The Rescue of the Lost Battalion by the 442 nd Regimental Combat Team and 100 th Infantry Battalion Clare OBrien World War Two In Europe Background 442 nd Regimental Combat Team ID: 171724
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Slide1
Go For Broke!
The Rescue of the “Lost Battalion” by the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and 100th Infantry Battalion
Clare O’BrienWorld War Two In Europe Slide2
Background
442nd Regimental Combat Team: An all Japanese American army combat team of over 12,000 volunteers 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate): First combat unit in US history to be comprised of exclusively Japanese American soldiers from Hawaii
Both comprised of Nisei (Second generation Japanese-Americans) 141st Texas Regiment: The regiment that would come to be known as the “Lost Battalion” Members of the 100th Infantry BattalionSlide3
Organization of the 442nd
Combat Team & the 100th BattalionCommanders: 442nd
Regimental Combat Team -Colonel Charles W. Pence -Lieutenant Colonel James L. Gillespie -Major Alex E. McKenzie -Major William H. Blytt 100 Battalion -Lieutenant Colonel Farrant L. Turner -Lieutenant Colonel James L. Gillespie
Units:
442nd COMBAT TEAM
442nd Infantry Regiment
1st Battalion (100th Infantry Battalion)
Companies A
, B, C, D
2nd
Battalion
- Companies E, F, G, H
3rd
Battalion
- Companies I, K, L, M
522 Field Artillery Battalion
- 16
Mar
1945
, reassigned to 7th Army
232 Combat Engineering Company
Anti- Tank Company
Cannon Company
Service Company
206 Army Band
Supporting Units
599th Field Artillery Battalion of
92
nd
Division Slide4
Origins of the Rescue
The 442nd and the 141st Texas Regiment were both part of the 36th Division under the command of Major General John DahlquistThey were fighting in Eastern France, near the German borderDahlquist had ordered the 141st Texas Regiment to advance four miles beyond friendly forces where the
Germans surrounded them The Fuhrer ordered the German troops to hold the area with no surrender or retreatMajor General John DahlquistSlide5
The Battle Begins
Texans were not rescued by their own men in the 141st, nor by other white soldiers in the 143rd RegimentDahlquist ordered the Nisei, battle fatigued from their liberations of Bruyeres and Biffontaine, to rescue the battalion
October 25th,1944: General Dahlquist ordered the regiment to line the flank of the main body of the 141st Lt. Col. James Hanley, Commander of the Second Battalion of the 442d, hand-drawn map. Outlines objective and route of attackSlide6
October 27th
Dahlquist ordered the battalions of the 442nd to rescue the Lost Battalion but progress was slow Attempted movement of tanks were stopped my land mines
The terrain was next to impossible, heavily forested and carpeted with a dense growth of underbrushThe Nisei faced a tank and infantry attack by the Germans but broke the assault despite that they were outnumbered 4 to 1 Slide7
October 28th
Both battalions continued the drive forward in the face of stubborn resistance and heavy artillery and mortar fireCasualties went up and up, caused largely by tree bursts and resulting shrapnel, from which there was no escape
Tanks couldn’t move on steep and slippery hillsides covered with underbrush and fallen treesSlide8
October 29
th They were ordered to charge up a heavily defended ridge that would come to be known as “Suicide Hill” with fixed bayonets, exchanging automatic weapons fire with Germans at point blank range
The Nisei were “killing or seriously wounding the enemy gun crews, but themselves sprawling dead over the enemy positions they had just neutralized” When asked for reinforcements to offset the heavy casualties, Dahlquist replied he could only send some engineer personnelThe situation for the Lost Battalion was worsening, drinking water and medical supplies were nearly exhaustedAn initial attack by the 442nd/100th on the Germans failed in the face of superior firepower but Dahlquist ordered to resume the attack Slide9
October 30
th The Nisei faced opposition of staggering numbers, fighting through a mine field, but continued to batter the encirclement of Germans
around the Lost BattalionFinally, the German position atop Suicide Hill was taken and the German line unraveled Contact with the Lost Battalion was made and the Nisei rescued 211 of the 275 men who had been trapped When word reached Dahlquist, he ordered the Nisei to remain in the woods and be prepared to capture the next hill Slide10
Outcomes
