| 1940-1946 | 100th Infantry Battalion |
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| October 15, 1940 | 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments of the Hawaii National Guard are activated and federalized under the U.S. Army command. In the 12 months preceding the attack on Pearl Harbor, approximately half of the 3,000 men in Hawaii who are either drafted or volunteer for service in the U.S. Army are Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJA). Most are assigned to the 298th or 299th with some assigned to engineer units. Basic training is at Schofield Barracks on Oahu. |
| December 7, 1941 | Japan launches a surprise attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base, home of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Members of the 2nd Battalion of the 298th guard the windward coastline of Oahu, while the 1st Battalion is stationed at Schofield Barracks. Martial law is declared.
In the morning after the attack begins, Territorial Governor Joseph Poindexter creates the Hawaii Territorial Guard (HTG) since the Hawaii Guard units had been federalized. Under the authority of the governor, the HTG becomes primarily an “anti-sabotage force” charged with the defense of Hawaii. |
| December 8, 1941 | United States declares war on Japan. FBI agents and police begin arresting Japanese community leaders in Hawaii, eventually detaining about 1,400 individuals who are classified as “dangerous enemy aliens.” |
| December 11, 1941 | United States declares war on Germany and Italy. |
| January 5, 1942 | War Department classifies AJA men of draft age, not already in the military, as IV-C “enemy aliens,” ineligible to be drafted into military service. |
| January 19, 1942 | 317 AJA members with the Hawaii Territorial Guard – many of whom are members of the ROTC at the University of Hawaii – are classified IV-C and discharged without explanation. |
| February 9, 1942 | War Department orders General Delos C. Emmons, Commanding General of the Army in Hawaii, to suspend employment of all ethnic Japanese civilians in the Army. |
| February 19, 1942 | President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, leading to the incarceration of more than 110,000 residents of Japanese ancestry in internment camps throughout the mainland (continental) U.S. |
| February 25, 1942 | Having been discharged from the Hawaii Territorial Guard, AJA men band together to form the Varsity Victory Volunteers (VVV), a civilian labor unit under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. |
| March 12, 1942 | Military Governor Lt. Gen. Emmons, Asst. Secretary of War John McCloy, and local leaders recommend a unit be formed of AJA soldiers, to fight in Europe. However, the War Department turns down the request since they still did not trust the AJA soldiers. |
| May 28, 1942 | By a secret message received on May 28, 1942, General George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, establishes the Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion, to be made up of AJA soldiers from the Hawaii National Guard’s 298th and 299th Infantry and other units.
1,432 men gather at Schofield Barracks to join the new battalion. The unit is led by Lieutenant Colonel Farrant Turner; second in command is executive officer James Lovell. |
| June 5, 1942 | Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion boards the U.S. Army transport ship (USAT) Maui, and departs Honolulu in much secrecy. |
| June 12, 1942 | Battalion arrives in Oakland and is officially activated as the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate). The “Separate” status indicates the battalion is not assigned to a parent unit. Soldiers start calling their battalion One Puka Puka (Hawaiian word meaning hole). |
| June 16, 1942 | 100th arrives at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, where they undergo training until the end of December. The battalion quickly earns a reputation for superior performance in the field. |
| October 2, 1942 | Elmer Davis, Director of the Office of War Information, recommends to President Roosevelt that Japanese Americans be allowed to enlist for military service, and was supported by the War Department, notably John McCloy and Col. Moses Pettigrew of the Far Eastern Branch. |
| November 3, 1942 | Twenty-five men from the 100th (Company B, Third Platoon) plus three officers and a cook depart Camp McCoy for Ship and Cat Islands off the Mississippi Gulf Coast where they will be used to train dogs to recognize and attack Japanese soldiers based on their supposedly unique scent. |
| November 17, 1942 | Col. Pettigrew submits a detailed report to Mr. McCloy for the formation of a combat unit. |
| November – December 1942 | Sixty-seven men from the 100th are recruited for the Military Intelligence Service because they had gone to school in Japan or were familiar with the Japanese language. They are sent to Camp Savage, Minnesota, for training. |
| January 6, 1943 | 100th leaves Camp McCoy for further training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Four months later, the battalion will continue field maneuvers at Camp Claiborne in Louisiana until June. |
| January 28, 1943 | Impressed by the outstanding training performance of the 100th, the War Department announces plans to organize an all-Japanese American combat unit. The call goes out for 1,500 volunteers from Hawaii; where nearly 10,000 respond. A quota of 3,000 is established on the mainland, but the response is 1,200. Consequently, the quotas are reversed, with two-thirds volunteering from Hawaii and one-third from the mainland; most of the mainland volunteers enlist from incarceration camps. |
