1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:05,548 --> 00:00:06,422 (somber music) (gun firing) 3 00:00:06,507 --> 00:00:10,125 (airplane engines roaring) 4 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 5 00:00:11,262 --> 00:00:13,303 - [Narrator] It is the most decorated military unit 6 00:00:13,431 --> 00:00:14,930 in United States history. 7 00:00:16,267 --> 00:00:21,103 - They fought for the ideals of American democracy. 8 00:00:21,188 --> 00:00:23,972 - Their stories are the stuff of movies. 9 00:00:24,066 --> 00:00:25,941 (gun firing) 10 00:00:26,027 --> 00:00:29,311 - They were fighting the Nazis, but they were also fighting 11 00:00:29,405 --> 00:00:31,655 the internal racism of our nation. 12 00:00:32,283 --> 00:00:34,283 - [Narrator] The Japanese American soldiers 13 00:00:34,368 --> 00:00:35,325 of World War II 14 00:00:35,453 --> 00:00:37,953 played a pivotal role in the Allied victory, 15 00:00:39,290 --> 00:00:41,665 yet their story is not well known. 16 00:00:41,792 --> 00:00:45,210 - As a soldier, I revere their record. 17 00:00:45,296 --> 00:00:46,328 I study it, 18 00:00:46,422 --> 00:00:50,049 as do other soldiers, for what it teaches us: 19 00:00:50,134 --> 00:00:54,136 how to lead, how to persevere, what obligation means, 20 00:00:54,221 --> 00:00:57,514 what cohesion means, what comradery means. 21 00:01:00,644 --> 00:01:02,394 - [Narrator] Most of the soldiers are gone now, 22 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:04,012 but their stories are preserved 23 00:01:04,106 --> 00:01:07,182 in letters, photos, and oral histories 24 00:01:07,276 --> 00:01:10,018 uncovered from a special collection of archives. 25 00:01:10,112 --> 00:01:14,615 - I feel proud that I was allowed 26 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:17,534 to defend my country. 27 00:01:20,456 --> 00:01:23,207 - [Narrator] This is "Hidden Heroes: 28 00:01:23,334 --> 00:01:25,834 "The Nisei Soldiers of World War II." 29 00:01:26,754 --> 00:01:28,837 (ominous music) 30 00:01:28,923 --> 00:01:32,174 (guns firing) 31 00:01:32,259 --> 00:01:34,885 (tank booming) 32 00:01:36,180 --> 00:01:38,555 After more than five years of intense fighting, 33 00:01:39,975 --> 00:01:42,384 the Allies have the upper hand in World War II, 34 00:01:42,478 --> 00:01:45,687 but they can't break through the last major Nazi defense 35 00:01:45,773 --> 00:01:49,191 in the mountains of Italy, known as the Gothic Line. 36 00:01:50,027 --> 00:01:56,156 - The Gothic Line, it was a heavily-fortified 200-mile line. 37 00:01:57,660 --> 00:01:59,743 The Army had been attempting 38 00:01:59,870 --> 00:02:04,873 to break through that fortification for months, 39 00:02:05,709 --> 00:02:07,126 months and months and months. 40 00:02:11,048 --> 00:02:12,631 - [Narrator] That's when the Allies bring in 41 00:02:12,716 --> 00:02:16,918 the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team, 42 00:02:17,012 --> 00:02:20,973 made up of second-generation Japanese American soldiers 43 00:02:21,058 --> 00:02:22,724 known as Nisei. 44 00:02:23,853 --> 00:02:27,104 - The 100th/442nd is the only regiment 45 00:02:27,231 --> 00:02:31,275 that the Nazis were following 46 00:02:31,402 --> 00:02:34,778 and making sure their location at all times. 