…ought nothing for themselves, but strove instead to make this a land where free men of all colors, creeds, and origins might live at peace, an example to the world. While living they said: “We do not expect to live through this war, but we will die bravely so that our children, our wives, or parents might have a place in America.” When mouthy men of godless “isms” preach to make us hate the other color, the other creed, the other race, and say tha…

…asons. Fundraising and Assistance Club 100 participated in fund drives for community organizations such as the Honolulu Community Chest, American Red Cross, and the Kuakini Hospital Building Fund. The chapter members in southern California were also active in their communities. During the Korean War, gift packages were packed by club members and sent to soldiers from Hawaii who were in combat. In the 1950s, the city of Lacrosse, Wisconsin suffered…

…base, playing respectably in basketball, football and baseball leagues and competing well in boxing tournaments. They also held their own competitions, including golf and tennis. Some of the VVV members kept up their studies with instructors brought in for special lectures and by enrolling in some courses providing college credit. Most of their interaction with the regular Army troops at Schofield was fine, although there were a few racial inciden…

…” Although Isaac initially trained as a radio operator in the Headquarters company, once in combat he volunteered to become a medic as casualties mounted. He had no medical training, but tended to the wounded, carrying many to safety. Whenever he jumped out of a foxhole to save men, he would repeat the 23rd Psalm over and over in his head: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…..” He took so many risks he wrote that at one point a Protestant…

…d how he wished Ed’s background and knowledge could be reprogrammed into a computer. It was before the advent of computer and electronic games that he built games for his five children. Baseball, bowling, cribbage boards, a firecracker cannon and even a wooden sailboat were a few of his many projects. Later in life, he would devote his free time developing an “N” scale model electric train network which kept him occupied for many years. He was als…

…), and back to Italy to fight in the Gothic Line (Rocky Ridge). Of all the combat situations I was in, two battles come to mind: On June 26, 1944, my squad of four was assigned the mission of securing an enemy house outside of Belvedere, Italy. We maneuvered around the building and captured it after hard fighting; and we captured 17 and wounded 7 of the enemy, and took 13 enemy amphibious jeeps, four machine guns, five machine pistols and numerous…

…l full of prisoners. “Where could they go?” reasoned Nishizawa. “They were free, but they didn’t know what to do with that freedom.” Shuttled from prison to prison for years, many of the survivors were very far from their homes. “In their weakened condition, most of the prisoners were either lying on the ground or sitting up against the fence, but their eyes were following us closely. And as we drove around the camp, we soon began to sense the sti…

…tales of valor by men who risked or gave their lives to save others or to complete a mission. With the exception of the men of valor, the dead in these stories usually remain faceless, nameless and unlucky. Those who have never been to war get the feeling that the battlefield is an indescribable pit of horror and carnage where luck plays as much a role in life and death as one’s actions and skills. Civilization ends, and chaos begins. Killing bec…