522nd Field Artillery Battalion

The 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was known for its outstanding firing speed and accuracy. Many of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion men had backgrounds in science and engineering. They needed strong mathematical skills to calculate target distance, gun range, gun angle, and powder strength. In 1945, the 522nd was sent separately to Germany to pursue the hastily retreating German troops. They unknowingly stumbled into the sub-camps of the infamous Dachau death camp and helped to free survivors.

World War II (231)
Military service (2806)
522nd Field Artillery Battalion (132)

Related articles from the Densho Encyclopedia :
522nd Field Artillery Battalion, Manabi Hirasaki

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132 items

doc Pacific Citizen, Vol. 120, No. 12 (June 16-July 6, 1995) (ddr-pc-67-12)

Selected article titles: "Affirmative Action Programs Limited by Supreme Court" (pp. 1, 12), "JACL Opposes Cuts in Number of Legal Immigrants Allowed" (pp. 1, 5, 12), "Central California Highway to Honor 100/442nd, MIS" (p. 4), "Sgt. John Matsumoto Quiet Saga of WWII Nisei Aerial Gunner" (p. 5), and "Tracing the Jewish-Nisei Connection: Inouye, Vets Reunited with …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-67-12/

doc Mamoru Masuda interview (ddr-csujad-6-21)

Oral history interview with Mamoru Masuda. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: SCRC_MASUDA_MAMORU

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-6-21/

img Nisei soldier in plane (ddr-densho-114-95)

Original caption: Castrellina Sector, Italy. S/Sgt. Arata Kimura, San Jose, Calif., 522nd Field Artillery Bn., 442nd Inf. Regt., 34th Division, observer, Left, and Cub Pilot Lt. Joseph C. Polancii, Winnsboro, LA., (Monroe Papers) confer before taking off from a forward airstrip. U.S. Fifth Army. 12 July 1944. [The correct spelling of the location is Castellina.]

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-114-95/

img Nisei soldiers firing a cannon (ddr-densho-114-27)

Original caption: Castrellina Sector, Italy. Firing the 105-mm Howitzer in the Battle for Leghorn are Gunner Cpl. Edward Nakamura, Honolulu, T. H., and Cannoneer Pfc. George Tanna, Honolulu, T. H., American-born Japanese members of the 442nd Inf. Regt., 34th Division. U.S. Fifth Army. 12 July 1944. [The correct spelling of the location is Castellina.]

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-114-27/

img 522nd Field Artillery Battalion soldier (ddr-densho-114-28)

Original caption: A Japanese soldier of the 7th Army, Battery A, 522nd FA, 442nd Combat Team in France, fits base plate to a 105 mm. shell after propaganda pamphlets have been inserted. A small charge of powder in the projectile blows off base plate over enemy territory, allowing leaflets to drift to ground troops below.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-114-28/

img 522nd Field Artillery Battalion soldiers (ddr-densho-114-87)

Original caption: Castrellina Sector, Italy. Men of the 522nd Field Artillery Bn., 442nd Infantry Regt., 34th Division, are firing a 105-MM Howitzer in the Battle for Leghorn. The American born Japanese, of which the 442nd Inf. Regt. consists, here are, L. to R., Cpl. Edward Nakamura, Honolulu, T.H., Gunner; Pfc. George Tanna, Honolulu, T.H., No. 1 …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-114-87/

img Nisei captain giving medical treatment (ddr-densho-114-32)

Original caption: Castrellina Sector, Italy. Capt. George Takahashi, San Mateo, Calif., 422nd Inf. Regt., 34th Div., calms an aching tooth for Pvt. James Hoshi, Los Angeles, Calif., 522nd Field Artillery, assisted by Tec 5 Abraham Tokioka of Honolulu, T. H., who holds a flashlight. The scene is in a wine cellar of a recently evacuated German …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-114-32/

img 522nd Field Artillery Battalion soldier (ddr-densho-114-43)

Original caption: A Japanese-American soldier of the 5th Army, France, prepares to place propaganda leaflets in head of shell, which, when exploded over enemy territory, scatters them among ground troops below. 11/9/44. Battery A, 522nd FA 442nd Combat Team.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-114-43/

img Member of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion with Italian soldier (ddr-densho-114-93)

