Japanska soldater i USAs armé?

[wreezig]

Jag slöläste WW" sidor på nätet när jag hittade uppgifter om japanska soldater som tjänstgjorde i USAs armé och nästan utplånades i Italien.
Det hette 442nd Regiment och verkar ha bestått av enbart Japansk-Amerikaner och var den högst dekorerade enheten i USAs armé.

Stämmer verkligen detta?
Var det inte så att alla japansk-Amerikaner blev internerade i läger under WW2 eftersom dom sågs som ett hot.
Hur kunde man då sätta samman en enhet enbart bestående av Japaner , dom borde ha ansetts som en potentiell fara för andra soldater och inte satts in under avgörande strider.
Deras lojalitet måste också ha varit ifrågasatt med tanke på Japanernas syn på Kejsaren som en gud och det måste ha varit svårt för dom att kriga för ett land som bombar civila mål i Japan och därigenom säkerligen dödar släktingar och vänner till dom.

[Johan Elisson]

Nu kommer den bästa källan av alla! Sven Hassel!!! I hans bok, Monte Cassino, så strider i alla fall tyskarna mot några japaner som är med i USMC tror jag att det är. Ingen tillförlitlig källa, men visst borde det ligga en del sanning bakom det hela.

/Johan

[Marcus]

Wreezig,

Visst stämmer det.

Nedanstående kronologi kommer från Japanese American National Museumm, http://www.janm.org

December 7, 1941 Japan bombs the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. FBI agents and police began arresting Japanese American community leaders in Hawai'i and on the mainland.

December 11, 1941 The newly formed Hawai'i Territorial Guard (HTG), made up of ROTC cadets and volunteers from Honolulu high schools, the majority of Nisei, is placed under direct Army command.

January 19, 1942 The 317 Nisei members of the HTG are discharged without explanation, and classified as 4-C, "enemy-aliens."

January 23, 1942 Japanese Americans in the military on the mainland are segregated out of their units.

February 19, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, setting the stage for the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in camps throughout the United States.

February 23, 1942 The all-Nisei Varsity Victory Volunteers (Triple V) is formed in Hawai'i as part of the 34th Combat Engineers Regiment.

March 30, 1942 A War Department order discontinues the induction of Japanese Americans in the armed services on the West Coast.

May, 1942 Graduates of the first class of the MIS Language School are sent to the Aleutians and the South Pacific.

May 25, 1942 MIS Language School is moved from San Francisco to Camp Savage, Minnesota because of the exclusion order, restricting all people of Japanese ancestry from military zones.

May 26, 1942 General George C. Marshall issues order establishing the Hawai'i Provisional Infantry Battalion, made up of Japanese Americans from the Hawai'i National Guard.

June 12, 1942 1432 members of the Hawai'i Provisional Infantry Battalion are moved from Honolulu to San Francisco and activated as the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate).

June 17, 1942 The War Department announces that it won't "accept for service with the armed forces Japanese or persons of Japanese extraction, regardless of citizenship status or other factors."

June 26, 1942 The Army Chief of Staff G-2 Section recommends the formation of a Board of Military Utilization of U.S. Citizens of Japanese Ancestry, to determine whether a Japanese American unit ought to be sent to fight in Europe.

September 14, 1942 The formation of a Japanese American unit is rejected "because of the universal distrust in which they are held."

October 31, 1942 Twenty-six men from the 100th (Company B, Third Platoon) leave Camp McCoy for Ship Island and Cat Island off the Mississippi Gulf coast, on special assignment to be used to train dogs to recognize and attack Japanese, based on their supposedly unique scent.

January 6, 1943 The 100th Infantry Battalion leaves Camp McCoy, Wisconsin for Camp Shelby, Mississippi.

January 31, 1943 At the request of the men of the Triple V, the unit is deactivated so that its members can enlist in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT).

February 1, 1943 The 442nd Regimental Combat Team is activated by President Roosevelt; "Americanism is not and never was, a matter of race and ancestry."

March 28, 1943 The Honolulu Chamber of Commerce throws a farewell ceremony at the Iolani Palace for 1,686 Nisei volunteers for the 442nd RCT.

May, 1943 The 442nd RCT begins training in Mississippi.

August 21, 1943 The 100th Infantry Battalion leaves for active duty in Europe, landing at Oran, North Africa, on September 2.

September 22, 1943 The 100th Infantry Battalion lands on the beach at Salerno, Italy traveling north.

September 29, 1943 Baseball star Shigeo "Joe" Takata is the first member of the 100th Infantry Battalion to be killed in action and the first to receive the Distinguished Service Cross.

October, 1943 Japanese American women are accepted into the Women's Army Corps. During WWII and the post-war period more than 300 Nisei women serve in the WAC.

November 3, 1943 The 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Division and the 100th Infantry begin offensive attacks against the Germans along the Volturno River, south of Naples.

January 24, 1944 The Battle of Cassino begins. It takes four major assaults and four months to take Cassino. The 100th Infantry Battalion fights in the first two assaults.

