Posted on: Monday, May 31, 2004
EDITORIAL
WWII Memorial enshrines 442nd valor
Of the 4,000 gold-plated stars on the new World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., more than a couple belong to the legendary 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Each star represents 100 casualties, and the "Go for Broke" gang certainly suffered their fair share while saving the Lost Battalion of the Texas 141st Regiment from annihilation in the fall of 1944.
They were second-generation Japanese Americans, and many had been forced into internment camps after the Pearl Harbor attack for no reason other than their ancestry.
They went on to more than prove their patriotism on the battlefields of Europe. Indeed, the 442nd RCT, and the 100th Battalion attached to it, suffered hundreds of casualties in just three days of the campaign to liberate Bruyeres.
A week later, they were hurled against the Nazis surrounding the Lost Battalion and rescued 275 soldiers trapped behind fortified enemy lines.
In their seven campaigns in Europe, 442nd members earned 18,000 decorations for valor.
Many did not live to see the new World War II Memorial. Today, 442nd survivors are growing fewer by the year. For many, the 60th anniversary reunion in Honolulu last year may be their last.
So it's heartening that Shizuya Hayashi, 86, of Pearl City, and Barney Hajiro, 87, of Waipahu, were able to travel to Washington for Saturday's dedication of the new World War II Memorial.
Each proudly wore their Medals of Honor. "I come here to represent my buddies," Hajiro told The Advertiser's Washington Bureau correspondent for a story that ran Friday.
In the battle to rescue the Lost Battalion, Hajiro says he pounded enemy snipers with his automatic rifle, ambushed units and captured 19 enemy soldiers. He destroyed two machine-gun nests and uncovered two more.
And he lost comrades on Suicide Hill.
As they talked, visitors to the memorial asked for their autographs, memories, or simply thanked them. That kind of sacrifice and valor is hard to forget, but it's good to have a memorial to remind us.
