Listen to the episode here

Since Angie took the entire episode last week, Theresa brought a hell of a story this week. Grab your popcorn and hunker down because she’s sharing the story of the 442nd. This heroic group of Japanese-American soldiers in WWII bravely fought for five days and nights through freezing rain and dense fog to rescue 211 Texans pinned down by German troops.

This episode pairs well with:
The Joshigun (women’s army) fighting during the Battle of Wakimatsu

Transcript:

Theresa: Hi, and welcome to the Unhinged History Podcast. The podcast for two compulsive nut jobs are going to mainline history. And then once a week, join forces and tell each other the history stories we’ve only recently learned. I’m host number one. I’m Teresa. And that… I’m Angie. 

Angie: I said that like I was so sure of myself. You’ve got one like it’s bed by day my whole life. Right. Like I hope you just figured out who you are woman. Hey, listen, we live in a time where I could change my name when I see fit. But what if I was thinking about trying on something else? What would you change it to? 

Theresa: Nothing. I think you need something to put in the form. You can’t just leave it blank. 

Angie: Okay. Probably Riley. I like Riley. Okay. But I’ve been Angie for so long that hearing him, you know. Yeah. Riley’s what I give to people. And you know when you get those text messages that are like, hey, saw you at local yoga last week? Girl, I was not at yoga last week. Yeah, that was not me. So I was telling my name’s Riley and that I live in some place like Ganymede and let him wonder how far that is from New York City. 

Theresa: I didn’t even, I would not even know how to spell that. 

Angie: Not even on this planet. So it’s cool. 

Theresa: Oh, okay. All right. All right. Well, last week you got to tell me that that cool story of the Manchurian Princess Pie. And so I get to steal your ear holes and tell you about something you may know. And if you do, you don’t know the whole story. 

Angie: I’m really uncomfortable with you trying to steal my ear holes. 

Theresa: I don’t know if you know that. For a minute. Okay. So I’m going to tell you the story of the 442nd. 

Angie: That’s all. The 442nd. Yeah. I’m going to assume is this a squadron? Yes. Okay. I’m going to say right now that the numbers sound familiar, but I think it’s only because it’s 42. 

Theresa: So that’s, yeah, that’s the end of everything. Right. Okay. So my sources, king5.com veterans upset after army temporarily takes decorated military unit off its website. Key military unit, the 442nd regimental command or nope regimental combat team, two books, American Sutra by Duncan Ryukin Williams, facing the mountain by Daniel James Brown and podcast the stuff you missed in history cast. 

They did an episode, Nisei in World War II, the MIS, the 100th and the 442nd. Okay. I’m excited. So remember how a couple of weeks ago I told you the story of that Japanese spy in the Philippines for the Americans? We’re just in that spy space. Do you realize that? 

Angie: I, okay. So I was thinking about that the other day. I was actually telling my husband that I think I’ve had this conversation before where we, you and I could translate anything that someone says to us into how it relates to World War II specifically. Yes. 

It’s a good, it really is. I think when you find your niche, ours is spies. Spies in World War II. Yes, specifically spies in World War II because we talk about a lot of pilots too. And here’s the thing. I’m 100% cool with it. Yeah. 

Theresa: Like, no, it gets you excited and lean in. Yeah. 

Angie: All the way. Yeah. Do it. 

Theresa: Okay. So journey with me. It’s February 1943. Okay. The Japanese on the mainland of the US, they’ve been rounded up and put into concentration camps. Love this for us. The Hawaiian born Japanese, they’re not subject to the concentration camps. They make up 40% of the population of Hawaii. So it’s just not feasible to remove 40% of any population. 

Angie: I feel like if you gave World War II enough time, they could have figured it out. 

Theresa: I don’t like that idea, but you’re right. Now the problem with the Japanese, the Hawaiian born Japanese not going to concentration camps, this comes up later. So put a pen in that. Okay. Now, there is a term, I think I brought it up last, or when we were talking about Richard Saka, Saka Kira, I think that was his name. I forgot his name. It sounds familiar. 

The spy from the Philippines. The term is nisei, and that is like that first generation born abroad. So in this case, the nisei men that were age 17 and older, they’re asked to fill out this form, its selective service form. It is made just completely for Japanese people. So get prepared for things to be wrong with this. 

Angie: Shocked. Yeah. Just shocked. Be prepared. Okay. 

Theresa: At first, it’s anybody volunteering in the army, they are proposed to, everybody fills out the form. Everybody fills out the form. But if you’re going to volunteer for the army within these camps, you have several people that are looking through the backgrounds of these individuals to see are they up to snuff? 

Is this going to be a problem? Okay. The concept of seeing if somebody is going to be up to snuff doesn’t seem too bad on its face, but there’s problems. 

Because you have, you’ve got systemic racism. That’s just at the heart, you know, and I’m not going to be able to dance around this. There’s a military joint board that would rule on every person’s candidacy after review by military intelligence and the FBI. Oh, of course. 

