"Go For Broke!"

 The Nisei Battalions of WWII

 The Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor that launched the United States into the Second World War posed an interesting situation for Japanese-American citizens living in the United States. Many Americans believed that Americans of Japanese decent would assist the Japanese empire in its war against the United States by working as spies and committing acts of sabatauge. As a result of these fears, the U.S. Government decided to round up all Japanese-decent Americans living on America's Western coast and deport them to hastily built internment camps deep within the country. 


The Japanese American internment camps were
hastily constructed and located deep in the
U.S. interior, in nearly uninhabitable deserts.

"I am for immediate removal of every Japanese on the West Coast to a point deep in the interior. I don't mean a nice part of the interior either. Herd 'em up, pack 'em off and give 'em the the inside room in the badlands." ~ Hearst newspaper chain columnist

Despite the discrimination that befell the Japanese Americans, by 1942 the need for soldiers began to rise. New laws were passed, allowing minorities such as African Americans and Japanese Americans to enter the U.S. armed forces. However, prejudice still had a part to play; Asian and African Americans were placed in segregated all-black or all-Asian units. Further still, these segregated units were commanded by white officers.

In 1943, the 442nd battalion of second-generation (or "Nisei") Japanese American infantrymen landed with the Allies in German-held Italy.

In the first few weeks of fighting, the Japanese American soldiers proved themselves to be fiercely loyal to the United States. Many of the Battalion's white officers were highly skeptical about the performance of the Nisei troops; they thought that they were incapable of preforming as effective soldiers, and would fail in combat. But when the fierce fighting began in the forests and mountains of Italy, the Nisei soldiers proved themselves to be excellent fighting men with exceptional coolness and bravery under fire.

"Send me more of these men!" ~General Mark Clark, commander of the 442nd Nisei Battalion, commenting on the effectiveness of the Japanese American troops after their first large-scale engagement with the Germans



One Nisei soldier takes a drink from a canteen while
his comrade keeps watch  

A Nisei soldier in a field hospital. The only complaint the Army had of the
Japanese-American troops were multiple reports of soldiers who, once they had
recovered just well enough to carry a gun, would sneak out of the field hospitals without
an official release and join their comrades in the front where the fighting was.

The 442nd Infantry Batallion had to pay a high price for their bravery. their losses were so high, what remained of the unit was merged with the newly-formed 100th Nisei Batallion. Together they formed the 442/100th Nisei Batallion.

The Nisei often found themselves up against
a tough and determined enemy. Here a German paratrooper,
 fighting on the ground, defends a line
in Western Europe, 1944.  

In the months that followed, the 442/100th Nisei Batallion fought courageously in Italy until they were chosen to be transferred to Southern France, where their exceptional fighting skills were needed most. Their mission was to rescue a detachment of Americans, the 36th Texas Infantry Batallion, which had been surrounded in the woods by overwhelming numbers of German tanks and infantrymen. The 442/100th Nisei Batallion was selected to break through the German choke hold and rescue the trapped Texans. They fought in the forests, battling combat-hardened Germans and the new King Tiger I tanks that proved to be one of the most formidable of German armored vehicles. The Nisei lost many men in the fighting, but eventually they broke
 through the German lines and reached the trapped Texans, urged on by their famous battle-cry "go for broke!" a motto that had orgins in a traditional Japanese gambling game.  
 
"[The Germans] would hit us from one flank, and then the other, then from the front and rear...we were never so glad to see anyone as those fighting Japanese Americans."~36th Texas Infantryman recalls the rescue of his unit by the 442/100th Nisei Battalion

A German soldier in Italy.

Back in Italy once again, the Nisei battalion found themselves up against German resistance in the villages of Northern Italy.

A 442/100th Nisei soldier works
his way through one of the shattered Italian villages that
were caught in the fight to liberate
 the Italian peninsula from the Nazis.



A Nazi paratroop officer draws his pistol as a nisei patrol nears the German-held village. 

Soldiers fighting in Urban areas often relied on hand grenades to improve their firepower capabilities.

 



Boom! A German soldier is hit by a grenade in
the bitter fighting in Italy

The fighting in Italy would last for only a few more months before all the German resistance would be mopped up. When the allies reached the German capitol of Berlin in April, 1945, the Nazi regime had collapsed and with it, German resistance in Italy ground to a halt with the end of the war in Europe. 

By the wars end, the 442/100th Nisei Battalion had earned 18,143 medals.
1 Congressional Medal of Honor,
47 Distinguished Service Crosses,
350 Silver Stars,
810 Bronze Stars,
and more than 3,600 Purple Hearts.

