<Begin Segment 3>
LD: And even in combat, some people have said that maybe they were used a little bit too often and in too many risky situations, that they were a little too expendable. What were you thinking?
JL: Well, I remember the, several times we were promised that we were gonna get a rest. As to... there was some question among some people that the 100th Battalion boys were used too often or too long without any rest.
[Interruption]
JL: There's been considerable talk about the men being overused, so to speak. When I returned to combat at Cassino, and was put in the command of the 100th Battalion, Colonel Marshall informed me that the 100th Battalion was not to see any combat until we had replacements. At that time we had not received a single replacement. It was only a few hours later that I got word from Colonel Marshall that we were to move on into Cassino, and that he was sorry, but General Ryder said, "You'll have to use Lovell's fire-eaters to do this job." Well, this kind of makes you wonder, are we expendable? You heard at one time that we don't have to go into combat until we get some replacements, and the next minute you're told that you've got to use your fire-eaters to put out this fire. And I've heard other stories, and I believe that sometimes they could have used some other troops, but they wanted to get the job done. And the 100th and the 442nd had always done their job. And I think they were thrown into some of these places, for example, that the rescuing of the "Lost Battalion," it was a task that took more, a greater toll than the number of men that were actually saved. This just looks like somebody was thrown in there to do a job, and the used the only people they thought could do the job. And this gives you the idea, well, these men are expendable. If we lose them here, why, they're gone. But as long as they're doing the job, we're going to keep using them. And I think that you'll find that there are a lot of people who have this same feeling.
LD: How do you feel?
JL: I feel that there were other troops that had personnel that could have gone in at Cassino when we went in. I'm sure that we had earned a rest, not having a replacement. The other people were getting replacements all the time. I'm sure that we could have been placed in reserve and let somebody else to go in to do the job. I was not at the Lost Battalion, but I'm sure that there were other troops that were as fully equipped if not more than the 442nd was there.
<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 1983 The Center for Educational Telecommunications and Densho. All Rights Reserved.