Yeah. Now, this initiative gets seized on by the War Relocation Authority or the WRA because neither is nice to say out loud. It’s great to see written, but to try to speak it out loud like a human, impossible, and I’m grateful I did it on my first try. I hope I don’t do it again. 

Good for you. They have this leave and clearance, which is a program where they’re trying to basically see like if you fill out the form, are you going to be loyal to the United States or are you going to be a potential problem? 

Angie: I feel like if you filled out the form, your plan was to be loyal. 

Theresa: You would say that, but everybody had to fill out the form. No, I guess that’s true. Okay. I forgot about that part. Yeah. I mean compulsory if you know you’re in that. They have two questions that are the most contentious. Question 27 and question 28. And these two, when you look at nearly every single source, mention question 27 and question 28, these are notorious questions. 

These questions have been written history books kind of issues. The first one, 27 says for mail and you say, are you willing to serve the armed forces in the United States on combat duty whenever ordered? Okay. Okay. It doesn’t seem too bad on its face. 

Like I understand what you’re trying to get there. Question 28 asks, will you swear unqualified allegiance to United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any and all attack from foreign or domestic forces and for swear any form of allegiance to the Japanese emperor or any other foreign government or power organization? 

Angie: Do these other people that were born in the US, right? Yes. Wow. Okay. Okay. This is problematic. 

Theresa: Now, it’s more problematic than you think. Here’s why it’s worse because their parents, the ESAE, the ones, the expats who left the country to come to America, when they expatriated to the US, they had not been allowed to naturalize to the United States due to citizenship restrictions. They couldn’t become citizenship or citizens if they wanted to. They had to remain Japanese citizens. So, you have to not be a Japanese citizen and you have to for swear loyalty to the country that is on the passport that you have to maintain. 

Angie: So, our, sorry, we’ll adjust it for this. Are you implying that, oh, hey, one of our comments said, people are talking to us about this. 

Theresa: Oh. Okay. So, one dad raging against the machine, he and I have been chatting in DMs about the 442nd. 

Angie: Oh, okay. Well, they have comments. 

Theresa: That’s pretty cool. I’m stoked for this and didn’t get citizenship until the 1950s. Okay. So, this is incredibly problematic. 

Angie: Yeah. Okay. So, then here’s my logistics question. If you are, ESAE is the expat, right? Yeah. Okay. Okay. So, you cannot become a naturalized citizen in the U.S. because of reasons. Yeah. Are you required to then go back to your quote unquote home country for a certain amount of time to redo your visa and all of that? 

Theresa: I don’t see anything like that, but I’m not going into the full blown shenanigans of what was immigration in the 1940s. 

Angie: I’m going to assume that that’s got to be like a newer thing. Like, it would, I don’t know. I’m so curious. I’m going to have to Google it when we’re done. I’m so curious. But like, Google might not even have that answer. Like, it’s such a niche weird question that I have. I’m just curious. 

Theresa: You’re going to end up on some weird Reddit forum with some historic immigration lawyer. 

Angie: That would be awesome. I’m here for it. Let’s let you know next week. 

Theresa: So they have this issue, right? And so the ESAE who are like, look, I couldn’t be a citizen if I tried and now you’re going to ask if I have to, if I’m going to force where my allegiance to the country that actually doesn’t mind if I’m a citizen, like, what? Hard on? Yeah. So America is like, I hold up. 

Let me let me rewrite question 28. We’re going to give it right back. Hold on. Maintain. And they come up with another one. They’re still pretty upset and they’re insulted by the questionnaire. Fair. 

Angie: I am insulted by the questionnaire. I wasn’t even alive. So when you have this 

Theresa: kind of issue, you have people who say no, whether on accident they’re confused or they’re just like kick rocks. 

Angie: Listen, I got the wrong box so many times. I would not be surprised if I did it on accident. 

Theresa: There are World War One veterans who do not have citizenship at this time that are being asked if they will be loyal to the country, putting them in these internment camps. I think we brewed it about 20 years ago. 

Angie: Yeah. 

Theresa: So in the book, American Sutra, there’s a rumor that circles that says if you answer no to these two questions, that you’re going to be sent to a segregation camp for disloyals and that this is going to split up families. Well, this sounds familiar. Yeah. I mean, gosh, I hate, this isn’t a repeat of old news. The rumor proves to be true when Tule Lake is open in California. And so if you answer… 

Angie: I’m sorry. Do you say Tule Lake? Is that what you said? 

Theresa: T-U-L-E. I didn’t look up where that is. I should have. 

Angie: No, I think that’s what you said. I thought I heard you wrong. Yeah. I wasn’t totally sure. I understood this. Okay. 

Theresa: Yeah, because Tule Lake only comes back when the farmers don’t get their will and the water overpopulates and overruns them. Right. Yeah, but that’s in California. Now these, if you answer no to these two questions, they refer to you as a no-no. So the no-nos get shipped to Tule Lake. 

Angie: Did you see that one dad raging at Yishwit Seen says that that’s where their family started? Oh, wow. 

