The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was the sole regiment that Japanese Americans were permitted to serve in. The team was activated in February of 1943, consisting entirely of volunteers (The 442nd). Volunteers came from either internment camps, or Hawaii where some of the volunteers had been veterans from WWI. The 442nd Regimental Combat team not only included the 442nd Infantry Regiment, but also consisted of the 522 Field Artillery Battalion, 100th Infantry Battalion, and the 232nd Combat Engineer Company (The 442nd). The entire combat team departed for Italy on April 22, 1944, and arrived at the beginning of June that same year. The combat team experienced their first day of combat on June 26, 1943, and throughout the next nine months demonstrated extraordinary valor in courage in many important battles, such as the Battle of Monte Cassino.
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Despite being Nisei, men of Japanese descent after the events of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, were classified as 4-C enemy aliens and therefore were not allowed to serve in the military (PBS). Instead, specifically on the West Coast, the Nisei citizens were relocated to internment camps during wartime. This order was in effect until early 1943, when President Roosevelt called for the enlistment of Japanese Americans. Of course, the order allowing enlistment of Japanese Americans only came after the Japanese government succeeded in "making effective propaganda in Asia out of the internment of Japanese Americans in the US (PBS). The propaganda alluded to the fact that war was also a racial conflict, which led to Roosevelt making his decision on the enlistment of Japanese Americans. Even though Japanese Americans received some of the respect they deserved as far as serving their country, they were only permitted to complete campaigns in Europe (away from Japan) and were not allowed to integrate into units besides those that consisted of those of Japanese descent.
Some Japanese Americans were so eager to show their loyalty to the United States after their rights had been infringed upon, that 10,000 volunteers appeared at recruiting offices when only 1,500 positions needed to be filled. One enlistee, eighteen year old Daniel Inonye stated, "I was angered to realize that my government felt that I was disloyal and part of the enemy, and I wanted to be able to demonstrate, not only to my government, but to my neighbors that I was a good American" (PBS). On the other hand, many were rightly unsatisfied and offended at what they were subjected to do during the recruitment process. Enlistees had to participate in a loyalty questionnaire, which states that they needed to renounce any allegiance they had to the Japanese emperor (PBS). Once allowed to participate in their country's military, Japanese Americans were subject to bias from their government in their loyalties, which deterred a few thousand enlistees.
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Feeling the need to prove themselves, members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team coined the motto, "go for broke", that in Hawaii meant "to wager everything" during the Battle of Monte Cassino (Shenkle). The combat team upheld the high standard of their motto, being known for their unwavering courage and extreme bravery in times of battle. An example of their courage was the day they were called upon to rescue the "Lost Battalion", who were completely surrounded by Germans due to their general's negligent orders. The members of the 442nd Regimental Combat team fought off the Germans, and despite extreme opposition, rescued 230 men, however experienced 400 casualties during the battle (PBS). While in Italy on the way to the port city of Livorno, General George Marshall commented on the Japanese American soldiers, "They were superb! They showed rare courage and tremendous fighting spirit" (cite PBS). After their time in Europe during WWII, seven of the men received the award of the Presidential Unit Citation. Due to their valor and courage, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team to date "is the most decorate military unit in U.S. history" (Shenkle).