…ing and holding vital road junctions in the Oliveto-Venafro sector. As the Germans commanded the high ground on the far bank of the river it was obvious that the Nisei would not be able to hold their objectives without taking that as well. It was to be a night action; and at 2400 the crossing of the Volturno began. Piercing screams were heard At once the Nisei came under mortar fire and suffered casualties, but the battalion crossed the river in g…

…mand and ordered to a hospital. At 48 years of age, he was older than most combat battalion commanders. The stress of command and the deaths of his troops had taken an emotional toll on him. With Major Lovell in the hospital recovering from injuries, Major James Gillespie was assigned to command the 100th. Second in command was Major Caspar Clough. In the 100th’s next major engagement, the taking of La Croce, Major Gillespie had to be hospitalized…

…ctions. In addition to these conditions, General Dahlquist, who had little combat experience, ignored his advisors and intelligence from the front lines and often commanded units to advance before they were able to consolidate their positions with adequate supply lines and artillery support. Along with casualties caused by tree bursts, gun and artillery fire and mines, trench foot also took a huge toll on the men. Bruyeres was surrounded by a seri…

…chools, Mac wrote her a letter. It was a hard letter to write. Mac was his company commander’s bodyguard. (The company commander was Captain T. Suzuki, of Honolulu, who was wounded about three days after Mac, and is at Walter Reed Hospital.) The first they knew of contact with the Germans was when the Nazis opened up with mobile artillery and pinned down Mac’s company for an hour. It was their first time under fire, and most of them were pretty fr…

…with Gingers at Hqs. According to Hiroshi, Gingers was interrogating some German prisoners when a German artillery shell landed in their midst, killing Gingers and the prisoners. Also killed at this time was James Kubokawa. James was in the automotive class at the Honolulu Vocational School when I was in the electrical class. Gingers was a year behind me at Kauai High School. Shigeto Fuyumura, known to us as Hyme, was one of our second platoon me…

…e platoon section was led by a brand new lieutenant who never had previous combat experience. Not only the combat conditions but also the adverse Italian weather were just too much for this brand new officer. So we all presume that he took the best alternative – he “accidentally” shot himself in his leg. We never heard from this officer again. One unfortunate member of this machine gun section, Kiyoto Mori, took a direct hit from a mortar shell in…

…taken under fire by Co. B, supported by the mortars from Co. H. The enemy company commander was killed and his forces were scattered. After a fire fight that lasted for about half an hour, the attackers were forced to withdraw towards Ft. Bastione. Here they came under the fire from the 442nd troops in the town. The withdrawal was dissipated, and many of the enemy were captured when they ran into the lines of Cos. F and G. An effort to escape und…

…At about 0100 hours, the whole sky blew up with American artillery and the German defenders were literally demolished.” In those final days of the war, the German army beat such a hasty retreat that the artillery battalion, in close pursuit, found themselves in front of the infantry instead of behind them. Hence, the artillery battalion was the first to reach the gates of Dachau. Upon their arrival the 522nd found many subsidiary camps around the…