Theresa: Okay. Little did I realize I was going to just sing his entire song, you know, allow me to be Lauren Hill, you know, just drumming my pain with his finger. 

Angie: If you’re Lauren Hill, that makes me wife with John. I’m here for it. 

Theresa: We both have a lot more talent and rhythm than we did seconds ago. 

Angie: Like just mere seconds ago. 

Theresa: So the WRA, they are trying to sort through all of these Japanese people to really figure out where they fall into. And they have a problem because they’re reviewing around 40,000 files. And this is huge undertaking because they’re doing it all by hand. 

There’s no AI help. And so they hire a statistician from the Census Bureau to overseas this analysis, this huge data set. And this man, Calvert Derrick, he comes up with this formula to discern loyalty. And it’s a plus or minus system. So depending on how you get the question, pluses for here, negatives for that. I don’t know if I were tasked with this, if I could do it any better, other than to say kick rocks, their citizens to start with. Yeah. 

Angie: Well, I feel like our generation has really different opinions. Right. 

Theresa: But he tried to make the best, he tried to polish a turd and he came up with a solution. And his solution was really trying to figure out what’s going to make somebody to soil. So if they are Christian, they are considered more trustworthy. So that is a plus two. But if they’re Buddhist, well, Buddhists are more trustworthy, according to Derrick here, than the Shinto is. So on question 16, do you answer that you’re Shinto? Well, that’s automatic rejection. But if you’re Buddhist, it’ll reduce your score by one point. Two points if you’re Christian. 

Angie: How do we determine our loyalty based on what God we follow? There’s a spreadsheet. 

Theresa: And now mind you, I love spreadsheets, but I will say that not the logic in all spreadsheets is equal. 

Angie: Derrick, not all logic is equal. 

Theresa: Derrick’s spreadsheet needs to get reworked. It needs to be workshopped. Yeah. I mean, I’d love to see the empirical data that just goes, oh Shinto, paper porn and half. 

Theresa: Now we’re going to have to go see the door. Bye. 

Theresa: We’re going to round file your paperwork. Thanks for trying. 

Angie: Oh, the harsh round files. 

Theresa: Good luck on your future endeavors. 

Angie: It was nice to meet you today. Okay. Got it. 

Theresa: Now, America has a small problem. 

Angie: They’ve got more than one, but for this one, I can’t say, okay, and? Yeah. They need more bodies for this war. Oh, Shucks. 

Theresa: And I forgot, there’s a war. They have a bunch of these able-bodied men that are just sitting around in camps. 

Angie: I hate this for them. And so, gosh, they, I am so sorry, but if you would have left them alone, they would have been being productive members of society, like working at their jobs and caring for their families and things. And they probably willingly would have signed up for the war effort as opposed to not being allowed to draft. 

Theresa: Like, I mean, just like, but do you remember how with the night witches, how the Russian government only allowed women to be pilots because they had kind of killed all of 

Angie: the men and needed bodies to fill the planes? 

Theresa: So this is kind of what happened here. They needed bodies. And so they started, the military goes, well, what if we created a segregated unit of Japanese troops? Now, families are concerned that if their sons join the segregated unit, they’re going to be judged as expendable troops. 

Angie: I mean, that would be a concern I would have. That seems reasonable, to be honest. Yeah. 

Theresa: I mean, they’re being uttered every day on a Tuesday. So why not in Europe on a battlefield? Legit, yeah. Now, in the book Facing the Mountain, one volunteer notes that his father fought for the US in World War I never granted citizenship and was concerned that his son is going to face the same treatment. Also, a fair concern. And I love that Daddy Dearest is speaking up and saying, hey, you should have the full picture. 

Angie: Here’s the whole thing because you’re going to want this information. 

Theresa: Now there’s around 4,000 men between Hawaii and mainland US that, you know, come up and join this. So April 43, they end up getting replaced. So this note is kind of weird. So we have 4,000 men who joined initially, but the total number of Japanese men is around 14,000 men who served because they get replaced. Okay. Okay. 

Angie: So then we have the original number and then they just, okay, that makes sense. Yeah. 

Theresa: Now the motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was go for broke. 

Angie: They kind of love that. 

Theresa: I love it too. For them, it’s a gambling term that means risking everything on one big effort to get that big win. Okay. And from what I understand, this seems to have come from the Hawaiian contingent that they kind of have. 

Angie: Yeah, I love it. I love that you refer to this as the Hawaiian contingent. 

Theresa: I mean, so they, okay, so we had, I didn’t put this in my notes. When they come together, the ones from the Hawaiian group, I think were the pig heads. 

Okay. And no, the Buddha heads. It was the Buddha heads. 

And then the ones from the mainland were the kutunks. Okay. Okay. Now, they didn’t get along. 

They didn’t get along at all. The Buddha heads, there’s some discrepancy onto why they were called that. It could be related to the Hawaiian word for pig. 

Okay. Now, the kutunk was because, yeah, that was the sound that the mainland Nisei’s heads sounded when they hit the kusumet. Oh, these guys fought so hard that they just said your head sounds like a watermelon when it hits the concrete. 