Original caption: Castrellina Sector, Italy. Tec 5 William Hirata, Honolulu, Hawaii, 522nd Field Artillery Bn., 442nd Inf. Regt., 34th Division, and Lorenzo Riba, Italian soldier, Right, 11th Pack Mule Co., 34th Division, are comrades-in-arms. U.S. Fifth Army. 12 July 1944.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-114-93/

img Nisei technicians working on calculations (ddr-densho-114-98)

Original caption: Castrellina Sector, Italy. In the Fire Direction Center of the 522nd Field Artillery, 442nd Inf. Regt., 34th Division, Lt. George S. Meany, Greenwich, Conn., Left, works with his Japanese American crew. In the center is T/Sgt. Shuichi, Sakamoto, Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii, calculating vertical control and S/Sgt. Yuki Ahaki, Modesto Calif., at the horizontal control, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-114-98/

doc Go for Broke, 1943-1993 (ddr-csujad-1-207)

A booklet published to "commemorate the observance of the 50th Golden Anniversary of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), and attempts to highlight the Go for Broke tradition of the men of the 442nd." Articles record accounts of Nisei veterans from various military companies. The articles cover the time from the formation of the 442nd Regimental …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-1-207/

img Nisei soldiers (ddr-densho-37-343)

Original caption: Cpl. Edward Nakamura, Honolulu, T.H., Gunner, No. 1 Cannoneer; Pvt. Suehiko Yoshida, Puunene, T.H., No. 2 Cannoneer; and Pfc. Mamoru Yonashiro, Oahu, T.H., Telephone Operator, all of [the] 522nd Field Artillery, 442nd Inf. Regt., 34th Div., L to R, are at a 105-mm howitzer firing at the enemy in the battle for Leghorn, Italy. …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-343/

doc Story of the 442nd Combat Team (ddr-csujad-55-352)

Pamphlet on the history, activation, training, and battles of the 442nd Combat Team, composed of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, and 232nd Combat Engineer Company. Includes maps and photographs. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: sac_jaac_0354

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-55-352/

img Jeep in 442nd RCT exhibit at Smithsonian (ddr-densho-368-259)

Written on back: 442 Exhibit at the American History Museum at the Smithsonian Museum.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-368-259/

img photograph and flag in 442nd RCT exhibit at Smithsonian (ddr-densho-368-260)

Written on back: 442 Exhibit

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-368-260/

doc Postcard from Sgt. Frank Honda to Iku Morita (ddr-densho-497-3)

Postcard of Marseille, France.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-497-3/

img Diorama of soldiers for 442nd RCT exhibit at Smithsonian (ddr-densho-368-262)

Written on back: 442 Exhibit

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-368-262/

img Flags in 442nd RCT exhibit at Smithsonian (ddr-densho-368-261)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-368-261/

vh Virgil W. Westdale Interview Segment 35 (ddr-densho-1000-280-35)

Description of tactical approaches in battle

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-280-35/

vh Virgil W. Westdale Interview Segment 26 (ddr-densho-1000-280-26)

Reasons for success of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-280-26/

vh Virgil W. Westdale Interview Segment 34 (ddr-densho-1000-280-34)

The role of the Fire Direction Center in battle

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-280-34/

vh Virgil W. Westdale Interview Segment 40 (ddr-densho-1000-280-40)

Encountering survivors of one of the Dachau concentration camps

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-280-40/

vh Virgil W. Westdale Interview Segment 25 (ddr-densho-1000-280-25)

Joining the Fire Direction Center with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-280-25/

vh Virgil W. Westdale Interview Segment 32 (ddr-densho-1000-280-32)

The devastation of Hill 140: first battle experience

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-280-32/

vh Susumu Ito Segment 16 (ddr-densho-1000-29-16)

Attitude toward the risks of war

This interview was conducted at the 1998 Americans of Japanese Ancestry Veterans National Convention, held in Honolulu, Hawaii. Because of the full conference schedule, interviews conducted at the reunion were generally shorter in length than the typical Densho interview and tend to concentrate on the individual's military service during World …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-29-16/