47 00:02:35,698 --> 00:02:37,656 - [Narrator] To break through the German defensive line, 48 00:02:37,741 --> 00:02:39,616 the Nisei soldiers come up with a plan 49 00:02:39,743 --> 00:02:41,952 that the Nazis would never expect: 50 00:02:43,539 --> 00:02:46,498 scaling cliffs up the back of the treacherous mountains 51 00:02:46,584 --> 00:02:48,375 in complete darkness. 52 00:02:50,254 --> 00:02:55,132 - 60-degree incline, slippery at certain places 53 00:02:55,259 --> 00:02:58,460 because it was shale and there was condensation. 54 00:02:59,305 --> 00:03:01,963 And there was an agreement and an understanding 55 00:03:02,057 --> 00:03:05,142 that if you fell, you don't yell out 56 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,313 because that would give away the position of the unit. 57 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,316 - In a very daring, bold nighttime assault, 58 00:03:12,443 --> 00:03:15,819 they climbed up the backside of one of these mountains, 59 00:03:17,948 --> 00:03:21,366 surrounded the Germans, overwhelmed them, 60 00:03:21,452 --> 00:03:24,328 and punched a hole through the Gothic Line. 61 00:03:25,915 --> 00:03:26,821 - [Narrator] What Allied forces 62 00:03:26,916 --> 00:03:28,990 had been trying to accomplish for months, 63 00:03:29,084 --> 00:03:31,919 the Nisei soldiers achieve in minutes. 64 00:03:32,755 --> 00:03:34,421 It's a pivotal turning point. 65 00:03:39,595 --> 00:03:41,511 - Once the line was ruptured 66 00:03:41,639 --> 00:03:45,057 and you're behind the German defenses, 67 00:03:45,142 --> 00:03:46,841 they started crumbling. 68 00:03:46,936 --> 00:03:49,895 And then it was attack, attack, attack 69 00:03:49,980 --> 00:03:51,188 to the end of the war. 70 00:03:55,903 --> 00:03:58,186 - [Narrator] The soldiers' bold and courageous attack 71 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:01,114 signals the beginning of the end for the Nazis. 72 00:04:02,910 --> 00:04:07,079 - Different commanding officers argued over the right 73 00:04:07,164 --> 00:04:09,539 to have the 100th and the 442nd 74 00:04:09,667 --> 00:04:11,366 as part of their fighting unit 75 00:04:11,460 --> 00:04:15,370 because they were the crack unit, the tip of the spear. 76 00:04:15,464 --> 00:04:16,380 - [Narrator] But the journey to victory 77 00:04:16,507 --> 00:04:19,207 for the Nisei soldiers is a complicated one 78 00:04:19,301 --> 00:04:22,135 that begins more than three years earlier. 79 00:04:27,184 --> 00:04:30,352 (explosions booming) 80 00:04:34,191 --> 00:04:35,482 - [President Roosevelt] December 7th, 81 00:04:36,777 --> 00:04:38,318 1941, 82 00:04:39,196 --> 00:04:40,737 a date which will live 83 00:04:42,157 --> 00:04:42,864 in infamy. 84 00:04:44,034 --> 00:04:47,068 (airplane engines roaring) 85 00:04:47,162 --> 00:04:49,070 - [Narrator] The bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 86 00:04:49,164 --> 00:04:52,082 by Japanese forces marks the United States' entry 87 00:04:52,209 --> 00:04:55,910 into World War II and forever changes the lives 88 00:04:56,005 --> 00:04:58,913 of thousands of Japanese Americans. 89 00:04:59,008 --> 00:05:03,918 - In Hawaii, the young men, as well as their families, 90 00:05:04,013 --> 00:05:06,930 many of them witnessed the bombing of Pearl Harbor. 91 00:05:07,057 --> 00:05:09,257 They get hear the bombs falling. 92 00:05:09,351 --> 00:05:11,643 They could hear the explosions. 93 00:05:11,729 --> 00:05:13,428 And for many of them, 94 00:05:13,522 --> 00:05:16,523 they had a very visceral reaction in that moment. 