The Japanese government is giving recognition to three Hawaii organizations for their work preserving the history of nisei veterans and promoting goodwill between the U.S. and Japan 80 years after the end of World War II.
The Japanese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs last week announced the recipients of its Foreign Minister’s Commendations, which are awarded to individuals and groups around the world. Of the 51 awarded this year, the recipients include the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans, the 442nd Legacy Center and the Military Intelligence Service Veterans of Hawaii.
The organizations were nominated by Japanese Consul General Yoshinori Kodama, who is expected to present the awards in a ceremony later this year,
according to an official with
Japan’s Honolulu consulate.
The consulate said in a news release that “the three organizations have contributed to the preservation and dissemination of the history of Japanese Americans in the United States, thereby contributing to the improvement of the status of Japanese Americans in the United States, and significantly contributing to the deepening of mutual understanding and the promotion of friendly relations between Japan and Hawaii, and consequently between Japan and the United States.”
Kathi Hayashi, president and education chair for the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans, said the commendation is “very significant to us because it honors 80 years of work by our members to foster the healing and promoting peace and collaborating toward mutual understanding and aloha right between Japan and the United States.”
After the Japanese navy’s surprise Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor drew the U.S. into World War II, Japanese Americans immediately came under suspicion and soon faced persecution. Japanese Americans were reclassified as “enemy aliens,” and thousands were rounded up and placed in internment camps.
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But even so, many nisei — U.S.-born, second-generation Japanese Americans — insisted on serving in the U.S. military, fighting on the front lines against German and Italian forces in Europe and supporting intelligence operations in Asia and the Pacific.
The 100th Infantry Battalion was made up mostly of former Hawaii National Guardsmen of Japanese descent who were segregated from the rest of the Army by commanders who found their loyalty suspect, and were organized into the
new unit that came to be
unofficially known as the “One-Puka-Puka.”
The battalion saw heavy action in Italy and began to receive extensive news coverage as its soldiers engaged enemy forces, with many wounded in battle and continuing to fight. Hayashi said, “The media in four months realized that Americans come in all colors and these were loyal Americans, and they started calling them the ‘Purple Heart Battalion.’”
News accounts of their bravery helped pave the way for the Army raising the 442nd Infantry Regiment, made up of nisei troops from both Hawaii and the mainland.
The 100th Battalion was ultimately absorbed into the 442nd when it arrived in Europe, and their soldiers continued to see heavy combat through Italy and ultimately into France and Germany. To this day, the 442nd collectively is regarded as the most highly decorated combat unit in U.S. Army history.
Meanwhile, intelligence officers who believed Japanese American troops could give them an edge in translating enemy communications and interrogating prisoners began recruiting nisei into the Military
Intelligence Service, despite the objections of commanders who distrusted them.
In some cases they joined elite units working behind enemy lines capturing documents and enemy troops.
After the war, Japanese American MIS troops played a key role in the U.S. occupation of Japan as the country rebuilt and transitioned to a democracy.
Veterans of the 442nd also participated in post-war
reconciliation after returning from Europe, raising money for food, clothing and other items to send to war-stricken communities across the Japanese archipelago. Over the ensuing
decades, Japanese American veterans continued to play a key role in shaping the relationship between the two countries as the former enemies increasingly became close allies.
Today, only a handful of surviving veterans from these units are still living, but their family members have stayed active within the organizations to keep their memories and legacy alive.
“This commendation means so much, and we feel even more passionate to work together towards peace and understanding,” Hayashi said.
Earlier this year under the new Trump administration, the Army deleted some online content related to nisei veterans as part of a broader “digital refresh” ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth targeting “woke” material.
Hegseth told troops in an address soon after taking on leadership of the Pentagon that “the single dumbest phrase in military history
is ‘our diversity is our strength.’ I think our strength is our unity, our strength is our shared purpose, regardless of our
background.”
The deletions prompted
a major backlash in Hawaii from residents, local leaders and veterans groups. The Army has since restored some of the content.
In an interview last month with the Honolulu Star-
Advertiser, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said that, “Undoubtedly, as we have attempted to return to a model of what I would call more transparent, rational, clear conversation and empowering people to have a shared experience, I think there were some instances where — in that reset — we took down things that we did not, in hindsight, intend to.”
Driscoll said that having an Army that has people with deep knowledge of the world’s cultures is an advantage, especially in Asia and the Pacific.
“You want a variety of experiences, you want a variety of backgrounds, you want a variety of talents to be mixed together,” he said. “That balance will come from the actual people who are building out that force, helping us innovate, manning the lines and making up our platoons around the world. And so I think that never before has it been more important to have (that) kind of talent.”
AloJapan.com