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The decorated 100th Infantry Battalion was one of the first units to train at Camp McCoy when it expanded in 1942.
The 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) was activated June 12, 1942. It was composed of more than 1,400 second-generation, American-born Japanese men, also known as “Nisei” (NEE-say).
The War Department removed them from Hawaii out of fear of renewed Japanese attacks and also stopped accepting Nisei for military service. The battalion commander and some of the company-grade officers were Caucasian; the rest of its officers and enlisted men were Nisei.
In an Aug. 25, 1967, article for The Real McCoy, then-civilian employee Kenneth Koji recalled his time at Camp McCoy as a member of the 100th.
“The officers and men of the unit lived in tents, which reminded the men of basic training,” Koji wrote. “New Camp McCoy cantonment was under construction during 1942 and was ready for use in September, at which time we moved to the new post. Everyone was tickled to be on the new Post after months of tent city life.”
After being discharged at Camp McCoy in 1945, Koji remained in Wisconsin and began working for the installation. He attributed his decision to his marriage to a local woman in 1943 before he was deployed overseas.
“Sparta was the first town (we) visited, being the nearest to the post,” Koji wrote. “At first, the people were rather curious, but very friendly. Inquiries such as ‘Do pineapples grow on trees?’ and ‘Are there any automobiles and animals in Hawaii?’ made conversation interesting. Some even asked where we learned to speak English.”
In his book “Bridge of Love,” John Tsukano, another former member of the 100th, wrote about the time the unit spent training at Camp McCoy and the measures they took to prove themselves as “enemy aliens” in the U.S. Army.
“The 100th would become the most inspected, looked over, the most thoroughly trained unit in the Army. Each man became an expert in several different weapons so that the unit could continue to function in any situation,” Tsukano wrote. “High Army and civilian officials from all over the country came to Camp McCoy to see for themselves and confirm what they had been hearing about this ‘crack’ battalion. Even in training, the men of the 100th Infantry Battalion became a legend.”
After training at Camp McCoy, Wis., and Camp Shelby, Miss., the battalion deployed to the Mediterranean in August 1943.
Fifth Army attached the battalion to the 34th Infantry Division. The unit entered combat Sept. 27, 1943, near Salerno in Southern Italy. The battalion fought well and took heavy casualties.
Impressed with the valor of the Hawaiian Nisei (including six awards of the Distinguished Service Cross in the first eight weeks of combat), the War Department recommended that more Nisei be recruited for an all-volunteer Nisei combat unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), activated Feb. 1, 1943. Selective Service was resumed in early 1944.
The 100th Battalion fought at Cassino in January 1944 and later accompanied the 34th Infantry Division to Anzio. In May and June 1944, the battalion, joined by the 442nd RCT, helped break out from Anzio and push the Germans north of Rome. The battalion was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) (later redesignated the Presidential Unit Citation) for its actions June 26-27, 1944. On Aug. 10, 1944, the 100th Battalion formally became part of the 442nd RCT.
In September 1944, the 442d RCT was reassigned to Seventh Army for the invasion of Southern France. It was attached to the 36th Infantry Division for the drive into the Vosges Mountains. In four weeks of heavy combat in October-November 1944, the 442nd RCT, including the 100th Battalion, liberated Bruyeres and Biffontaine and rescued a "lost battalion" that had become cut off from the 36th Division. For, this the 100th Battalion received its second DUC.
As draftees gradually replaced combat losses, the battalion lost some of its character as an all-Hawaiian unit. After duty in the Maritime Alps guarding the French-Italian border, the 442nd RCT was reassigned in March 1945 to Fifth Army for the Po Valley campaign. Attached to the 92d Infantry Division, an African-American unit, the 442d RCT helped drive the Germans from Northern Italy.
On April 5, 1945, the first day on the attack, Pfc. Sadao S. Munemori from Los Angeles gave his life to protect two buddies in Company A, 100th Battalion, and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
The 442nd RCT was demobilized and inactivated in August 1946. The lineage and honors have been preserved by the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry (US Army Reserve).
As written in a Sept. 25, 1987, article in The Triad, the 100th Infantry Battalion went out of its way to prove loyalty to the United States. More than 1,400 Purple Heart medals were awarded to members of the battalion. Three Legion of Merit medals, nine Distinguished Service Crosses, 44 Silver Star medals, and a Congressional Medal of Honor were awarded to 100th Infantry Division personnel for exceptional service to their country during World War II.
(Article prepared by the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.)
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 07.24.2020 15:25 |
| Story ID: | 374571 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 324 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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