February 1944 Merrill's Marauders, fourteen of whom are Nisei linguist/infantrymen, operate behind enemy lines in North Burma.

March 26, 1944 The 100th lands at Anzio beachhead, second front between the Gustav Line and Rome. The 100th attacks Anzio in April and then moves on to Rome. Rome falls on June 5.

April 1944 The 1399th Engineering Cornstruction Battalion is formed to work on non-combat construction and maintenance projects in the Hawaiian islands.

June 2, 1944 The 442nd arrives at Naples harbor and on June 10th meets the 100th in Civitavecchia, northwest of Rome.

June 26, 1944 Attached to the Fifth Army's 34th Division, the 442nd, now including the battle-tested 100th Infantry Battalion, goes into combat, heading for Belvedere.

July 1944 Five Nisei MISers are part of the "Dixie Mission," sent to Yenan, the wartime headquarters of the Chinese Communists, to gather military intelligence.

August 1944 MIS Language School is expanded and moved from Camp Savage to Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

September 26, 1944 The 442nd RCT leaves Naples for France.

September 30,1944 The 442nd RCT is joined by the 36th Division (aka the Texas Division).

October 15, 1944 The 442nd RCT, now attached to the 36th Division of the Seventh Army, enters the battle of Bruyeres in the Vosges Mountains.

October 16, 1944 At Bruyeres, after three days of fighting, the 100th takes Hill A, the key to Bruyeres, the 2nd Battalion takes Hill B, and enters the town.

October 22, 1944 The 100th Infantry Battalion takes Biffontaine, suffering many casualties.

October 26-31, 1944 The 442nd RCT rescues the "Lost Battalion," which was cut off and surrounded by the enemy. There are 800 Nisei casualties in order to save 211 lives.

February 19, 1945 More that 50 MIS Nisei soldiers land with the U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima, one of the last battles in the Pacific.

March 1945 The 522nd Field Artillery Battalion is detached from the 442nd RCT, and sent to assist the Seventh Army's assault on the Siegfried Line between central France and Germany.

March 28, 1945 The 442nd RCT leaves France for Italy.

April 1, 1945 The Battle of Okinawa is shortened by the work of Nisei MIS linguists who translate Japanese documents revealing defense plans, troop positions, and maps of artillery posotions.

April 5-6, 1945 The 442nd RCT makes a surprise attack on Nazi mountainside positions in Italy, breaking through the Nazi Gothic Line in one day.

April 5, 1945 Sadao Munemori saves the lives of two other American soldiers by diving on a German grenade. He is the only Japanese American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II.

April 29, 1945 Members of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion encounter survivors of Dachau concentration camp.

September 2, 1945 Nisei serve as interpreters aboard the U.S.S. Missouri when Japan signs the Instruments of Surrender ending the War in the Pacific and World War II.

October 29, 1945 1399th Engineering Construction Battalion is awarded a Meritorious Service Plaque for "superior performance and record of accomplishment and exceptional devotion to duty."

July 15, 1946 The 442nd RCT is received by President Truman on the lawn of the White House; "You fought not only the enemy but you fought prejudice--and you have won."

[Marcus]

Ett par andra sidor i ämnet:

http://www.javadc.org/
http://home.earthlink.net/~goodgali/
http://www.katonk.com/442nd/442nd.htm

/Marcus

[Marcus]

En kort sammanfattning om 442nd Regimental Combat Team från http://home.earthlink.net/~goodgali/442history.html

Although the Nisei volunteered to serve their country, the United States closed military service for Japanese Americans because they couldn't be trusted in the army. Nisei who volunteered were classified as an "enemy alien" and were rejected. Other than the Nisei already drafted and serving in the Hawaii National Guard, Japanese Americans were not allowed to join the army until President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the War Department re-opened military service for citizens of Japanese ancestry in 1943. At that time President Roosevelt said, "Americanism is a matter of the mind and the heart; Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race or ancestry."

On February 1, 1943, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was activated at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Initially the 442nd was comprised primarily of volunteers, 3000 from Hawaii and over 1000 from the internment camps on the mainland. The 442nd trained at Camp Shelby for a year until they were sent overseas on May 1, 1944. The first battalion of the 442nd was left at Camp Shelby to train the new replacements.


The 442nd Regimental Combat Team participated in major battles at Sasseta, Belvedere, the Rescue of the Lost Battalion, Po Volley-Gothic Line, and the Invasion of Southern France.

Quick Facts about the 442nd (including the 100th):

649 killed in action
67 Missing in Action
9486 Purple Hearts
1 Congressional Medal of Honor
52 Distinguished Service Crosses
560 Silver Stars with 28 OLCs
4000 Bronze Stars with 1200 OLCs
12 French Croix de Guerres

/Marcus

[Marcus]

Ifall jag inte minns helt fel så är 442nd den mest dekorerade enheten i den amerikanska militären.

/Marcus

[wreezig]

Tackar , alltid lär man sig något nytt på Skalman.

[Patrik]

Var det inte så att alla japansk-Amerikaner blev internerade i läger under WW2 eftersom dom sågs som ett hot.
Hur kunde man då sätta samman en enhet enbart bestående av Japaner , dom borde ha ansetts som en potentiell fara för andra soldater och inte satts in under avgörande strider.

