442nd Regiment Research Paper

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“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” On December 8th, 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave his famous “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation” speech in which he reminisced upon the unforeseen attacks against the United States enacted upon by the Empire of Japan. The day before, Imperial Japan launched a surprise attack against the US naval port of Pearl Harbor leaving 2403 casualties on the American side and at least 8 ships damaged from bombing and torpedoes. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was launched into a 3 year Pacific Theater against Imperial Japan that ultimately would …show more content…
Many young Japanese-Americans, or Nisei, were released from their bonds and captivity in the relocation camps and were allowed to further their education in college or join and fight in World War II. Many of these Nisei went on to join the army and created the 442nd Infantry Regiment.The most decorated regiment in all of United States history, the 442nd Infantry Regiment, was composed almost entirely of these Nisei. 14,000 men served in the 442nd regiment in its years of service and of those 14,000 people, 9,846 earned Purple Hearts, 21 earned the Medal of Honor, and the unit earned 8 Presidential Unit Citations. The 442nd regiment were known for their aggressive but honorable fighting style while they fought in Germany in northern France. An example of this aggressive battle behavior was when the 442nd Infantry Regiment fought in Northern France against an opposing German army. While a portion of the 442nd Infantry Regiment fought the Germans from the front, 3 companies within the 442nd flanked the German army from all sides. As the German army fled from one company, they were met by another company, and as they fled from that company, they were meant by the final company. As the 442nd regiment and its companies pushed the Germans closer and closer together, the German army started to crumble and fall. The 442nd regiment were able to …show more content…
He received the Medal of Honor for his vigorous fighting against the Axis powers during World War II but primarily during April 1945 as he fought along a heavily fortified ridge near Tuscany, Italy. He led a flanking charge against Germans guarding the ridge but was shot upon by three German machines in which he was shot in the stomach but quickly took cover behind a wall. He rushed toward the first machine gun and blew it up before going towards the 2nd machine gun while his company attacked the final machine gun. He cocked his grenade in his hand but his hand got shot off by a german inside the bunker while the grenade was still primed. He transferred the grenade from the his shot-off hand into his working arm and tossed the grenade into the bunker destroying it before falling unconscious. For his extreme efforts in the war and for capturing the ridge, he was awarded the Medal of Honor by Bill Clinton on June 21st, 2000. With his receiving of the Medal of Honor, and with the other 21 Nisei soldiers winning the Medal of Honor, the view of these Nisei greatly changed once people saw that they were willing to do so much for their country and for their freedom. With the war across the sea came the war at home, the Nisei might of won the battle there but the war wasn’t over yet. At home they fought just as bravely as they did against the Germans in

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