Japanese American Soldiers in the US Army During WW2 | Military Training Film | 1943

● Please SUPPORT my work on Patreon: https://bit.ly/2LT6opZ
● Visit my 2ND CHANNEL: https://bit.ly/2ILbyX8
►Facebook: https://bit.ly/2INA7yt
►Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Lz57nY
►Google+: https://bit.ly/2IPz7dl

✚ Watch my "Military Training Films" PLAYLIST: https://bit.ly/2G6XIrN


After the shocking Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, President Roosevelt issued an executive order which resulted in the removal and internment of over 120,000 ethnic Japanese in camps through the western U.S. Almost two-thirds of those incarcerated were U.S. citizens of Japanese descent. In spite of this forced internment and rampant wartime prejudice, more than 33,000 second-generation Japanese Americans (Nisei) volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army during World War 2.

This 1943 film (originally titled as ‘Go for Broke’) is a documentary short about the training of the Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team at Camp Shelby, Mississippi during World War 2. The soldiers run through obstacle courses, learn to use gas masks and bayonets, and conduct artillery and machine gun drills. Nisei engineers learn to construct pontoon bridge.

The film was produced by the United States War Relocation Authority with the cooperation of the War Department and the Office of Strategic Services. The original title of the film refers to the 442nd's unit motto "Go for Broke", which was derived from the Hawaiian pidgin phrase used by craps shooters risking all their money in one roll of the dice.


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT

During the early years of World War 2, Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated from their homes in the Pacific Coast states because military leaders and public opinion combined to fan unproven fears of sabotage. As the war progressed, many of the young Nisei, Japanese immigrants' children who were born with American citizenship, volunteered or were drafted to serve in the United States military. Japanese Americans served in all the branches of the United States Armed Forces, including the United States Merchant Marines. The majority of Japanese Americans serving in the American Armed Forces during World War 2 enlisted in the army. They were generally forbidden to fight a combat role in the Pacific theatre; although no such limitations were placed on Americans of German or Italian ancestry who fought against the Axis powers.

The 442nd Infantry Regiment became one of the most decorated unit in U.S. military history. Other Japanese American units also included the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, Varsity Victory Volunteers, and the Military Intelligence Service.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team:
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was an all-Nisei U.S. Army regiment which served in Europe during World War 2. Japanese Americans already in training at the start of the war had been removed from active duty shortly after Pearl Harbor, and the Army stopped accepting new Nisei recruits in early 1942. However, Japanese American leaders like Mike Masaoka and War Department officials like John J. McCloy soon began to push the Roosevelt administration to allow Nisei to serve in combat. A military board was convened in June 1942 to address the issue, but their final report opposed forming a Nisei unit, citing "the universal distrust in which they [Japanese Americans] are held”. Despite resistance from military and War Relocation Authority leaders, the President eventually sided with the War Department, and on February 1, 1943, Roosevelt announced the creation of a segregated battalion composed of Nisei soldiers and commanded by white officers. While the first group of volunteers fought in Europe as part of the 100th Infantry Battalion, additional recruits and draftees began combat training at Camp Shelby. The 1st Battalion of the 442nd soon after began sending replacement troops to join the 100th, which suffered an extremely high casualty rate, and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions shipped out on May 1, 1944, joining the 100th in Italy the next month. These men arrived in Europe after the 100th Infantry Battalion had already established its reputation as a fighting unit, and in time, the 442nd became, for its size and length of service, the most decorated unit in U.S. military history.


Japanese American Soldiers in the US Army During WW2 | Military Training Film | 1943

TBFA_0111 (DM_0058)


NOTE: THE VIDEO REPRESENTS HISTORY. SINCE IT WAS PRODUCED DECADES AGO, IT HAS HISTORICAL VALUES AND CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A VALUABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT. THE VIDEO HAS BEEN UPLOADED WITH EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. ITS TOPIC IS REPRESENTED WITHIN HISTORICAL CONTEXT. THE VIDEO DOES NOT CONTAIN SENSITIVE SCENES AT ALL!