Little Tokyo

During World War II, as fear of Japanese invasion and espionage gripped the West Coast, ethnic Japanese, 70% of whom were American citizens, were rounded up and sent to internment camps. At the same time, after Hawaii's Japanese Americans lobbied to have their sons permitted to serve and prove their loyalty to the United States, Japanese-American military units became some of the most decorated in U.S. military history. The Army's 100th Infantry Battalion, known as the "Purple Heart battalion," and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team earned renown in fighting through Italy, France, and Germany, where Japanese-American soldiers received more than 18,000 decorations, including 8,486 Purple Hearts. The 442nd's motto was "Go For Broke," and its most tragic and proud hour came when it broke through German lines in eastern France to rescue 211 trapped Texans of the Lost Battalion at the cost of about 200 Japanese-American dead and another 600 wounded. In the Pacific, 6,000 Nisei linguists in military intelligence questioned 14,000 prisoners, monitored communications between Japanese pilots and their airfields, and translated 20 million captured documents; the government later estimated that their work saved over a million lives and shortened the war by two years. Nisei also helped open the Burma Road, intercepted Japanese radio commands for air strikes in India, and translated an intercepted message from Japan's ambassador to Berlin describing German defenses before D-Day. Their wartime courage later helped persuade the U.S. government in the 1950s to allow Japanese immigrants to become naturalized citizens, and three decades later the government issued a formal apology and reparations. In June 1999, veterans gathered in Los Angeles for the unveiling of a black granite "Go For Broke" monument honoring the 100th, the 442nd, and military intelligence units with 16,000 names, and the following year 19 Japanese Americans named on it received the Medal of Honor after a review of their combat service, including Senator Daniel K. Inouye, who had led a platoon with the 442nd in Italy and lost an arm in combat.

Los Angeles, California · United States