95 00:05:18,193 --> 00:05:19,934 - [Narrator] 17-year-old Daniel Inouye 96 00:05:20,029 --> 00:05:21,570 sees the Japanese planes 97 00:05:21,655 --> 00:05:24,114 and realizes his life is about to change. 98 00:05:24,241 --> 00:05:28,109 - And then, suddenly, three planes, 99 00:05:28,203 --> 00:05:30,287 they were the fighter bombers, 100 00:05:30,414 --> 00:05:33,615 flew overhead after they had made their run 101 00:05:33,709 --> 00:05:34,791 across Pearl Harbor. 102 00:05:36,003 --> 00:05:38,628 I felt that my life had come to an end at that point 103 00:05:40,924 --> 00:05:45,969 because, obviously, the pilot in that plane looked like me. 104 00:05:47,848 --> 00:05:49,473 And I wasn't quite certain 105 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,059 as to what the future held for us. 106 00:05:53,687 --> 00:05:55,804 - [Narrator] Sakae Takahashi is a student 107 00:05:55,898 --> 00:06:00,025 at the University of Hawaii and also witnesses the attack. 108 00:06:00,110 --> 00:06:01,234 - I felt the... 109 00:06:04,782 --> 00:06:06,114 Rumbling, you know? 110 00:06:07,910 --> 00:06:13,988 I saw the planes bombing the Arizona and the Oklahoma and 111 00:06:14,083 --> 00:06:17,918 all those ships, and I said, "It's war." 112 00:06:23,092 --> 00:06:25,967 - [Narrator] Takahashi is a member of the ROTC. 113 00:06:27,096 --> 00:06:29,346 He's immediately called out to defend Hawaii. 114 00:06:30,766 --> 00:06:33,842 - These college kids were deployed all over the island, 115 00:06:33,936 --> 00:06:35,352 along with the National Guard, 116 00:06:35,479 --> 00:06:37,679 to guard critical installations. 117 00:06:37,773 --> 00:06:41,900 And in January of 1942, a month later, 118 00:06:41,985 --> 00:06:44,152 they were summarily discharged. 119 00:06:45,989 --> 00:06:48,615 (sullen music) 120 00:06:50,744 --> 00:06:52,694 - [Narrator] Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, 121 00:06:52,788 --> 00:06:55,122 fear and paranoia grips America. 122 00:06:56,500 --> 00:06:58,917 The government designates Japanese Americans 123 00:06:59,002 --> 00:07:01,545 across the country as enemy aliens. 124 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:05,715 - American citizens, simply because of our faces, 125 00:07:05,843 --> 00:07:08,885 were considered enemy aliens. 126 00:07:11,140 --> 00:07:17,385 - That classification was devastating to the ROTC cadets. 127 00:07:17,479 --> 00:07:19,521 It was humiliating, frustrating. 128 00:07:21,483 --> 00:07:22,441 They wanted to serve. 129 00:07:23,986 --> 00:07:27,061 - That, to me, was not only distressing 130 00:07:27,156 --> 00:07:28,905 but it was insulting. 131 00:07:30,534 --> 00:07:35,403 And I could feel the tension among my contemporaries. 132 00:07:35,497 --> 00:07:38,748 We resented that very much because we considered ourselves 133 00:07:38,876 --> 00:07:44,171 to be not only law-abiding but good patriotic Americans. 134 00:07:44,256 --> 00:07:47,966 - On February 19th, 1942, 135 00:07:48,051 --> 00:07:50,093 the president of the United States, 136 00:07:50,220 --> 00:07:56,099 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, signed Executive Order 9066, 137 00:07:58,896 --> 00:08:02,272 which ordered all Japanese Americans on the West Coast, 138 00:08:02,399 --> 00:08:06,902 Washington, Oregon, California, and a part of Arizona, 139 00:08:06,987 --> 00:08:08,737 to be summarily rounded up 140 00:08:08,822 --> 00:08:13,783 and put in 10 barbwire prison camps with no charge, 141 00:08:14,745 --> 00:08:17,913 no trial, no due process. 