1: in Italy. As we've said before earlier in the show, 428 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:28,159 Speaker 1: they had been experiencing huge casualties. By the time the 429 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,680 Speaker 1: rest of the four forty second was ready to depart 430 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 1: on May one, four, the First Infantry Battalion was nearly depleted. 431 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: The rest stayed behind to help train the next wave 432 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:43,320 Speaker 1: of men. When the four and the one met up 433 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,679 Speaker 1: in Italy, the one Battalion took the place of the 434 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,680 Speaker 1: four forty seconds First Battalion. Because the one hundred had 435 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,880 Speaker 1: been serving with such distinction so far in their time 436 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,360 Speaker 1: in Europe, they were allowed to keep their original name, 437 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: which meant that the four forty seconds Infantry Battalions were 438 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: the one hundredths, the second, and the third. After incorporating 439 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,400 Speaker 1: the one hundred Battalion, the four hundred spearheaded the Fifth 440 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: Army's push toward Rome in ninetto like the one hundred. 441 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: They fought with immense valor and developed a reputation that 442 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:20,160 Speaker 1: was befitting their motto of Gopher broke the Their most 443 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: famous and most devastating engagement took place in October of 444 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,439 Speaker 1: nineteen forty four. The hundred forty one Regiment of the 445 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: thirty six Infantry Division, which were originally part of the 446 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,680 Speaker 1: Texas National Guard, was deep in the woods of the 447 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: Voges Mountains and had been surrounded by German troops. Major 448 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: General John Dalquist ordered the four forty second to go 449 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,600 Speaker 1: rescue them, even though they were supposed to be recovering 450 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: from intense fighting that they had participated in while liberating 451 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,119 Speaker 1: the towns of Briere and Beefontaine, and The four hundred 452 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,400 Speaker 1: forty second did rescue the hundred forty one, but they 453 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: incurred heavy losses while doing it. Most of the fighting 454 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,320 Speaker 1: took place in dense woods and free weather, with visibility 455 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 1: affected by heavy fog and freezing rain. Reaching the hundred 456 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: forty one required five days and nights of NonStop combat, 457 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 1: and in the end more men were killed from the 458 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 1: four hundred forty second than rescued from the onety one. 459 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 1: The four hundred forty seconds saw eight hundred casualties and 460 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 1: one hundred twenty one deaths while rescuing two hundred and 461 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: eleven men. Douquest has actually been criticized for exactly one 462 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: of the things that people in the camps were afraid 463 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,320 Speaker 1: would happen if they joined the military, and that was 464 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:36,360 Speaker 1: for seeing the four is expendable and for forcing them 465 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 1: into really lethal situations that would never have been demanded 466 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,280 Speaker 1: of white soldiers. Many of these and other losses were 467 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: filled through conscription. The draft reopened for Japanese men on 468 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: January nine, four. As had been true for the idea 469 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,680 Speaker 1: of volunteering for the four hundred forty second, the reinstatement 470 00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: of the draft for Japanese men was enormously controversial, particularly 471 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 1: in the camps. Although many men did report after being drafted, 472 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,720 Speaker 1: there were draft resistance protests at nearly all of the camps, 473 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: with hundreds of men serving time in federal prison for it. 474 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: About a third of the draft resistors came from Poston, Arizona, 475 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 1: which was the largest camp, with Heart Mountain having the 476 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: most per capita. Go back to that loyalty questionnaire for 477 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,320 Speaker 1: a minute. People that answered no to both questions about 478 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,520 Speaker 1: serving in the military and for swearing loyalty to the 479 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: emperor were nicknamed the no No Boys, and a lot 480 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: of times the no No Boys get conflated with the 481 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: draft resisters, like there were surely many people that answered 482 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 1: no to both questions among the draft resisters. But they're 483 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: sort of two different but interconnecting groups. More than half 484 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,239 Speaker 1: of the eligible niss A men served in the one 485 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: or the four forty second during World War Two. That 486 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 1: was about twenty two thousand men in total. Together, these 487 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 1: two units served in seven major military campaigns in Europe. 