442nd unit lost more than 800 troops while rescuing 211 men behind enemy lines The Nisei were sent into some of the worst battlesMany of them felt that
they were considered expendableGeneral Dahlquist used the Nisei more ruthlessly than his own troopsSome Nisei excuse Dahlquist, but most remember the hundreds of Nisei casualties battling to rescue the 211 Texans who should not have been there in the first place Slide11
Casualties of the Campaign which included the Rescue of the Lost Battalion
Casualty Table
KIA O EMDOW O EMMIA O EMWIA O EMMinor WIA O EMIIA O EM RHINELAND-VOSGES
7 1351 17
4 38
47 824
22 299
2 26
O
= Officers
EM
= Enlisted Men
DOW
= Died of Wounds
Minor WIA
= Not
hospitalized
Wounded in Action
IIA
= Injured in
ActionSlide12
Truman addresses the Nisei and notes they fought both the enemy and prejudice and won
“The Nisei battled against suspicion, intolerance, and a hatred that was conceived in some dark corner of the American mind and born in the flames that swept Pearl Harbor”The Nisei proved their loyalty and their bravery The 442nd Combat Team was one of the
most highly decorated units in WWIILegacy: Overcoming Prejudice Slide13
Overcoming Prejudice: In Their Own Words
Ben H. Tamashiro (100th Infantry Battalion): “ We were, in fact, Americans in our hearts, and that the color of our skin and the slant of our eyes had nothing to do with it.”
Kenneth K. Inada (442nd Regimental Combat Team): “I relish [my] experiences, for I believe that they are the foundations for human relationships that transcend our cultural differences.” Slide14
Conrad Tsukayama (100
th Infantry Battalion): “Our efforts to recue the Lost Battalion in the dense Vosges Mountains of France tested our courage and brought forth the extra cohesiveness of the Nisei soldier.”
Lyn Crost (442nd/100th War Correspondent): “They had fought not only a foreign enemy, but also prejudice and suspicion. And they had set the standard for Japanese American soldiers who followed.”Slide15
Decorations received by the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team
21 Medals of Honor (20 awarded on June 1, 2000)
29 Distinguished Service Crosses (including 19 Distinguished Service Crosses which were upgraded to Medals of Honor in June 2000)Over 334 Silver Stars with 28 Oak Leaf Clusters (in lieu of second Silver Star. One Silver Star was Upgraded to a Medal of Honor in June 2000)7 Presidential Unit Citations1 Distinguished Service Medal17 Legion of Merit Medals15 Soldier's Medals
Over 848 Bronze Stars with 1,200 Oak Leaf Clusters (in lieu of second Bronze Star)*1 Air Medal
Over 4,000 Purple Hearts
36 Army Commendations
87 Division Commendations
Over 20 French Croix de Guerre with 2 Palms (in lieu of a second award)
2 Italian Crosses for Military Valor (Croce Al Merito Di Guerra)
2 Italian Medals for Military Valor (Medaglia De Bronzo Al Valor Militaire)
1 Soldier's Medal (Great Britain)Slide16
President Barack Obama and his
guests, including Senator Inouye, a former member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, applaud after signing S.1055, a bill to grant the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, in recognition of their dedicated service during World War II, in the Oval Office. Slide17
Veterans of the 141st Infantry Regiment of the Texas Army National Guard and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
are recognized at the 65th anniversary of the rescue of the "Lost Battalion" in Houston, Nov. 1, 2009. Slide18
Bibliography
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team Historical Society. “The Battle of Bruyeres – ‘Lost Battalion’.” Accessed November 9, 2012. http://www.the442.org/battlehistory/vosges.htmlCrost, Lyn. Honor By Fire: Japanese Americans at War in Europe and the Pacific. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1994. Go For Broke: National Education Center. “The Rescue of the Lost Battalion.” Accessed November 9, 2012. http://www.goforbroke.org/history/history_historical_campaigns_re scue.asp
Hawaii Nikkei History Editorial Board. Japanese Eyes, American Heart: Personal Reflections of Hawaii’s World War II Nisei Soldiers. Honolulu: Tendai Educational Foundation, 1998. The Italian Campaign. “WW2 History of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Battalion.” Accessed November 9, 2012. http://www.custermen.com/ItalyWW2/Units/442RCT.htmYenne, Bill. Rising Sons: The Japanese GIs who Fought for the United States in World War II. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2007.