142 00:08:21,084 --> 00:08:25,286 - [Narrator] Nearly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry 143 00:08:25,380 --> 00:08:29,007 living on the mainland are forced into the camps. 144 00:08:29,092 --> 00:08:32,093 Two-thirds of them are American citizens by birth. 145 00:08:33,430 --> 00:08:36,097 - They lost their jobs, they lost their businesses. 146 00:08:37,518 --> 00:08:40,310 But most of all, what they lost was a sense of place 147 00:08:40,437 --> 00:08:42,771 at the American table of citizenship. 148 00:08:42,856 --> 00:08:44,314 - [Narrator] They also lose their ability 149 00:08:44,441 --> 00:08:45,899 to fight for their homeland. 150 00:08:49,780 --> 00:08:52,480 Japanese Americans are prohibited from enlisting, 151 00:08:52,574 --> 00:08:54,991 and those already serving are sidelined. 152 00:08:56,870 --> 00:09:00,822 - At the outbreak of war, there were about 1,400 Nisei 153 00:09:00,916 --> 00:09:04,158 who were already serving in the Hawaii National Guard, 154 00:09:04,253 --> 00:09:07,837 and most of them had been drafted into the Army. 155 00:09:09,258 --> 00:09:11,007 But the Army did not know what to do with them 156 00:09:11,134 --> 00:09:12,801 when war broke out, 157 00:09:12,886 --> 00:09:15,220 (tense music) 158 00:09:19,226 --> 00:09:22,343 so it held them in limbo for several months. 159 00:09:22,437 --> 00:09:24,479 - [Narrator] Then, in June 1942, 160 00:09:24,565 --> 00:09:27,524 the Nisei soldiers are secretly shipped off Hawaii 161 00:09:28,610 --> 00:09:30,184 in the middle of the night. 162 00:09:30,279 --> 00:09:32,779 They aren't told where they're going or why. 163 00:09:34,074 --> 00:09:36,908 - When they landed in California, they were told, 164 00:09:36,994 --> 00:09:40,862 "You are now the 100th Infantry Battalion, Separate," 165 00:09:40,956 --> 00:09:43,164 meaning they were not attached to any regiment 166 00:09:43,250 --> 00:09:44,291 within the Army. 167 00:09:47,671 --> 00:09:50,630 (foreboding music) 168 00:09:53,510 --> 00:09:55,343 - [Narrator] The new 100th Battalion 169 00:09:55,429 --> 00:09:58,096 of Japanese American soldiers begins training 170 00:09:58,181 --> 00:10:00,015 at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin 171 00:10:01,518 --> 00:10:03,810 under the command of white officers. 172 00:10:05,522 --> 00:10:06,896 - They were considerably smaller 173 00:10:07,024 --> 00:10:09,390 than Caucasian soldiers at this time, 174 00:10:09,484 --> 00:10:11,443 really having to fight for their place 175 00:10:11,528 --> 00:10:14,112 and demonstrate their loyalty and "gaman," 176 00:10:14,197 --> 00:10:15,864 or try as hard as they can 177 00:10:15,949 --> 00:10:18,617 to prove that they could hit these military standards. 178 00:10:18,702 --> 00:10:20,234 - [Narrator] The Japanese American soldiers 179 00:10:20,329 --> 00:10:22,912 weigh an average of 125 pounds 180 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,583 and stand an average of 5'4" tall. 181 00:10:27,878 --> 00:10:31,212 During training, they surpass military benchmarks, 182 00:10:31,298 --> 00:10:33,923 proving they are just as tough and loyal 183 00:10:34,051 --> 00:10:35,800 as any other American soldier. 