488 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: They became the most highly decorated unit of their size 489 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 1: and length of service in the American military history. Members 490 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 1: received thousands of Purple Hearts, twenty nine Distinguished Service Crosses, 491 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 1: five hundred eighty eight Silver Stars, and more than four 492 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: thousand Bronze Stars. The unit itself earned seven Distinguished Unit Citations, 493 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: and individual members also earned twenty one Congressional Medals of Honor. 494 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 1: Nineteen thousand Japanese American World War two soldiers were awarded 495 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 1: the Congressional Gold Medal on November two of eleven. On 496 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: July fifty six, during a review of the four hundred 497 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:45,720 Speaker 1: forty second, President Harry Truman said, quote, you fought the 498 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 1: enemy abroad and prejudice at home, Andy one. But this 499 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 1: wasn't exactly so. As was true of the Japanese civilians 500 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,720 Speaker 1: who had been incarcerated during part of the war, returning 501 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,880 Speaker 1: Japanese American veterans found themselves to be the targets of 502 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 1: scrimination and prejudice. This was particularly true among the veterans 503 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,680 Speaker 1: from the Continental US who were scattered around the country. 504 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: The situation was somewhat different in Hawaii, where thousands of 505 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 1: veterans were living much closer together and where like we 506 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 1: said earlier, of the population was of Japanese descent. In Hawaii, 507 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,560 Speaker 1: Japanese veterans made a lot of use of the g 508 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: I Bill, which is still on my list for a 509 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,440 Speaker 1: future episode, and they became an increasingly active part of 510 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:32,800 Speaker 1: its society and government. Hawaii had been working towards statehood 511 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: for decades before the war, which is its own complex story. 512 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 1: It's been touched on a little bit in previous episodes, 513 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 1: but like the statehood battle was, it went on for 514 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: ages and territorial delicate, delicate. Joe Farrington reintroduced the subject 515 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:51,640 Speaker 1: again after the war was over, but the Senate was 516 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,760 Speaker 1: really opposed to the idea and just didn't vote on 517 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 1: several statehood measures that had previously been passed by the House. 518 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,560 Speaker 1: In the end of the four forty Seconds, valor and 519 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: rescue of the lost Battalion became one of the factors 520 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 1: that swayed the Senate in support of admitting Hawaii as 521 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:11,840 Speaker 1: a state. One of the things that comes up a 522 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:16,720 Speaker 1: lot when talking about these UH and the four forty 523 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 1: second is the idea that they were all so dedicated 524 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: to prove to the rest of the country that they 525 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: were loyal citizens, that they could be trusted and did 526 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: not need to be feared. That that was um partially 527 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 1: responsible for how so highly decorated their unit was. And 528 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,600 Speaker 1: then simultaneously with that is the fact that they were 529 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,719 Speaker 1: often being put into situations that were inherently more dangerous, 530 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,160 Speaker 1: and so that also was playing a part in all 531 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:47,600 Speaker 1: of that. UM. There is a painting representing the battle 532 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: where they rescued the lost battalion that is apparently hanging 533 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: on a lot of officers offices in various military sites 534 00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: around the country because it is so emblematic of the 535 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: dedication and valor that soldiers are UH expected to adhere 536 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: to you. That is kind of a heavy story. It is, 537 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: but super important and I'm really glad that you picked 538 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:13,920 Speaker 1: this one. Yeah, I have been things I've been meaning 539 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:17,040 Speaker 1: to do for a year. Could be a whole category 540 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,520 Speaker 1: of episodes, but by the time we got through them, 541 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,800 Speaker 1: we would then have more things we have been meaning 542 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 1: to do for a year while we were so many. 543 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,240 Speaker 1: There's no win. I also have plenty of things that 544 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:28,920 Speaker 1: I've been meaning to do for a lot longer than 545 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:30,719 