'Humbled' crowd lauds veterans of Army's 442nd
| • | 100th, 442nd teamed up for World War II glory |
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
More than 1,000 people gathered yesterday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl to honor members of the Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team who were killed in action or are deceased.
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But for many there, the ceremony was an opportunity to say thanks to team members who, during one dramatic year between June 1944 and May 1945, fought racial prejudice while making military history.
WWII veteran Arthur Nishimoto, 79, is all smiles at the 442nd Veterans Club 60th Anniversary reunion at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
"You men stand alone," keynote speaker retired U.S. Army Gen. David Bramlett told an estimated 600 retired veterans of the 442nd in attendance. "We are humbled in your presence."
According to Bramlett, America has had 1,988 regimental units since the Civil War.
"The most decorated of them all is the 442nd," he said.
The occasion was part of the 60th anniversary reunion of the 442nd, which began Thursday in Waikiki and ends today. Throughout the week the veterans toured the USS Missouri, visited Ford Island, attended workshops and connected with others who remember the experience of so many years ago.
Last night they attended the world premiere of the documentary "Daniel K. Inouye: An American Story," at the USS Missouri Memorial.
But yesterday morning special guest speaker Evan Dobelle, president of the University of Hawai'i, said it is also necessary to never forget the shame of how the 442nd came to be in the spring of 1943, and how soldiers for the segregated unit fought for their country even as many of their family members were being held in internment camps on the West Coast and in Hawai'i.
"The soldiers from Hawai'i who came to serve in the 442nd that spring were no strangers to warfare," he said. "On Dec. 7, 1941 they witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor, an experience that until Sept. 11, no American outside Hawai'i could relate to."
Dobelle told how the university's ROTC unit, which was predominantly Japanese Americans, has been the only such detachment to win wartime honors for its actions on the day of the attack.
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"But, the spirit of community faltered in America," he said. " In the middle of January, AJA members in the ROTC were discharged from the Hawaiian Territorial Guard because of their ethnic background."
Sen. Dan Inouye jokes with celebrants of the 60th anniversary of the 442nd Veterans Club at the USS Missouri Memorial. They were there to see the world premiere of a documentary of Inouye's life.
He spoke of how years later one guard member was unable to find words to express the hurt of being dismissed from service to his country for no other reason than that he resembled the enemy.
"They fought for a nation that was mistreating their families," he said. "And it was they, in those shameful moments, who were the true patriots. And we must never forget that."
That patriotism was shown again and again during relentless battles in Europe that would earn the "Go For Broke" 442nd more than 18,000 decorations.
Bramlett made special mention of what is known as the battle for the "Lost Battalion" in the autumn of 1944 in the Vosges Mountains of France, during which the 442nd rescued 275 soldiers trapped behind fortified enemy lines.
It was a battle he said that defines the meaning of sacrifice for all Americans including "those of you who ... remember the 814 of your comrades who were killed or badly wounded to save the battalion."
And there were plenty who hadn't forgotten. George Sakato, 82, of Denver, remembered it as if it happened yesterday.
On Oct. 29, Sakato's unit was pinned down by heavy enemy fire near Biffontaine, France, when all at once he charged Hill 617, a spontaneous act of raw courage. He went on to lead his platoon in an attack that overpowered and destroyed the enemy's stronghold.
According to the Medal of Honor citation he received on June 21, 2000, Sakato "killed 12 and wounded two, personally captured four and assisted his platoon in taking 34 prisoners."
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"My buddy died in my arms and I was mad and I charged the hill by myself and the rest of the platoon followed me," Sakato said before the service started. "And we took the hill back."
U.S. Army Capt. Jon Sowards of Schofield Barracks salutes during the 442nd Veterans Club reunion. More than 1,000 people attended the event at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
Sakato came out of that battle without a scratch. Two days later, on the day the "Lost Battalion" was rescued, he was shot and severely wounded.
Terry Aratani, 80, of I Company, was wounded during the final push on Oct. 29.
"We were moving forward and a machine gun opened up on us," said Aratani, who lives in 'Aina Haina. "If I remember correctly, three of us went down."
Victor Izui, 85, of Chicago, was the I Company medic.
"We were the spearhead," Izui said. "Our company was about 180 when we started out. And there were eight left at the end. And, one medic."
There are as many stories as there are survivors to talk to.
Yesterday, following the 21-cannon salute and the final anthem by the 111th Army Band (Hawai'i Army National Guard), the members of the 442nd paid their respects to their comrades buried in Section D, and then departed to spend time with one another.
Before they left, Bramlett reiterated a nation's gratitude.
"You're here today to remember many of your buddies who are gone, many falling in the flower of their youth," he said. "But know that you also are and will be remembered.
"There will be no last hurrah for you."