184 00:10:35,886 --> 00:10:38,970 - Many of them were told specifically or explicitly 185 00:10:39,056 --> 00:10:41,765 by their parents, "Do not cause shame for your family. 186 00:10:42,726 --> 00:10:43,925 "Fight bravely. 187 00:10:44,019 --> 00:10:48,262 "Demonstrate your loyalty, your obligation to America, 188 00:10:48,357 --> 00:10:51,432 "this country that is the country of your birth, 189 00:10:51,526 --> 00:10:53,267 "the country that you owe loyalty to." 190 00:10:53,362 --> 00:10:55,103 We know all eyes were watching us 191 00:10:55,197 --> 00:10:57,105 and we knew we had to prove 192 00:10:57,199 --> 00:11:01,242 how valuable Japanese were in America at this time. 193 00:11:01,328 --> 00:11:03,745 - [Narrator] By 1943, the Nisei soldiers 194 00:11:03,830 --> 00:11:05,121 have proven their value 195 00:11:05,248 --> 00:11:07,281 and the Army wants to recruit 196 00:11:07,376 --> 00:11:09,951 even more Japanese American soldiers. 197 00:11:10,045 --> 00:11:12,420 But would they volunteer to fight for a country 198 00:11:12,506 --> 00:11:13,797 that has imprisoned them? 199 00:11:17,219 --> 00:11:20,220 (tense music) (explosions booming) 200 00:11:25,686 --> 00:11:28,019 - [Narrator] Just over a year after Pearl Harbor, 201 00:11:28,105 --> 00:11:30,638 the United States is battling the Axis powers 202 00:11:30,732 --> 00:11:32,982 in both the Pacific and North Africa. 203 00:11:34,528 --> 00:11:36,144 The Army is stretched thin 204 00:11:36,238 --> 00:11:37,904 and looking for more men to serve. 205 00:11:38,949 --> 00:11:40,815 - The training record was superior 206 00:11:40,909 --> 00:11:42,992 of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 207 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:47,488 and the government decided it was time to try their hand 208 00:11:47,582 --> 00:11:50,417 at an all-Japanese volunteer unit, combat unit. 209 00:11:51,628 --> 00:11:52,994 - [Narrator] The government reverses its ban 210 00:11:53,088 --> 00:11:55,714 on enlisting Japanese Americans. 211 00:11:55,799 --> 00:12:00,719 - The government asked for about 4,500 men to serve. 212 00:12:00,804 --> 00:12:03,430 Well, here in Hawaii, nearly 10,000 stepped forward. 213 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:07,142 My dad was one of them. 214 00:12:08,186 --> 00:12:11,512 And he told us that many of his friends wept, 215 00:12:11,606 --> 00:12:14,348 they cried when they were rejected from serving 216 00:12:14,443 --> 00:12:17,152 because they wanted to serve so badly. 217 00:12:20,157 --> 00:12:22,824 - On Hawaii, they weren't incarcerated en masse. 218 00:12:22,909 --> 00:12:25,693 They were eager to go and they were angry 219 00:12:25,787 --> 00:12:28,538 because, again, their home had been attacked. 220 00:12:30,959 --> 00:12:32,876 - [Narrator] Most Japanese Americans in Hawaii 221 00:12:33,003 --> 00:12:35,036 are not in camps because they make up 222 00:12:35,130 --> 00:12:37,922 such a large part of the local labor force. 223 00:12:38,008 --> 00:12:39,215 - And yet on the mainland, 224 00:12:39,342 --> 00:12:42,543 it was a very different story because, for the most part, 225 00:12:42,637 --> 00:12:46,055 most Japanese American men of draft age 226 00:12:46,183 --> 00:12:49,559 or of service age were in concentration camps. 