Angie: Kutunk. So I love them. 

Theresa: I mean, okay, they did not play well at the start. 

Angie: So hold that in your needle. Hey, listen, most best friends don’t, 

Theresa: you know, we got on great, but I think it was because I took the meme shortcut. 

Angie: You went straight to the jugular. 

Theresa: Oh, I like you. You know what? It was, we’ll burn that bridge when we get there. We lift the match. We ride it down. That’s right. Okay. So the Hawaiian born Nisei, they make about two thirds of the initial regiment, right? The remaining one third are from the mainland. Now they arrive for training at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and they start fighting because they don’t get along. 

The Hawaiian speak this pigeon English and the mainlanders, they’re speaking Japanese and or English. Okay. So they are, they are having some rough goes. Um, there’s in the stuff you missed the history podcast, they share how the groups fought and how they fought bitterly until some of the Hawaiian Nisei visited a concentration camp and saw how the families of their fellow children were living and then everything shifts. They come back to the barracks and they start telling all of the other Hawaiians, this is how our, our fellow people are living. This is how they’re being treated. This is why we think of the mainlanders as so uptight. This is why they think they’re paranoid and why they care about what everyone thinks about them because this is how they’re living. Okay. 

Angie: Yeah. That’s a reasonable, uh, yeah. 

Theresa: And so, yeah, makes sense. Yeah. Overnight, these two groups just join and merge and they become a completely different unit. A lot of that, which is beautiful. Um, now we have, we have the volunteers that came from Hawaii. 

We also have the ones that came from the 10 relocation centers on the mainland, but most of the company great officers are Caucasian, bunch of white brothers. Shocked. I know, right? I mean, but this is, honestly, this is what it is. 

We haven’t done anything new in a long, long time. Yeah. So they all go to Europe. They fight hard, hard, hard, hard. 

And at one point, the 442nd, they should have been put on rest to recover from some previous battles because they had just gone through some intense things in Breyer and Buffon. Don’t ask me how to spell that. I only wrote what I thought it, how I thought I should write it so I could pronounce it later. So I guess you. 

Yeah. But they get woken up at 3am and they’re told basically grab your gear, get out the door. So they put on wet boots and they stuff their packs and are ready to march within an hour. They’re told to go up a nearby mountain in what is freezing rain and would later be snow. In what boots? 

Angie: So we all end up with wet boots. 

Theresa: Hold that thought. What they don’t know is on one of the higher ridges near them are 200 Texans that are pinned down by Axis powers. Hold on. 

Angie: There are 200 Matthew McConhays. 

Theresa: All right, all right, all right. Now, I’m going to call them Texans throughout the duration of this, but they’re like from the Texas National Guard. Okay. So primarily Texans made up this group. 

Okay. And they’re pinned down. For all intents and purposes, 200 Texans. Love it. 

Okay. Now, the battalion of Texans, they were trapped. They’ve been calling for help on the radio and we’ve got a dude named General Dauquist. 

He’s repeatedly ordered the Texans to fight their way out. We’re stuck, sir. Yeah. So that failed. And he’s like, I’m sure they’re on the radio, like we’re trapped. 

What part of that are you failing to understand? This feels right. Okay. So it’s General Dauquist that orders the 442nd to wake up and run that Hail Mary to save the Texans. Okay. Love this. 

The rain is so severe that Fred Shiosaki, one of the men in the 442nd, he has to grab the pack of the man in front of him because he can’t see. Okay. It’s that bad. Yeah, it’s that bad. It’s like white out conditions with rain. They’re struggling up this mountain in the dark. They’re sliding through ankle deep mud and then the fog rolls in. 

Angie: Oh, because it wasn’t hard enough to see. No. 

Theresa: This place is cursed, honestly. Honestly. Now, they have no idea why they’re there. No one’s told them a damn thing other than put your wet boots on and start marching. Okay. 

Now, suddenly their group comes to a complete stop and that’s when they’re getting screened at to take cover. Okay. In what? The fog? Well, there’s a German machine gun that starts tearing through the ranks of the 442nd. The Nisei are having a tough time. They can’t see and the Germans have this very strong defensive position on steep banks all around them. Oh, that’s terrifying. 

Yes. Meanwhile, the Texans are nearly completely under rations. They’re simply trying to bury their dead when there’s pauses in fire. There’s no more medical supplies. I hate that for them. 

Okay. It’s dark. The only water they have is the rain water that they’re catching in their helmets when they’re brave enough to take their helmets off. But they’ve got a lot of rain. So yes, they’ve got that going for them. And the batteries in their radio are dying. 

Angie: Okay. And this is the Texans. We still have batteries in the radio for the 442nd, right? 

Theresa: Yes. The Nisei, they’ve got batteries. Every time the Texans call for an airdrop, the supplies, they hear two words. Not yet. 

Angie: What are you waiting for? An engraved invitation. I was just going to say to quote my husband, an engraved invitation. Yes. 

