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TI: So the 100th was, they fought first in North Africa, and then they went to Rome. At what point did the 442 connect with the 100th?

VW: Okay, in Civitaveccia, Italy. And that's where they joined and became the 1st Battalion of the 442nd. We furnished the 2nd and the 3rd, but then they came in with the 100th, which was the 1st Battalion. And really, it was the total of the 442nd then. And of course, then they were very independent. We were capable of doing the whole thing for our regiment. We were small, but we were very well-organized if you wish to call it that, by the infantry, the artillery, the canning company, the 232nd Engineers and the supply company. The supply company was very important because they had to keep the supplies right up with the, as fast as we would go. They had to keep up. We needed the ammunition, we needed the food, we needed the medical and all that. Then the medics, of course, were with us all the time. And so we were a Regimental Combat Team.

TI: And how was it when the 100th joined the 442? Was that sort of integration pretty smooth? Here you had a, sort of, battle-hardened unit joining a new unit.

VW: The new unit, the 2nd and 3rd battalions and so on, we really, it was nice to have the 100th, battle seasoned battalion alongside of the 442nd. And, 'course the 100th was wondering what, what kind of an outfit we were gonna be, kind of, and we were from the States, mostly. Mostly. And they were from Hawaii. And so we didn't know how that was gonna go, but it melded right together very nicely, yeah. And we often wondered, the 100th had the name already and so on, so they were a battle-hardened unit. And so when they blended with the 442nd, and I remember guys from other outfits coming over and talking to us in the darkness. And when you couldn't go too far, because you couldn't see anything. And they'd come over and they'd say they know that as long as the 442nd was on their flank, they never worried about that flank, they're worried about the other flank, but not with the 442nd on their flank.

TI: So other, other units really trusted and knew about the 442 and 100th.

VW: Oh, yes. Yes, they did. Yeah. In fact, the Germans even knew. And they, they did not like fighting against the 442nd, really. [Laughs] And that's understandable. The 442nd wasn't gonna back down. That is, when I say the 442nd, I mean the 100th and the 442nd together.

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