…rope. In southern France, he was assigned to the 100th Infantry Battalion, Company A, 2nd Platoon. He was part of a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) team during the assault on the Gothic Line in Italy. While in Northern Italy, a German eighty-eight shell landed only several yards away from him. “Thank God, it was a dud,” he said. “Maybe one of the slave laborers working in the manufacturing center sabotaged that shell.” He later married Tomiko and r…

…Lake. After he enlisted while in camp, he was sent as a replacement for B Company. Kurahara was an anchor in the 100th/442nd color guard. His twin brother, Laverne, served as the other anchor in the color guard. Kurahara was wounded in the Gothic Line campaign. Laverne was wounded the same day elsewhere in Europe. Since his injury was less severe than Laverne’s, Kurahara visited him in the hospital. When a nurse saw him, she was shocked and asked…

…en the fight was over, more than two dozen of the enemy lay dead about the company sector. Then it was B Company’s turn to feel the force of the enemy’s determined effort to break the 100th’s line. Sgt. Allan Ohata and the men in his platoon held their ground in the face of the enemy’s fire from rifles, grenades, automatic pistols and machine guns. At the end of the fight, the men from Hawaii counted 27 enemy dead about them. But the enemy wasn’t…

…the students competed in different weight classes.” There weren’t too many competitors in Nosaka’s division as he competed for the Kakaako, City-wide and Japanese American amateur boxing clubs. His fistic career blossomed when he attended United Engineering, a technical college in San Francisco. He was invited to train in the stable of Richard Shin, where there was keen competition among the boxers of various ethnic backgrounds. In 1939, Nosaka wa…

…fantry Battalion. Maj. Mitsuyoshi Fukuda had advanced from a lieutenant in command of a platoon to commanding officer of the 100th Battalion,the first Japanese American to command an infantry battalion in United States history. Breaking precedent again, he was promoted to executive officer of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team. Maj. Fukuda was the last member of the Original 100th to leave Europe. In recognition of the battalion’s remarkable r…

…ky they can see more of Europe than us. The last time they were processing German prisoners & they collected plenty of souvenier from Jerries like cameras, silk stocking & arms. They took a lot of money away from the Germans & they all thought they were rich, but the had to burn all that for it had no value at all. I haven’t received (3) any answer for “Flora” as yet I figure it’s about time I did received an answer or maybe they think I’ll be com…

…’t know what kind of German you studied but from what I hear from the boys coming back from Germany it was the easiest language to pick up & use in everyday conversation. I wouldn’t know for I never got that far but they all say French is the hardest language to speak because of (3) the many silent letters & they pronounce their words altogether different from the way you see it unlike Italian or Spanish. I guess since you had to deal mostly with…

…lty.” Sparky took that advice. Thus Second Lieutenant Matsunaga was acting company commander on Molokai on Sunday, December 7, when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. As dark smoke billowed up 60 miles away, Sparky handed out rifles and posted the company’s 117 soldiers to guard beaches and the airfield. Over the next several months, the US government debated what to do with Japanese-Americans soldiers and finally, in May 1942, formed them into an…