Theresa: Now, three miles away, we have our gopher broke boys. It’s now 3.30 p.m. and they’re against a panzer with German infantry behind it, right? Now, the Nisei are lobbing grenades back at them and they’re firing mortars to them. 

Okay, get it. Now, our man Fred, he said he was firing at anything that moved and he’s talking about how he kept firing and reaching for a new clip and then slamming them back into his gun and then firing him out again. Out of the corner of his eye, he, in the book, Facing the Mountain, he talks about how he sees Matsuiichi Yogi and Yogi was someone who had become a friend to him in training and he sees Yogi get a bazooka up on his shoulder and start running towards the tank. He sees Yogi stop, kneel in front of it, bullets are just smacking into the trees all around him and he fires and he scores a direct hit on the tank. 

Okay. Like this is so movie-esque. Black smoke is pouring out of the hatch. It’s ground to a dead stop. 

No Germans pop out of it. Yogi pivots. He sees a German bazooka man, fires his bazooka again, just obliterates the other dude and they both just keep going. Okay. That is just one very clear scene in this whole like. 

Angie: Are these the descendants of your samurai women? 

Theresa: No, I really wish. Honestly, I super wish, but I can’t prove, right? What you think, what you know you can prove. I have no idea. But there is some just strong. And I realized when I was writing this that I was telling it very similar to the episode The Blood Soaked Battle Angel. 

Angie: Well, I mean, how could you not though? Like how did you not? 

Theresa: So overnight the temperatures drop again. The 442nd crawled forward as they come over the felled trees that the Germans used to create this massive roadblock because they created this roadblock to get the Texans trapped in the first place. Oh right, that makes sense. Okay. And they’ve had time to reinforce and entrench themselves in this position. Oh, and there’s also snipers that are taking shots at anybody who approaches. You know, so. 

Angie: Of course. 

Theresa: Meanwhile, they’re always snipers. Back with the Texans. It’s just after 9am the Texans hear an aircraft approaching. Then they hear the sounds of the German anti-aircraft firing down at the planes or firing at the planes, not firing down. Planes are above. Planes firing up. Suddenly they see three six-foot auxiliary fuel tanks that are stuffed with food, water, and medical supplies and radio batteries that are crashing through the branches of the pine forest with half-open parachutes. 

Okay. Now the Texans are pinned down here, but they’re cheering and then they end up realizing that they may be cheered a little too soon because most of the tanks slammed into the hard edge of the ridge bounced off and rolled directly into the German lines. That seems not helpful. And meanwhile, the Texans see the Germans scooping up biscuits, cans of meat, candy bars, fresh water, cartons of cigarettes, everything that was for them. And these furious Texans open fire on the Germans who just leave with all their loot. After all that. After all that. 

Okay. So there’s another night of darkness and the 442nd, they’re struggling. They’re up to their knees in cold muddy water. 

Their teeth are chattering and then by midnight the rain turns to sleep. And our man Fred Shiyosaki’s feet are so swollen his boots are tattered and so what remains, he fears is going to split open. The last time he saw his feet were several days before and they were turning purple and he said they smelled like carrion. Oh, so this bro’s fighting trench foot with the best of them. Yeah, God bless them. 

Now it’s October 29th. The Nisei are inching closer to the trap Texans. There’s this narrow path towards the Texans with German station on the ridges of either side. Remember the snipers, right? They’re heavily fortified. Meanwhile, General Dahlquist, remember him? Oh yeah, yeah, they’re not yet not yet guy. Yeah, he starts bellowing on the radio demanding to know why it’s taken the Nisei so long to get to the Texans. 

Angie: Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that we can’t see. We’re just taking a walk. We’re worrying about our self care. We’re meditating. Yeah. 

Theresa: Now the troops that are there, the Nisei, they’re like, well, we just need more reinforcements. Maybe if we had a little bit more of an advantage, we could get going. But right now, we’re a bit stuck. 

Angie: Well, the Texans want the sandwich. The Nisei, they might need new boots. But I mean, I think that they’re doing okay-ish, right? Now, Dahlquist refuses to give them reinforcements and demand that they push through. This is the same guy who told the Texans to fight their way out. 

Angie: Now, I feel like he’s never had a day on the ground. 

Theresa: I feel like I should also tell you that it was Dahlquist that got the Texans into the issue therein. He told the Texans to advance too swiftly into this area. 

He hadn’t done his reconnaissance in that area. And so it’s his fault the Texans are trapped in the first place. He did that for them. And he wanted to cover his ass. And when they couldn’t fight their way out, he said, well, wake the 442 up and make them go get them. 

Angie: That makes me mad. That makes me mad for everybody. 

Theresa: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Now, Dahlquist is also concerned because if the Texans are killed or captured, this is going to be a huge propaganda win for the Germans. 

Angie: Of course, because there’s 200 Matthew McConaughey’s. Right. 

Theresa: And also, Dahlquist is also concerned because it’s not only going to be just a black eye or a blot on his record, it could end his military career. Yeah. 