227 00:12:53,774 --> 00:12:56,941 - [Narrator] Young men like 17-year-old Rudy Tokiwa, 228 00:12:57,027 --> 00:12:59,727 who's incarcerated in Poston, Arizona. 229 00:12:59,821 --> 00:13:04,365 - My dad was a veteran of World War I. 230 00:13:07,162 --> 00:13:09,120 And when they started gonna put us all 231 00:13:09,206 --> 00:13:11,080 into concentration camps, 232 00:13:13,627 --> 00:13:15,168 I asked him at that time, 233 00:13:17,631 --> 00:13:18,671 "Why us? 234 00:13:20,383 --> 00:13:24,385 "You fought for the United States in World War I." 235 00:13:26,389 --> 00:13:28,223 - [Narrator] Despite being imprisoned, 236 00:13:28,308 --> 00:13:30,433 Tokiwa feels a duty to volunteer. 237 00:13:32,562 --> 00:13:34,762 - A lot of people told me I was crazy. 238 00:13:34,856 --> 00:13:37,315 They told me, "You didn't have to volunteer." 239 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:41,402 But to me, there was a task ahead of us. 240 00:13:41,488 --> 00:13:43,863 We not only had to show 241 00:13:45,033 --> 00:13:48,701 but we had to prove that we were Americans. 242 00:13:53,583 --> 00:13:54,749 - [Narrator] Tokiwa becomes part of 243 00:13:54,835 --> 00:13:57,836 the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, 244 00:13:57,921 --> 00:14:00,621 made up of newly-enlisted Japanese Americans 245 00:14:00,715 --> 00:14:02,131 from Hawaii and the mainland. 246 00:14:03,385 --> 00:14:04,959 They begin training with the 100th 247 00:14:05,053 --> 00:14:06,803 at Camp Shelby in Mississippi. 248 00:14:08,515 --> 00:14:09,630 - All Japanese, 249 00:14:09,724 --> 00:14:12,475 but yet from very different life experiences. 250 00:14:12,602 --> 00:14:16,304 So, the Japanese from Hawaii, they spoke pidgin English. 251 00:14:16,398 --> 00:14:17,981 They were a bit more laid back. 252 00:14:18,108 --> 00:14:21,776 The Japanese who volunteered from the mainland 253 00:14:21,862 --> 00:14:23,945 were a bit more formal. 254 00:14:24,030 --> 00:14:26,314 They volunteered from incarceration camps, 255 00:14:26,408 --> 00:14:30,243 so their life experiences were very different. 256 00:14:31,413 --> 00:14:34,289 - And literally, these two groups would fight. 257 00:14:34,374 --> 00:14:36,207 I mean, fistfights galore. 258 00:14:36,293 --> 00:14:40,336 It got so bad that the Army at one point thought, 259 00:14:40,463 --> 00:14:41,671 "This is a failed experiment. 260 00:14:41,798 --> 00:14:42,714 "These guys can't get along. 261 00:14:42,799 --> 00:14:46,009 "They are never gonna be a fighting unit." 262 00:14:46,136 --> 00:14:48,636 - Daniel Inouye volunteers from Hawaii 263 00:14:48,722 --> 00:14:51,806 and remembers the fights with the mainland soldiers. 264 00:14:51,892 --> 00:14:54,809 He also remembers what finally brings them together. 265 00:14:54,895 --> 00:14:56,394 - We nearly got disbanded 266 00:14:56,479 --> 00:14:59,355 and scattered all over the United States. 267 00:15:00,442 --> 00:15:03,860 And so, the leadership tried all... 268 00:15:05,071 --> 00:15:08,189 They tried everything: discussion groups, social hours, 269 00:15:08,283 --> 00:15:09,908 and nothing worked. 270 00:15:09,993 --> 00:15:12,360 - [Narrator] Then, Inouye and some of his fellow soldiers 271 00:15:12,454 --> 00:15:13,870 from Hawaii are sent to visit 272 00:15:13,997 --> 00:15:16,122 incarceration camps in Arkansas. 273 00:15:17,250 --> 00:15:19,375 They are shocked by what they see. 274 00:15:19,502 --> 00:15:23,796 - And this one had a tall fence around, a barbwire fence. 