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Daniel Inouye: "Go For Broke" 442nd Regimental Combat Team

A remarkable bit of American history



imageAbout 70 years ago this month President Roosevelt personally directed that a special Infantry Regimental Combat Team be formed. Much of the history of the United States has been written in a flag waving style. It tells Americans of their glorious past and their heroic forefathers and stirs up their patriotic adrenalin juices. To their credit, they are openly proud of their country, their flag, their National Anthem and their heritage. History records few places in the world where soldiers on both sides of a cruel and deadly civil war are treated equally as heroes. A nation and a people so diverse and competitive - yet so singly focused on the pride they have in their country and its institutions.
A pride, so focused on themselves they felt detached from the political squabbles going on outside their borders. Why get involved? It’s not our concern. That all ended early on a Sunday morning in 1941. On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbour and destroyed the Pacific fleet, killing 2400 Americans. "Days that will live in infamy" were the emotion filled words of President Roosevelt. Up to that day Americans did not have to go to war and be killed. They now saw a side of the Japanese that stirred hated - even revenge. They were trusting – maybe even naive. They were deceived. Japanese diplomats carried on a charade in Washington, pretending to negotiate peace while their bombers were taking off to strike at Hawaii. The surprise attack saw Americans thoroughly beaten.and humiliated. It was a black day. There are bad times and good times in war. There are battles won and battles lost - and as in all wars there are heroes and cowards. Eventually there is victory for one and defeat for another. If the Japanese attack on December 7th highlights a bad time for America - is there another side of the coin?

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Can we find a balance between what was so terrible and tragic so many years ago at Pearl Harbour - and the heroic acts of courage and valour that were to follow. Great feats of bravery and sacrifice that restored and brought new honour to American fighting men. Daniel was a lieutenant in the American Army. He planned to enter medicine after the war. He had always dreamed of becoming a doctor. In April 1945, south of Genoa, near the town of San Terenzo, his dream was shattered. The ridge he was on came under fire from a bunker manned by Italian soldiers fighting in support of the Germans. A little more time might have made a difference - for a few days later on May 2nd. the Germans in Italy surrendered. There was no cover on the embattled ridge so Dan climbed up the hill alone, to reconnoiter. He was hit by machine gun fire as he was taking out a hand grenade. He was knocked to the ground, but managed to get up and pull the pin. He ran to within a few yards of the nearest of three machine gun emplacements and lobbed the grenades into their position. As the gunners struggled to their feet he raked them with his hand-held machine gun. His men were still pinned down by enemy fire, and although he was bleeding from the stomach and could hardly walk, he staggered further up the hill and threw two more grenades into the second gun position. Dragging himself toward the third machine gun, he fell again but managed to pull the pin on another grenade. As he threw it, enemy fire took away much of his right arm. He ordered his men back when they began to leave their cover to help him. He lobbed a grenade with his good left hand and destroyed the last enemy machine gun. With his right arm almost severed and dangling at his side he kept firing with the gun in his good hand and cleared the area of enemy soldiers. He was hit in his right leg and fell down the hill. He refused to be evacuated until he was sure all his men were deployed to defensible positions. He killed twenty-five of the enemy and captured eight. His right arm had to be amputated. His dream of becoming a doctor was over. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and later The Congressional Medal of Honour – the American version of The Victoria Cross. The combined Chiefs had ordered Eisenhower to invade Italy in early September 1943. Montgomery`s 8th Army came ashore at Calabria on September 3rd right at the toe of the Italian boot. General Mark Clarke`s American 5th Army waded ashore thirty miles South of Naples, to spend almost two years fighting its way North. The 20-month campaign in Italy was vital to the war. The Allied Commanders were certain the Italians would surrender once their country was invaded. If Germany had to shoulder the entire burden of the defense of Italy, Hitler would have to take divisions from the Russian front and deploy German units that might otherwise be used to fight off an inevitable invasion of France. It followed that the tougher the Allies pursued the war in Italy, the more German soldiers would have to be drawn from other fronts. At the same time, additional German troops would be needed to keep the Italian people under control. The war in Italy was an important part of the strategy leading to an Allied victory in Europe. One group who displayed physical and moral heroism of the highest order were the 3000 men of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Part of the American 5th Army that came ashore South of Naples on September 9, 1943. The 442nd fought in eight major campaigns in Italy, Southern France, the Rhineland and central Europe. The grenade throwing Lieutenant who lost his arm leading a platoon of the 2nd Battalion of the 442nd on a ridge in San Terenzo was one of them. Incredible as his bravery was, it was not unusual for this group of fighting men. Their tenacious courage became a legend in the U.S. Army. The regimental Combat Team won seven Presidential citations. High ranking army commanders regarded them as the best assault troops in the American army. They were known for their unique enthusiasm and cheerfulness, which they took into action. They fought their way up craggy ridges battling the winter shrouded Vosges mountains in a daring and courageous rescue of the men of the 36th Texas infantry division who were trapped and surrounded by Germans. The 442nd suffered 800 casualties. The 100th infantry battalion of the 442nd suffered so many dead and wounded in the fighting at Monte Cassino that it earned the nickname, "The Purple Heart Battalion". Theirs is truly a story of valour and sacrifice. The men of the 442nd won 18,144 decorations including 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, 560 Silver Stars – 22 with Oak Leaf Clusters, 22 Legions of Merit, 4000 Bronze Stars, 12 Croix De Guerre, and 9486 Purple Hearts. Two men of the 442nd were awarded The Congressional Medal of Honour, one, given posthumously to a private. The audacious combat team suffered the highest casualty rate of any American unit in the war. And, Daniel, who wanted to be a doctor and left pre med school at 18 to join the army, lost his arm in a village in Northern Italy. He came out a Captain with America`s highest award for military valor. After the war he was elected to Congress and in 1963 became a member of the United States Senate, and has at 87 served continuously now for almost 50 years. In August, 1959 The House was very still as he was about to be sworn in as the first representative from the new state of Hawaii. House speaker Sam Rayburn faced Daniel Inouye and said, "Raise your right hand and repeat after me.'' The hush deepened as the young man raised not his right hand but his left, and repeated the oath of office. He had no right hand, it was blown off in combat in San Terenzo 14 years earlier. Dan and his buddies in the "Go For Broke" 442nd Regimental Combat Team fought in eight major campaign in World War II. The 442nd was the most decorated unit in American military history. And every soldier in it, including Lieutenant Daniel Inouye, was Japanese.


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Clare Westcott -- Bio and Archives

Clare Westcott served as Commissioner of Metro Police and a Citizenship court judge following a long career at Queens Park.


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