In World War Two, there were one million Asian Americans in the United States, but Japanese Americans were the largest group. Most Japanese Americans lived in the western states. After Pearl Harbor, Americans were holding a grudge against the Japanese, along with the fear of spies. It was not long after Pearl Harbor that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. It sent them to detention camps.More than 110,000 Japanese Americans went to the detention camps. They were viewed as enemies and with suspicion by the public. After they got to the detention camps, the Japanese American men thought they could prove loyalty to the United States by enlisting in the army. But there was this group of Japanese Americans that didn’t seem to like the idea of fighting alongside the Americans that had treated them as “enemy aliens.” They were called No-No Boys and they immediately became outcasts because they stood their ground.
No-No Boys were shunned after World War Two and they had a good reason not to enlist in the army. 110,000 Japanese Americans were sent to detention camps, stripped of their civil rights. In World War Two, the emotional toll with the colored people was unbearable. Not all casualties in the war were on the battlefield either, according to the experience of minority groups. There were a lot of civil rights groups.
But the few that joined were highly decorated heroes. They helped give Japanese language instruction at a school called U.S Army Military Intelligence Service Language School. Most of the students there were Nisei, 85 percent of them were MISLS graduates. After that, the Nisei traveled to Asia and helped translate Japanese battle maps for the military. They questioned prisoners of war and even got whole Japanese companies to surrender by pretending to be Japanese personnel.
In battalions, Japanese Americans were segregated just because of their racial ancestry. Eventually the government banned the Nisei from military service because of their racial heritage. But, after a while, it all turned around. They were able to have a full Nisei battalion. It was the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which President Roosevelt shared to the world on February 1st, 1943.
But there wasn’t enough members in the battalion, so the government allowed the Japanese Americans in the internment camps be drafted in January 1944. About 23,000 Japanese Americans qualified for the draft. But then, the battalion wasn’t the only one with full Nisei soldiers. Another one was The 100th Infantry Battalion; it was made up of two infantry regiments from the Hawaii Provisional Infantry Battalion. They were not placed in the internment camps.
They had many great accomplishments, but not one as great as the one when they helped the Allied forces take Rome. There were many sacrifices, the number of people dropped 1,300 to 400 by the middle of the year. Because of that, the 100th Infantry Battalion joined up with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The 422nd is remembered for things also. They helped free three French cities and helped with the Rescue of the Lost Battalion.
They saved the Lost Battalion when they found them cornered in the streets by Nazis in France. They had to walk dangerous landscapes to get to them and face the Nazis. They ended up saving the Lost Battalion, but lost 800 people at the same time. That was a lot of people that they saved. It was quadruple the amount of lives the military ordered the regiment to save.
It also started criticism that the government cared more about the white men’s lives more then the Nisei. But, nevertheless, the Nisei were proud of the battle they endured because it helped change the view of Japanese Americans. The 442nd regiment was the most decorated regiment ever. Because of their bravery, they proved that Japanese Americans were loyal to the U.S. and always willing to put their lives on the line. They even met President Harry Truman and he said to them, “You fought not only the enemy, but you fought prejudice, and you have won.”
All together, the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team received seven Presidential Unit Citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze Stars, 22 Legion of Merit Medals, 15 Soldier’s Medals and more than 4,000 Purple Hearts. On October 5th, 2010, President Barack Obama granted the Congressional Gold Medal to the 100th Battalion and the 442nd regiment to honor their services.
Sources:http://racerelations.about.com/od/trailblazers/a/The-Japanese-American-Heroes-Of-World-War-Ii.htm
http://racerelations.about.com/od/historyofracerelations/tp/World-War-Iis-Impact-On-Race-Relations.htm
http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/soc248/JapaneseIntern.html
Below is a wordsearch puzzle
No-No Boys were shunned after World War Two and they had a good reason not to enlist in the army. 110,000 Japanese Americans were sent to detention camps, stripped of their civil rights. In World War Two, the emotional toll with the colored people was unbearable. Not all casualties in the war were on the battlefield either, according to the experience of minority groups. There were a lot of civil rights groups.
But the few that joined were highly decorated heroes. They helped give Japanese language instruction at a school called U.S Army Military Intelligence Service Language School. Most of the students there were Nisei, 85 percent of them were MISLS graduates. After that, the Nisei traveled to Asia and helped translate Japanese battle maps for the military. They questioned prisoners of war and even got whole Japanese companies to surrender by pretending to be Japanese personnel.
In battalions, Japanese Americans were segregated just because of their racial ancestry. Eventually the government banned the Nisei from military service because of their racial heritage. But, after a while, it all turned around. They were able to have a full Nisei battalion. It was the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which President Roosevelt shared to the world on February 1st, 1943.
But there wasn’t enough members in the battalion, so the government allowed the Japanese Americans in the internment camps be drafted in January 1944. About 23,000 Japanese Americans qualified for the draft. But then, the battalion wasn’t the only one with full Nisei soldiers. Another one was The 100th Infantry Battalion; it was made up of two infantry regiments from the Hawaii Provisional Infantry Battalion. They were not placed in the internment camps.
They had many great accomplishments, but not one as great as the one when they helped the Allied forces take Rome. There were many sacrifices, the number of people dropped 1,300 to 400 by the middle of the year. Because of that, the 100th Infantry Battalion joined up with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The 422nd is remembered for things also. They helped free three French cities and helped with the Rescue of the Lost Battalion.
They saved the Lost Battalion when they found them cornered in the streets by Nazis in France. They had to walk dangerous landscapes to get to them and face the Nazis. They ended up saving the Lost Battalion, but lost 800 people at the same time. That was a lot of people that they saved. It was quadruple the amount of lives the military ordered the regiment to save.
It also started criticism that the government cared more about the white men’s lives more then the Nisei. But, nevertheless, the Nisei were proud of the battle they endured because it helped change the view of Japanese Americans. The 442nd regiment was the most decorated regiment ever. Because of their bravery, they proved that Japanese Americans were loyal to the U.S. and always willing to put their lives on the line. They even met President Harry Truman and he said to them, “You fought not only the enemy, but you fought prejudice, and you have won.”
All together, the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team received seven Presidential Unit Citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze Stars, 22 Legion of Merit Medals, 15 Soldier’s Medals and more than 4,000 Purple Hearts. On October 5th, 2010, President Barack Obama granted the Congressional Gold Medal to the 100th Battalion and the 442nd regiment to honor their services.
Sources:http://racerelations.about.com/od/trailblazers/a/The-Japanese-American-Heroes-Of-World-War-Ii.htm
http://racerelations.about.com/od/historyofracerelations/tp/World-War-Iis-Impact-On-Race-Relations.htm
http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/soc248/JapaneseIntern.html
Below is a wordsearch puzzle