| January 31, 1943 | Varsity Victory Volunteers in Hawaii request the deactivation of their unit so its members can enlist in the new 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT). |
| February 1, 1943 | 442nd Regimental Combat Team is activated by President Roosevelt. |
| March 28, 1943 | Honolulu Chamber of Commerce sponsors a farewell ceremony at Iolani Palace for the initial 2,686 AJA volunteers of the 442nd RCT. |
| May 1943 | 442nd RCT begins training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, where they will meet up with the 100th for the first time in June after the 100th returns from maneuvers in Louisiana. |
| July 9, 1943 | John McCloy recommends the 100th Infantry Battalion (Sep) be sent overseas. |
| July 20, 1943 | 100th receives its battalion colors and motto, “Remember Pearl Harbor,” as requested by the unit. The battalion leaves Camp Shelby on August 11 by train for Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. From there, it goes to Staten Island and boards the SS James Parker, departing on August 21. |
| September 2, 1943 | Battalion lands at Oran, Algeria in North Africa. Fifth Army command wants the 100th to guard supply trains, but Colonel Turner insists they be committed to combat duty. The 100th is assigned to 34th “Red Bull” Division, which has more battle experience than any other American Army unit at that time. |
| September 19, 1943 | 100th ships out with the 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division for Italy aboard the SS Frederick Funston. |
| September 22, 1943 | 133rd Infantry Regiment lands on the beaches at Salerno, Italy. |
| September 26, 1943 | 100th heads into combat, in pursuit of retreating German forces. |
| September 28, 1943 | 100th captures its first German prisoner and suffers its first casualty, when Sgt. Conrad Tsukayama is injured by an anti-tank mine, receiving the first Purple Heart medal in the battalion. |
| September 29, 1943 | The 100th engages in active combat for the first time, and Sgt. Shigeo “Joe” Takata becomes the first member of the 100th to be killed in action and the first to receive the Distinguished Service Cross. |
| October – November 1943 | 133rd Infantry Regiment, including 100th, fights a series of battles in several Italian towns and launches attacks on German forces, crossing the Volturno River three times. |
| October 29, 1943 | Major James L. Gillespie replaces Lt. Col. Turner. |
| Mid-January 1944 | Battle of Monte Cassino begins. It takes four major assaults and four months to defeat German forces. By some estimates, the battle leaves 250,000 people dead or wounded. The 100th fights in the first two assaults before it is relieved on February 15. Having suffered heavy casualties during its months in combat, the unit becomes known as “The Purple Heart Battalion.” After Cassino, the first group of officers and enlisted men from the 442nd arrives in March, transferring to the 100th to replenish the depleted battalion. |
| January 20, 1944 | With a growing need for manpower, Selective Service induction of AJA resumes. They are no longer classified as IV-C “enemy aliens,” and are once again eligible to be drafted into military service. |
| January 29, 1944 | Major James Lovell assumes command of the battalion after being released from the hospital, replacing Major Caspar Clough. He is soon badly wounded and does not return to combat. By the end of war, the 100th has 13 changes of battalion commanders. |
| March 26, 1944 | 100th lands at Anzio, the second front between the German’s Gustav Line of defense and Rome and is assigned a section in the Anzio beachhead in April. |
| May 1, 1944 | 442nd RCT leaves Hampton Roads, Virginia for Europe. |
| May 11, 1944 | British, French and American forces push forward to Rome. |
| June 2, 1944 | 100th participates in the breakout to Rome by attacking and capturing Lanuvio. The open city of Rome is liberated three days later. |
| June 11, 1944 | 100th meets up with 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Civitavecchia, northwest of Rome. At this time, the Regiment consists of the 3rd Battalion, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion and 232nd Engineer Company. The 2nd Battalion will arrive six days later. The 1st Battalion, which has been depleted from sending replacements to the 100th, is left at Camp Shelby to train new arrivals. 442nd RCT is assigned to the Fifth Army and, in turn, is attached to the 34th “Red Bull” Division. The battle-tested 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) is attached to the 442nd RCT, becoming the 1st Battalion of 442nd, but designation remains as the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate). |
| June 22, 1944 | President Roosevelt signs into law the Servicemembers’ Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill of Rights. By the time the original G.I. Bill ends in July 1956, 7.8 million World War II veterans will have participated in an education or training program and 2.4 million veterans will have home loans backed by the Veterans Administration. |
| June 26, 1944 | The 100th/442nd RCT goes into combat near Belvedere, Italy. The 100th Infantry Battalion (Sep) is awarded its first Presidential Unit Citation for its outstanding performance of duty in action on June 26 and 27 1944, in the vicinity of Belvedere and Sassetta, Italy. |