During the Presidency of Ronald Reagen (1981-1989), twenty-eight additional Nisei veterans who fought in the Second World War were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, America's highest military award for conspicuous bravery.

Counter-Guerrilla Patrol In Action During the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War was different than any other war America has fought in the way that both sides used guerrilla warfare tactics more than conventional fighting methods. Unlike conventional warfare, where two opposing armies attack each other using infantry, artillery, tanks and planes, guerrilla warfare involves "hit and run" tactics where combat patrols penetrate deep into enemy territory to cause as much damage and havoc behind enemy lines as possible.
To counter the threat of Viet Cong (or "VC") guerrillas--civilians in arms aiding the North Vietnamese Army to expand Communism throughout all of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos--the U.S. Army sent out counter-guerrilla combat teams to seek out and destroy small but fierce bands of Viet Cong as they conducted sabotage raids deep in U.S./South Vietnamese territory.

There were many contributing factors to why guerrilla warfare was so prevalent; for instance, the geography. Vietnam is made up of jungle-covered mountains, with very little roads connecting the scattered villages throughout the countryside. The staple food crop was rice, grown in water-filled paddies, rather than dry solid farm fields like Europe or North America. Because of the extremely rough terrain, moving large armies on massive campaigns was unthinkable; instead, we would send small units to venture out from an established base camp to slowly gain ground or collect information on enemy troop movements. Because of this, Viet Cong patrols were sent out to ambush and clear the area of our patrols to keep the way open to conduct raids of their own, and the American and South Vietnamese armies sent out counter-patrols to counter these, which turned Vietnam into a constant back-and-forth battlefield of hundreds of small but fierce firefights day and night.


Let's now take a look at a U.S. Combat patrol conducting a mission.


A U.S. Combat patrol usually consisted of of 10-15 men; a 9-man squad plus one medic was the most common arrangement. Being a long-range strike force, all the soldiers were heavily armed and only carried the bare necessities or less to reduce weight and to make room for as much ammunition as possible.


The Mission: local villagers have reported a patrol of Viet Cong moving South through the jungle at around 3:30-4:00 a.m. Note that the Viet Cong wear black uniforms and the soldier in front carries a M1 Springfield leftover from World War II.


Later that morning, a U.S. patrol undertakes a final weapon's check before moving out.
Hours later, a U.S. soldier finds fresh footprints. "They can't be more than half an hour old" he says, and the squad leader is notified immediately.

Two men are sent forward to scout out the location of the Vietcong, but not to engage in combat. Before long, the scouts return with news that the VC patrol is heading their way. The squad leader immediately orders everybody to prepare to ambush the oncoming enemy.

Here we see a heavy machine gunner taking position with his M-60 machine gun.

The VC patrol is wary of U.S. or South Vietnamese movements; they are in enemy territory, and take extra precaution to spread out on their return trip in case they were detected. Silently they move through the jungle, keeping their eyes and ears open for signs of the enemy.
The squad commander takes a look for himself at the surrounding area. "We should ambush them here; if a medivac is needed, the clearing to our rear will be perfect for an airlift."
All the soldiers are ready with guns loaded, waiting for the commander's order to fire.
"Corporal, take position behind that bamboo grove. Fire on sight."
"OPEN FIRE!"
The soldiers open fire on the VC patrol with all their firepower; light and heavy machine guns, grenades, and as pictured here a U.S. Soldier fires his grenade launcher, nicked-named "Blooper" by American soldiers for the noise it made when discharging the grenade.
The M-16 automatic rifle was the most commonly used rifle by U.S. forces in the Vietnam War. It is used by the soldier pictured below.

Three hits are scored on the enemy....
...But one U.S. Soldier is wounded in the fighting.
"Man hit! We need a medic over here!"
The medic rushes over, but has only bad news: the injured soldier is in critical condition, and a medivac (medical evacuation helicopter, the ancestor of today's life-flight) is needed.



A medivac is requested by radio, and soon the sound of whirling rotors beating the air comes close. As the fight draws to a close, all the enemy soldiers having been killed, captured, or escaped, the helicopter hovers over the clearing where the medic is signaling for it to land.

The fight is over, and everybody re-loads before returning to the base camp, or "fire base" as they were called.



The patrol returns to the fire base the following night. A patrol could be out in the jungle for days or even sometimes weeks on end, depending on troop strength, supplies, and proximity to friendly bases and villages.