This was a nice story out of the Seattle Times about the famed 442nd mostly Japanese American Regimental Combat Team that was paid tribute too by the MN National Guard's 34th Division (which they served under) and where April 10th was also designated as Nisei Veterans Committee Day and a documentary was shown telling the history of the 442 and its 100th Nisei Battalion:
It has been more than 60 years since the soldiers of the 442nd earned distinction as the most decorated unit in U.S. military history, given its size and length of service. The feat — including 21 Medals of Honor — is all the more notable considering the circumstances: After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, many of their families had been herded into detention camps.Check it out in full here.
The so-called "Go For Broke" unit suffered 600-plus casualties, with more than 9,400 wounded. As President Clinton said at a June 2000 event for Asian-American Medal of Honor recipients: "Rarely has a nation been so well-served by people it has so ill-treated."
After the war, many Nisei found they were unwelcome in veterans groups such as Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Undaunted, they helped form Nisei Veterans Committee, which made Friday's lunchtime brotherhood all the more special.