| July 7, 1944 | 100th/442nd RCT takes Hill 140 in Italy after a bitter battle. |
| July 9, 1944 | 100th occupies Leghorn (Livorno) and is directly under the command of Fifth Army in Rome. |
| July 27, 1944 | General Mark Clark presents the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor in the Army for a military unit, to the 100th at Vada, Italy, for action at Belvedere. By this time, members of the 100th Infantry Battalion, originating with 1,300 men, have been awarded more than 1,000 Purple Hearts, 44 Silver Stars, 31 Bronze Stars, 9 Distinguished Service Crosses with an additional 10 being processed (and subsequently approved), 3 Legion of Merits, and 15 battlefield commissions. |
| August 10, 1944 | 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) is redesignated as 100th Battalion 442nd Infantry. The battalion becomes the 1st Battalion of 442nd, but retains its numeric “100th” designation, because of its outstanding combat record. |
| August 31, 1944 | 442nd, minus the 100th, reaches the Arno River near Florence, Italy. The 100th spearheads the crossing of the Arno River and capture of Pisa. |
| September 1944 | While the 100th waits in Naples for the movement into France, representatives from each company meet to approve a set of bylaws for Club 100. They elect Katsumi “Doc” Kometani as president, Sakae Takahashi as vice president, Andrew Okamura as secretary, and Hideo Yamashita as treasurer. Leslie Deacon, Joseph Farrington, and Charles Hemenway are named honorary members. |
| September 27, 1944 | 100th/442nd RCT leaves Naples for France. |
| September 30, 1944 | 100th/442nd RCT is attached to the 36th Division, also known as the Texas Division, of the Seventh Army. |
| October 15, 1944 | 100th/442nd RCT enters the battle of Bruyeres in the Vosges Mountains, located in northeast France. After three days of fighting, the 100th takes Hill A and the 2nd Battalion takes Hill B and enters the town. Two days later, the 100th captures Hill C. |
| October 25, 1944 | 100th/442nd RCT captures Biffontaine. |
| October 26 – 31, 1944 | After five days of fighting, the100th/442nd RCT recuses 211 members of the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry from Texas, referred to as the “Lost Battalion,” which was cut off and surrounded by Germans. For the 100th/442nd, the entire Vosges campaign was just over a month of almost non-stop combat. It included the liberation of Bruyères and Biffontaine, the rescue of the “Lost Battalion,” and nine days of driving the Germans through the forest. The 442nd’s total casualties were 160 men dead and more than 1,200 wounded. 100th earns its second Presidential Unit Citation for liberating Bruyères and Biffontaine and for rescuing the Lost Battalion. Presidential Unit Citations are also awarded to the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, the 232nd Engineer Combat Company, and F and L Companies of the 442nd. |
| November 13, 1944 – March 1945 | Soldiers of the 100th/442nd RCT head south to the French Riviera. The 100th/442nd has lost so many men that it can’t be used as a regiment-sized force. Nearly 2,000 are wounded and in hospitals in Italy, France, England and the United States. The unit guards a 12-mile stretch of the French-Italian border. The men call this time “the Champagne Campaign.” |
| March 20, 1945 | The 100th /442nd RCT, minus the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, leaves to join the African-American 92nd Infantry Division. |
| April 5 – 6 1945 | 100th/442nd RCT makes a surprise attack on Nazi mountainside positions in Italy, breaking through the German Gothic Line in one day. The regiment, including the 100th Battalion, is awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. |
| April 6 – 30, 1945 | 100th/442nd RCT drives the enemy up the Italian coast to Genoa and Turin. |
| May 2, 1945 | German army surrenders. The war in Italy is over. Six days later, on May 8, with Germany’s unconditional surrender, the war is Europe is officially over. |
| August 6, 1945 | U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, an atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. |
| August 15, 1945 | Victory in Japan (VJ) Day, signaling the end of WWII. |
| September 2, 1945 | Japan signs the formal Instrument of Surrender. |
| July 4, 1946 | Members of the 100th /442nd RCT sail into New York Harbor aboard the SS Wilson Victory and are greeted by cheering crowds. |
| July 15, 1946 | A parade and review is held in Washington, D.C. President Harry Truman pins the Presidential Unit Citation on the 100th/442nd RCT colors. “You fought not only the enemy,” he says, “but you fought prejudice – and you have won.” |
| August 15, 1946 | The colors of the 100th Infantry Battalion are officially turned over to the Territory of Hawaii during a ceremony in Honolulu for returning war veterans. With that act, the battalion is deactivated. |
| 1946-1952 | Club 100 |
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| June 1946 | Site of a former Japanese language school on Nuuanu Avenue in Honolulu is purchased by Club 100, using dues ($2/month) collected by the soldiers starting from training at Camp McCoy and continuing throughout the war. This is the location of the club headquarters until the property is sold for a permanent location. |
| April 1950 | Club 100 purchases land at 520 Kamoku Street, the site of the current clubhouse. |
| July 1952 | Clubhouse is completed on the 10th anniversary of Club 100, which was conceived while the 100th was stationed at Camp McCoy. |