Speaker 1: a year. I've probably still have things that I've been 546 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:32,720 Speaker 1: meaning to do since you and I came on the 547 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 1: show in Oh Yeah, do you like me have a 548 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:40,760 Speaker 1: folder that are like it's barely started? Yep, They're like 549 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 1: things that I have a few hundred words written about 550 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:45,800 Speaker 1: and I'm like, I'll come back to it. Yeah, I 551 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 1: more have I have more more have folders of research, 552 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:51,760 Speaker 1: but like the actual outline is not starting yet. Yeah, 553 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 1: do you have listener mail? Is my following question. This 554 00:33:56,120 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 1: is actually a listener Facebook post which tells you how 555 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:04,560 Speaker 1: charmed I am by it, because it is rare for 556 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: me to go try to find something somebody previously said 557 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:11,080 Speaker 1: on Facebook, because it is much easier to search the email, 558 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:14,240 Speaker 1: uh than to scroll through Facebook. So this is from Josh. 559 00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 1: Josh says, I just finished listening to your two parter 560 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 1: on Wendell Scott and loved it. He sounds like he 561 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,520 Speaker 1: was an amazing fellow. I'm a car guy and don't 562 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:25,640 Speaker 1: really follow NASCAR all that much now, but having the past, 563 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,759 Speaker 1: I actually had heard of Wendell Scott, but unfortunately not 564 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:35,840 Speaker 1: until relatively recently. And Disney's Cars Cars three Lightning McQueen 565 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 1: ends up meeting some legendary racers from the early days 566 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:41,920 Speaker 1: of the sport, and one of them was inspired by 567 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,680 Speaker 1: Wendell Scott. As Disney slash Pixar is good for, they 568 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:48,400 Speaker 1: did their homework and all the old timers are based 569 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 1: on actual drivers. There's a truck named Smokey who was 570 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,920 Speaker 1: inspired by legendary mechanic in previous Car Stuff Car Stuff 571 00:34:55,960 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 1: episode subject Smokey Unich, and a word coope named Junior 572 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:05,440 Speaker 1: Moon who was inspired and actually voiced by Junior Johnson, 573 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,239 Speaker 1: who was mentioned in your piece on Wendell Scott. And 574 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:11,640 Speaker 1: looking into these cars. These two, these two names that 575 00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,239 Speaker 1: I had heard of. The other two I had not 576 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: at the time. Character Rivers Scott was inspired by Wendell Scott, 577 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,600 Speaker 1: the aforementioned first African American to race and nap NASCAR's 578 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:25,440 Speaker 1: top tier, and character Louise Nash was inspired by Louise Smith, 579 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,800 Speaker 1: who was one of the first women to race in NASCAR. 580 00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:31,000 Speaker 1: I was glad to see them, including Homage's two lesser 581 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,400 Speaker 1: known but equally important folks from the history of motorsports. 582 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:36,680 Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Josh. I have only seen the 583 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:39,920 Speaker 1: first Cars movie and not any subsequent Cars movies. I 584 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,680 Speaker 1: had no idea that there was a car in one 585 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:47,439 Speaker 1: of those movies that was patterned after Wendell Scott much either. 586 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:49,680 Speaker 1: I saw the second one, but I have not yet 587 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,240 Speaker 1: seen the third one, so we were both in the dark. 588 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: We super were so Thank you so much. If you 589 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:57,160 Speaker 1: would like to write to us about this or any 590 00:35:57,160 --> 00:36:00,280 Speaker 1: other podcast, where at History Podcasts at how Stuffworks dot com. 591 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:03,080 Speaker 1: We're also on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash missed 592 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:05,880 Speaker 1: in History, Our Twitter and our Instagram and our Pinterest 593 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 1: are all also at the name Missed in History. You 594 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,760 Speaker 1: can come to our website, which is missed in History 595 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,560 Speaker 1: dot com, and you will find searchable archive of all 596 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:16,759 Speaker 1: the episodes we have ever done. You will find show 597 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:18,719 Speaker 1: notes for all the episodes that Holly and I have done, 598 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 1: which includes links to all the research that we used, 599 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,440 Speaker 1: and you can find our show and subscribe to it 600 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:28,440 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and wherever else you find podcasts. 601 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:35,320 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, is 602 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:44,680 Speaker 1: it how staff works dot com,