"Go for broke!" 442nd Regimental Combat Team

[pokerfan]

Last night, I had the craptastic Karate Kid III on the TV for whatever reason. Probably because I've always enjoyed Pat Morita's Mr. Miyagi.

Anyway, there's a line about the 442nd. I knew that the U.S. military was segregated back then but I never knew any of the details. So I alowed Wiki to fill in some gaps in my WWII history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Regimental_Combat_Team#Training_and_organization

The most highly decorated unit of its size and length of service in the history of the U.S. Army, including 21 Medal of Honor recipients.

President Roosevelt announced the formation of the 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team (the “Go For Broke” regiment), famously saying, “Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race or ancestry.” Nevertheless, families of the regiment’s members remained interned.

That's nice, real nice. We stick their loved ones in concentration camps while these young men voluteer to fight our enemies. They even swore a loyalty oath that the would pledge "unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, or any other foreign government, power or organization?”

From the first film. From the transcript. Like Quint's speech from Jaws, it's the emotional high point of the first film:

It's Mr. Miyagi's annual "celebration" of the anniversary of the deaths of his wife and son at the tender mercies of the Manzanar, CA "relocation" camp. The one day of the year he allows himself to "get out of balance," get drunk and wallow in self pity.

I am usually in tears by its end.

My mother beat into my head many lessons. One was that the internment of Japanese-Americans is a shameful chapter in our history.

Here's the transcript:
__________________________________________
I didn't know you were a singer. How are you doing?

Daniel-san, come inside.

What's that song you were singing?

Japanese blues.

Kampai.

Kampai.

Banzai!

To baby trees.

Not bonsai. Banzai!

Banzai.

Banzai!

Banzai!

Close enough.

What are we celebrating here?

Anniversary.

Whose anniversary? (looking at picture) Is this your wife? I didn't know you were married.

Damn beautiful, don't you think?

Yeah, she's pretty.

First time I saw her was cane field, Hawaii.

Beautiful.

Damn good cane cutter, too.

Where is she now?

Drink, drink, Daniel-san. Look, look. (picture of pregnant wife) First American-born Miyagi waiting to be born. Drink, drink.

(Miyagi talking to himself.)

"Sergeant Miyagi!

"Yes, sir! Sergeant Miyagi reporting. Killed many Jerry Germans, sir."

"Sergeant Miyagi."

"Yes, sir."

"Regret to inform wife have complications at birth."

Complications. No doctor came. Land of free, home of brave.

No doctor came.

(Miyagi passes out)

[pokerfan]

1. Nobody has an opinion on Japanese-American internment camps?

from WWII?

Maybe I'm getting too old for this board.

[texanwitch]

2. There was movie made about the 442.

I went to school with a kid who's family had been in a internment camp.

Her family lost everything and had to start over after the War.

[pokerfan]

4. Go for Broke! (1951)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_for_Broke%21_%28movie%29

The film dramatizes the real-life story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was composed of Nisei, second-generation Americans born of Japanese parents. Fighting in the European theater during World War II, this unit became the most heavily decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of the United States Army. As well as one of the units with the highest casualty rates.

This film is a Hollywood rarity which features Asian-Americans in a positive light and even more rare in highlighting the irony of those Japanese-Americans who fought bravely for their country while that country interned their families in Japanese American Internment camps.

I'm going to try to find it and rent it.

We didn't "intern" German-Americans or Italian-Americans. Why the Japanese-Americans?

And god damn it, I hate that fucking hyphen. I don't love this country for its being the biggest and baddest, I love it for its ideals, or what used to be its ideals, what should be its ideals and could be again.

The Hyphen speech by Theodore Roosevelt (1915):
http://www.rpatrick.com/USA/americanism/

[skygazer]

3. I've always found it an amazing story

I've read several books about the 442nd - from what I recall, even though the men were angry about the treatment of their families, many of them were encouraged to fight by their parents. They wanted to take part and they wanted to prove that they were just as good Americans as anyone else.

There's so much about our history that's shameful - our army was still segregated in WWII. Many German POW's were sent to camps in the southern US. There, they were allowed to mingle with the citizens and while black Americans had to sit in separate areas of the local theater or other entertainment venue, the German POW's sat with the whites. Nice way to reinforce Hitler's values, huh?

[pokerfan]

5. Like I said, my mother pounded it into my head

Maybe because living just outside the "Exclusion Zone" she felt the injustice more than others.

Exclusion Zone. What wonderful euphemisms we humans come up with.

Relocation camp. Internment camp. Concentration camp.

All the same.