442nd Regimental Combat Team

The 100th Infantry Battalion began as part of the Hawaii National Guard. On June 5, 1942, 1,432 men left Hawaii for training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, and later at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The 100th shipped out to North Africa on August 23, 1943, and saw heavy action in Italy. Because of its heavy casualties and many honors, the 100th became known as the "Purple Heart Battalion." The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was initially formed in 1943 from Japanese American volunteers from Hawaii and the mainland. Perhaps not surprisingly, only about 1,250 Japanese Americans volunteered from the concentration camps. In Hawaii, where there was no mass removal, almost 10,000 volunteered. The 442nd arrived in Italy in June 1944 where the battle-tested 100th Infantry Battalion became its 1st Battalion. In seven major campaigns, the 442nd became the most decorated unit for its size and length of service; the unit suffered 9,476 casualties, more than 300 percent of its original strength.

World War II (231)
Military service (2806)
442nd Regimental Combat Team (2911)

Related articles from the Densho Encyclopedia :
442nd Regimental Combat Team, Mark W. Clark, Sadamitsu Neil Fujita, Go for Broke! (film), Stanley Hayami, Daniel Inouye, Mike Masaoka, Kazuo Masuda, Rescue of the Lost Battalion

Facilities
Format
Genre
Usage

Use <Ctrl> or (⌘) keys to select multiple terms

2911 items
Man standing on ledge of pool (ddr-densho-368-66)
img Man standing on ledge of pool (ddr-densho-368-66)
Soldier of 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy, possibly at a family estate where they were encamped
Young boy with mother (ddr-densho-368-200)
img Young boy with mother (ddr-densho-368-200)
Written on front: "Meilleur souvenir/Louie et sa maman (Best memory/Louis with his mother)" Written on back: "Mai 1944"
Portrait of soldier (ddr-densho-368-542)
img Portrait of soldier (ddr-densho-368-542)
The inscription on the photograph reads "To Bill Always you friend Hiroshi".
API