Go for Broke Essay

The 442nd Regimental Combat squad (RCT) was a unique soldiers unit in the building blocked States military during the Second universe of discourse struggle. It was unique in the sense that it was made up primarily of nisei or second-generation Japanese-Americans, a combination of Americans of Japanese descent or emigrants from Japan. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on declination 7, 1941 was the raison detre for the 442nd RCT.In the days following the attack, the Japanese-American community took a brunt of the unvoiced backlash as those in the mainland were forcibly relocated to internment camps in remote areas in the western United States when their loyalty was in surmise and despite the professions of loyalty among these Japanese-Americans while those on Hawaii were kept down the stairs close guard in their communities though those serving in military units such as the National Guard were dismissed (Inouye, 1967, 78 Fugita & Fernandez, 2004, 85). whimsy their honor t arnished and being treated unfairly, the Japanese-American community lobbied very enceinte for a chance to seek their loyalty to the United States by military religious service. In 1943, recognizing the commitment and loyalty displayed by the Japanese-American community in Hawaii, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed the existence of a separate military unit to be made up of these Japanese-Americans. By 1943, the 442nd RCT was created and made up primarily of Japanese-Americans from the internment camp on the mainland, including those from Hawaii.The unit was originally made up of 4,000 men and were commanded by white-hot officers though the some nisei were eventually given battlefield commissions. Their official axiom was Go for Broke Initially this was their motivation in fighting hard unless eventually, this motto had a some(prenominal) deeper meaning as these nisei were free their all in fighting the enemy, not only the Axis but the racial bigotry in the United Sta tes in order to prove their worth as citizens of the United States.Throughout their combat service, the 442nd fought mainly in the Mediterranean theater from North Africa to the Italian campaigns at Cassino and Anzio though one unit from the Regiment, the 552nd Field Artillery Battalion helped liberate Jews from the Dachau soaking up camp (Fugita & Fernandez, 2004, 90).By the time the campaign had ended, the 44nd became one of the highly beautify units for a special unit during the war with 21 Medals of Honor, most of which were latterly given many years later 7 Presidential Unit Citations (the group equivalent of the Medal of Honor for individuals) and almost 20,000 other awards and decorations, in particular the Purple Heart which made up half that number receivable to their high casualty rate that they were called the Purple Heart Brigade (Sterner, 2008, 70).Their service has somewhat vindicated their loved ones interned and helped break the racial barrier surrounded by the Japanese Americans and the whites. President Roosevelt was so impressed that that they were actually invited to the White signal to call on him (Sterner, 2008, 141). As an epilogue, some of them went on to greater things such as Daniel Inouye, who went on to become a United States Senator and continues to serve to this day. In conclusion, the men of the 442nd had proven themselves to be worthy citizens of the United States and they had paid for it in blood.They had proven that although they are oriental on the outside, they are very much American at heart. References Cooper, M. (2000). Fighting for Honor Japanese Americans and World War II. unseasoned York Houghton-Mifflin. Fugita, S. & Fernandez, M. (2004). Altered Lives, Enduring Community. Seattle University of Washington Press. Hawaii Nikkei taradiddle editorial Board. (1998). Japanese Eyes, American Heart. Honolulu Tendai Educational Foundation. Henry, M. R. & Chapell, M. (2000). The US Army of World War II (2) The Mediter ranean.Oxford Osprey Publications. Inouye, D. (1967). Go For Broke In In N. J. Sparks (Ed. ) True Stories of World War II. Pleasantville, New York The Readers get Association, Inc. Salyer, L. (2004). Baptism by Fire Race, Military Service, and US Citizenship Policy, 1918-1935. The Journal of American History 91 (3). 847-876. Sterner, C. D. (2008). Go For Broke. Clearfield, Utah American Legacy Media. Tateishi, J (1984). And justness for All An Oral History of the Japanese American Detention Camps. New York Random House.