Angie: When you lose 200 men, it’s kind of a thing. 

Theresa: Yeah. Because you fucked up multiple times. 

Angie: I believe the term is snafu. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, I think that is the technical term. Or Fubar. Fubar. Fubar but beyond. 

Angie: I’m so proud of us. Dotein. 

Theresa: Yeah. Well, snafu works too because that situation is normal. I’ll fuck up. Checks. So in the book, Facing the Mountain, there’s this harrowing scene where the author depicts that you have Delquess and his aide to camp. They show up because they’ve said, go, and they’ve heard we can’t, sir. And he’s like, eff it, we’re going to go up there. 

So they roll up to the battle scene. And it’s so hard to find good help these days, pretty much. And so his aide to camp is like this all American Ivy League blonde haired bombshell of a man. 

Angie: So Johnny Rito from Starship Troopers. 

Theresa: Yes, exactly. And so Delquess and his guy look at the commanding officer of the Nisei and basically imply that there’s nothing to worry about. And they’re just going to walk to the top of the ridge and survey the scene in front of God and everybody and not worry about the bullets filing because apparently they’re their audacity, their caucasity is going to keep them safe. 

Angie: What does how do you think white ladies survive Mount lions just on their walks? It’s the caucasity. It’s the caucasity. 

Theresa: Now they go up to this ridge and the commanding officer and Delquess are screaming at each other in full view of the Germans. Bullets are flying past them. And finally Delquess is like, we’ll bring out a map and they lay out a map. And as they do that, his aide to camp catches a bullet in the back of the head and collapses into general Delquess arm. Gone. Expired. 

Angie: Love Johnny Rito. Sorry. Yeah. 

Theresa: Now, with him crossed off the census, Delquess finally has to admit that I don’t know, maybe they’re in a dangerous position. So they skid out all back to the Jeep. And that’s where Delquess decides that while he might have been wrong about where they were standing to look at the map, he’s not going to apply the logic that he should have learned to the situation because he tells the commanding officer that the niece they are now definitely going to go because that was his boy and nobody’s going to treat his boy like that. And that they’re going to go and they’re going to show those jerries what for and they’re going to bring those Texans home. 

Because we weren’t trying to do that already. Yeah. And apparently the niece say in front of them are not his boys. Of course. So we’ve just completely alienated the guys on your side with the guns directly in front of you that are trying to do what you’ve been asking them to. 

Angie: Trying to help you. But also you’re having them do it in white boots with trench hood. Yeah. And oh, they’re tired. 

Theresa: They’re so tired. Yeah. They’ve been doing this for a minute. They’re they just need a break. Okay. So we can get. Yeah, I know. More than that. More all the Titsy rolls. 

Angie: Oh, I’m in the Titsy rolls. Yeah. 

Theresa: And if you’re what what episode was the Titsy roll that was the chosen reservoir. 

Angie: It was a Chesnets where I’ll look it up really quick. Okay. What was that was? And it’s going to take me saying carry on. I’ll just interrupt you when I find it. Okay. 

Theresa: So they’re commanded to go forward and all of them are scared. None of them want to go. They all know that they’ve got. Episode 85. What was the name of that? 

Angie: Yeah, it was with it is called it was with the great Mosses flood. Yeah. I’m not here to make sense. That checks. 

Theresa: Now. In one of the books I read it talks about how they hear their father’s words echoing their mothers or in their minds and their mothers love echoing in their hearts. And so one by one they stand up and then just at once they just stand up in mass and then they begin charging up the hill. They said that they’re shooting from their hips and they’re shooting blind through the tangle of trees that are rising above them because they are not in good position. 

Angie: What are we going to do? What else are we going to shoot at? 

Theresa: So this is absolute hell that is kicking off as they’re engaging with the Germans. And then we got our man Fred that I mentioned earlier the one with the trench foot the one that the man just yeah. He’s watching soldiers the Nisei fall all around him. He sees a mortar shell slam it to a tree directly above him. It explodes and then he feels something hot slice into his side. Now he knows he’s been hit and he falls he pulls up his shirt. He can see jagged shrapnel sticking out of his abdomen. He doesn’t see a lot of blood and that’s when another Nisei comes over and pulls the shrapnel out quickly bandages the wound. Tell Fred he’s going to be fine and then they get up and go. 

Angie: Okay. Okay. I was thinking pulling the shrapnel out might not have been our best move right there. 

Theresa: I mean. I mean. You and I have gone through basic first aid. It’s like no no no that’s days. 

Angie: It’s not bleeding. Don’t touch it. Yeah. 

Theresa: Yours is to leave it there. You’re not qualified. You don’t have enough letters after your name to act like you care about this. Thank you. Sit down shut up. I said good day. Yeah. 

So they’re engaging through all of this. Now there’s smoke dust and it’s mixing with the fog because the fog is still there. I forgot about the fog. 

This horrible situation turns the smoke or the fog this soup gray color which sounds fabulous. Now it’s hard. It’s hard for them to see who’s friend or who’s foe which could be a problem when you’re firing weapons. 