Visst är det ironiskt. Medan deras kvinnor och barn satt fängslade skickades de till Europa för att slåss och också dö för USA.
Den amerikanska armén litade inte heller på dem, därför så skickades alla asiater till Europa eftersom man ansåg att deras lojalitet med nazi Tyskland var lika med noll och att de därför inte skulle utgöra någon säkerhetsrisk. Att sedan många av japanerna aldrig satt sin fot i Japan eller ens hade kontakt med släkten i Japan var av mindre intresse.
Däremot hade man - vad jag vet i alla - inga problem att skicka amerikaner med italienskt eller tyskt påbrå att slåss mot italienarna/tyskarna.
Så visst haltar logiken lite där - varför man misstrodde asiaterna mer än de andra axelmakterna. Förstås är det väl ganska rimligt att anta att det i denna policy fanns en ganska stor gnutta rasism...

[varjag]

Det gjordes till och med en krigsfilm i Hollywood paa det har amnet
omkring 1950(?) Titeln kommer jag inte ihaag, men stridsinsatsen var
i Italien och 'naturligtvis' lyckades de japanska hjaltarna att forvilla de
stygga nazisterna,som kopplat sig in paa deras telefonkabel-genom att
tala japanska....samma trick som Hollywood anvant med Navaho-indianer
och japanska telefonlyssnare.
Filmen var val avsedd som en 'artig' ursakt till de oforvitliga amerikaner
med sneda ogon som satt av kriget i interneringslager.

[Stefan]

Karate Kid serien, ni vet, med karategurun Mr Myagi. Han var med och fick ett uppsjö av medaljer i Europa.
Nämns en del om det i KK nr 3/4, delen där han tar sig an en tjej-lärjunge; dotterdottern till hans gamle vän och stridskamrat.

Karate-Kid-storyn är givetvis fiction, men den historiska bakgrunden ifrågan är säkert sann. Amerikanerna kan kolorera, men de driver aldrig någonsin med sin egen historia i dylika sammanhang.

[jeger]

Det var i 2WW kun tre rene nasjonale avdelinger i de amerikanske styrkene
1)Den japanske-amerikanske bn om sloss i Italia
2)Den tysk-amerikanske bn som ble oppløst etter amerikanernes invasjon og kampene i Nord-Afrika og de tysk-talende mannskapene fordelt til annen tjenesre,fortrinnsvis E-tj, avhørstjeneste, propaganda, info , de-nazifisering etc
3)Den norsk-amerikanske Bn 99 hvor alt personell var norsk-talende (Hansens Own etter Bn-sjefen Ob Hansen)
Avdelingen kjempet i Nord-Vest Europa (Belgia) og kom til Norge i mai/juni 1945 som del av de allierte frigjøringstropper
Stilte bl.æresgarden da Kong Haakon kom tilbake til Norge fra UK 7.juni 45-Forlot Norge igjen høsten 1945
Deltok deretter i okkupasjonen av Tyskland bl.a. brukt i sikringen av tidl tysk erobrede verdier (malerier, kunstverk etc)
Avd var opprinnelig oppsatt og utdannet for vinterkrig/fjellkrig (skitropper)med tanke på invasjon i Norge og var en regulær avd i US Army
Jeger

[crnagora]

En av krigshjältarna i 442:a reg har gjort sig bemärkt i den amerikanska politiken.
Senatorn Daniel Inouye har suttit i kongressen ända sedan 1959, när Hawaii blev en delstat i USA. Han är nu den äldste senatorn och nummer tre i den amerikanska "tronföljden" som ersättare för presidenten (efter vicepresidenten och representanthusets talman).
Under striderna i Italien fortsatte han att kämpa ned en tysk ställning trots att han sårats i buk, ben och förlorat högra armen.
När han 1959 invalts i det nästan helvita representanthuset möttes han av talmannen Sam Rayburn med hälsningen att han lätt borde bli uppmärksammad - there isn't a lot of one-armed japanese around here. Segregationisterna i sydstaterna hade motsatt sig att Hawaii skulle bli delstat eftersom man förstod att ickevita politiker som Inouye skulle väljas.
Mer om Inouye i kriget kan förstås hittas på http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Inouye

[Wooster]

Måste lite skamset erkänna att jag aldrig tidigare hört talas om Daniel Inouye. Och ärligt talat hade jag hört om det någon annanstans hade jag nog först betvivlat sanningshalten. En enarmad krigshjälte från andra världskriget av japanskt ursprung med Medal of Honor och nu längst sittande senator. Det låter mer som en karaktär i någon Jackie Chan-film...

Stort tack för att du upplyst mig!

[jeger]

Det er både skrevet bok og laget film om den Japansk-amerikanske avdelingen som kjempet i Italia som del av det allierte ekspedisjonskorps. Anbefales, du finner det via google
Jeger

[Hans]

Stort tack för att du upplyst mig!

Instämmer.

MVH

Hans