Angie: It’s typically one of the first things you talk about in like your weapons training class. Knowing. Don’t fire at friends. Yeah. Kind of a thing. Yeah. 

Theresa: Now they’re crawling over logs and dead bodies and they’re hurling grenades uphill. They still keep going. 

Angie: I’m interrupting to tell you that our friend Alessandro has just popped on. 

Theresa: Alessandro we are recording an episode. Welcome. How are you? 

Angie: I’m so excited. 

Theresa: Sorry. I just got so excited I had to do that. I’m grateful that you did. So at one moment Fred sees a young German soldier who’s curled up in fetal position and he seems to be calling out for his mother Fred raises his rifle and thought well say goodbye to your mom and he hesitates because this guy is the same age as Fred’s little brother back home and that’s when he lowers his rifle and he just keeps going. Okay. And then he reaches the top of the ridge and he realizes that the battle just stops. It just is done. There had been all this noise and now there’s nothing. There’s just the moaning of wounded men and then he sees Germans running full tilt away from them and he realizes that the battle is done but there’s hardly anyone left. Why are the Germans running? They gave up. 

Angie: Oh okay. 

Theresa: Yeah. No it’s not. I’m not throwing you down another cliff. Like this isn’t like and then the regiment of panzers came and then the squadron of planes. No this is like the battle’s done. It had been five days and nights of nonstop combat in freezing rain and dense fog. More men from the 442nd were lost than were saved from the Texans of the 141st. The 442nd saw 800 casualties and 121 deaths and they saved 211 lives of the Texas National Guard. That math ain’t mathin’. Oh. 

Angie: You sent 800 guys in there for that? 

Theresa: No no. 800 casualties. Oh. Okay. 

Angie: No no. In my brain. 800 wounded. So that’s 921. Oh no. 

Angie: This is not going to go great for Delquest one way or the other I think. 

Theresa: I kind of hope not. I didn’t look it up. I just assumed the worst and just said good fucking riddance. Good day to you. Yeah. Sir. Thank you for your service. Bye bye. Don’t let the door kick you on the way out. Yeah. 

Now the 442nd RCT is the most decorated military unit of its size and length when you consider its service in American history. Okay. Which? Okay. 

I love. Now the scope of their war effort remained hidden from the world for more than half a century and it was only one member of the regiment to get awarded the Medal of Honor immediately after the war and his name was Sondal Mune More who had thrown his body on a hand grenade in the assault of the Gothic line. Now the medal was presented to his mother on March 13th 1946. It took more than a half a century of sustained lobbying in Congress before President Clinton on June 21st in 2000 finally conferred the Medal of Honor to another 20 members of the regiment some of them posthumously saying quote rarely has a nation been served so well by the people it’s so ill served. Thanks Clinton. 

Angie: Yeah. I never thought that sentence would come out of my mouth. I mean. Yeah. 

Theresa: When the 442nd came home their medals dramatically underscored the disproportionate value that the Nisei soldiers displayed during the war. We had 16 million Americans who served in World War II only 473 received medals of honor. 21 came from the ranks of the this says 18,000 men who served in the 442nd. So the 442nd represented just over 0.1% of the US military force but it earned 4.4% of the medals of honor. That’s right if they’re the Tosti. Right. Like they just kicked ass. Now all of the medals that were earned by these incredible men didn’t alleviate the trauma of the thousands of their family members who stayed home. 

Angie: Well yeah. How could it? 

Theresa: So they finally get released from these camps and up and down the West Coast these had looted the possessions that were left in storage. Bandels had shattered the glass of nursery greenhouses and destroyed the stocks of merchandise. They painted threats all over the property and squatters occupied the homes and many refused to leave. 

Angie: Yeah. I’ve read accounts of like their neighbors that tried to protect their homes and were way more often than not unsuccessful because looters there’s so many more of you than there is the one neighbor that cares you know. 

Theresa: I thought the only thing you can do is loot it yourself to keep it safe. Yeah. Yeah. And that feels awful. 

Angie: Yeah. I agree. Could you imagine having to break into your neighbor’s house simply to just get their keepsakes out in hopes that the looters also leave your house alone too because you happen to be next door. Like there’s a lot of nuance that certainly gets left out of a lot of day to day life. Yeah. When you’re just trying to care for each other you know. 

Theresa: When you’re just trying to be a good human. Yeah. I’m not done though. Dang girl. I know you’re ready because the veterans in Washington state are passed. Passed because a web page highlighting this very incredible group of humans was removed from the U.S. Army’s national or website for weeks. It’s been restored. This page has been restored. 

That’s good. But this pain is very poignant for members of the Japanese American community. Dale Watanabe said these guys were heroes. They dedicated themselves to proving they were Americans. It’s an American story. 

Truly. And he goes on to say this raised a big red flag for many of us. He’s the commander of the Nisei Veterans Community. Not Community Committee. The Nisei Veterans Committee. 

Angie: And… Teresa you’re making our followers cry. Am I? Yeah. 

Theresa: Well I mean this is a good story. I’m grateful that we’re able to share it truly. 

Angie: I’m glad I’m just not the only one this time. 

Theresa: You know it’s my job. If I’m not going to kick people in the fields then what am I going to do? It’s either this or literal violence. Truly. 

Angie: She’s picking the lesser of two evils. 

Theresa: Now Watanabe said that when this page was taken down he received a slew of emails and calls from local veterans who told him that the page was removed from the Army website. And he says to us this is not a DEI issue. Now Army officials said that the page was removed and then republished on March 15th. And they sent a statement to King Five saying quote the 442nd Regimental Combat Team holds an honored place in Army history and we are pleased to republish an article that highlights the brave soldiers who served in the Gopher Broke Brigade. In accordance with presidential executive order and guidance from the Secretary of Defense the Army recently took down the Asian Americans at Pacific Islanders Heritage webpage that featured content about the 442nd Infantry Regiment and Nisei soldiers. The Army is tirelessly working through the content on that site and articles related to the 442nd Infantry Regiment and Nisei soldiers will be republished to better align with current guidance. There are many stories still available on the Army website that celebrates the bravery of the 442nd Infantry Regiment that were not impacted by the Heritage webpage. 

The Army remains committed to sharing the stories of our soldiers, their units and their sacrifice. Wontonabu’s response to that very articulated, heavily scripted response says what’s going to get taken away? What’s going to get whitewashed? What’s going to be deleted? And I think we’re all worse off and we don’t acknowledge that America is a land of immigrants. 

Angie: You said it said that they were going to try to better align with the current guidelines? Yeah. No, let’s just go with what’s right. Let’s put the whole story there. Thank you. 

Theresa: Yeah, yeah. And we have Michael Yamaguchi who served the U.S. Air Force for 27 years. He’s got fears about this as well. He says why would you want to remove this sliver of the greatest generation from that discussion? Now he had five uncles who served in the 442nd. All of them faced extensive racism and were viewed as aliens at the time. 

Angie: Yeah, here we are just being amazing human beings. Why don’t we get it? We’re consistent. God bless us. 

Theresa: I’ll end on a quote from Yamaguchi who said what the soldiers did in World War II counted and what they, and what they show for, for me and the others, has endured. Those kinds of things only endure if you have the material to tell the story. 

Yeah. Which makes the removal of their stories because they don’t look like a white dude. All that more egregious. Agreed. And one dad raging at some machine says he has go for broke tattooed on his forearm. That’s awesome. 

Angie: But that is the story. I informed a few what dad raging against the machine. Yeah. Yeah. That is awesome. Thank you for sharing. Wow. I’m mad about things. I’m going to go rage cook, I think. Call your senators. Call your representatives. 

Theresa: Tell them that this is not okay. Demand that they do something. We need to be angry and loud for long times. We cannot burn quick and bright and burnout. We need to burn long and hot. We need to make this stop. Yeah. I cannot agree with you more. 

Angie: Well said. Well said. So, yeah. 

Theresa: But that is the story of the 442nd. I love it. 

Angie: I’m so concerned for Frank’s feet. Fred’s feet. I looked up trench foot recently. You guys, I’m… It’s not good. 

Theresa: Never going to be okay. Never going to be okay. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. But on that note, I think we should go practice some self care. That is also a form of resistance. But call your senators. Facts them. You can fax them for free online and they have to keep a record of your fax and it’s free for you. And it’s a pain in the ass for them. Do it. Okay. 

Angie: One individual letter on each page. Yeah. 

Theresa: And truly, you could just copy paste to the next representative you have. I love that. You have to duplicate your efforts. 

Angie: Well, I wish when I represented it was younger. We’ve had the same house representative for like 700 years approximately. Be annoying. 

Theresa: Be the reason they retired. I had my chemistry teacher tell me I was the reason he was retiring. You can cause this. 

Angie: My husband has said it multiple times because I used to get those phone calls. They were like, so and so wants you to join their live chat. You don’t. 

Theresa: You really don’t. Yeah. I have things to say. You will regret the things I say. I won’t. 

Angie: Yeah, but you will. So stop calling me. Someone will die on this hill. It’s not going to be you. It’ll be me. It’s my hill. I built it. 

Theresa: But if you are like, what fresh hell are these two women bringing? What happens when both Angie and Teresa tell the story on the same week? It’s a special kind of chaos. There’s a lot happening. And you should rate, review, subscribe, join us next week and try to catch us when we end up posting this on TikTok and doing it live so that you can kind of see the chaos and see me stab myself in the hand multiple times as I do needlework. And on that note. 

Angie: I count the times I said my person’s name different. That’s my favorite game. I really love to change up how I pronounce things. 

Theresa: You’re just trying to see if I’m paying attention. 

Angie: I only do that with your years. Are you paying attention with your years? 

Theresa: I can’t pay attention with my own years. But on that note, goodbye. 

Theresa: Bye.