275 00:15:24,841 --> 00:15:26,716 - Its military guns were pointed in, 276 00:15:26,843 --> 00:15:31,054 and anyone who attempted to escape was immediately shot. 277 00:15:33,516 --> 00:15:37,060 - They were struggling to make heads and tails out of this. 278 00:15:37,187 --> 00:15:39,687 And as they went in to the camp, 279 00:15:40,774 --> 00:15:43,483 they saw the Japanese American families. 280 00:15:49,991 --> 00:15:53,701 - The people there had set aside one week's ration of food 281 00:15:53,787 --> 00:15:55,870 so that they could give us a party. 282 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,916 They had an orchestra and all that. 283 00:16:00,043 --> 00:16:02,418 We tried our best to be happy, 284 00:16:02,545 --> 00:16:05,338 but how can you be happy in those circumstances? 285 00:16:09,803 --> 00:16:13,429 And I believe that what was running through the minds 286 00:16:14,516 --> 00:16:17,976 of most, if not all, was a question. 287 00:16:18,061 --> 00:16:22,522 "Would I have volunteered from that camp?" 288 00:16:23,984 --> 00:16:31,105 In our eyes, they were heroes that they would take that step 289 00:16:31,199 --> 00:16:33,107 in spite of this incarceration 290 00:16:33,201 --> 00:16:37,954 to stand up and defend the country that did that to them. 291 00:16:38,081 --> 00:16:39,947 - [Narrator] After seeing the harsh conditions 292 00:16:40,041 --> 00:16:42,283 of the camps in 1943, 293 00:16:42,377 --> 00:16:45,003 Japanese American soldiers of all backgrounds 294 00:16:45,088 --> 00:16:49,424 unite behind a common cause, with the motto "Go for broke." 295 00:16:50,260 --> 00:16:51,759 - They were all in. 296 00:16:51,845 --> 00:16:56,264 In whatever mission they had, they were going for it. 297 00:16:56,349 --> 00:16:57,265 They were all in. 298 00:16:58,351 --> 00:17:00,184 - [Narrator] The 442nd continues their training 299 00:17:00,270 --> 00:17:03,304 in Mississippi, and the 100th Battalion 300 00:17:03,398 --> 00:17:07,859 of about 1,400 Japanese American soldiers from Hawaii 301 00:17:07,944 --> 00:17:09,360 leaves for the frontlines, 302 00:17:09,446 --> 00:17:11,571 where they will face a ferocious enemy. 303 00:17:12,741 --> 00:17:15,742 (explosion booming) 304 00:17:19,789 --> 00:17:22,373 (airplane engine roaring) 305 00:17:22,459 --> 00:17:26,294 The United States forces the Axis powers out of Africa 306 00:17:26,379 --> 00:17:27,712 and moves on to Europe. 307 00:17:29,007 --> 00:17:32,500 The 100th Infantry Battalion of Japanese American soldiers 308 00:17:32,594 --> 00:17:34,218 is sent to Italy to capture 309 00:17:34,304 --> 00:17:36,763 a heavily-defended Nazi facility. 310 00:17:40,977 --> 00:17:43,644 - Monte Cassino was a monastery 311 00:17:43,730 --> 00:17:48,775 that was built on the slopes of this large mountain 312 00:17:49,486 --> 00:17:51,185 about 1,500 feet high. 313 00:17:51,279 --> 00:17:54,238 Four stories, 10-foot walls, 314 00:17:54,324 --> 00:17:58,826 surrounded by a valley that had a river running through it. 315 00:17:58,912 --> 00:18:01,996 And what the Nazis had done is dammed up the river 316 00:18:02,082 --> 00:18:04,582 such that when the time was appropriate, 317 00:18:04,667 --> 00:18:07,210 they could flood the valley with water. 318 00:18:10,673 --> 00:18:12,540 - [Narrator] The Allies have to defeat the Nazis 319 00:18:12,634 --> 00:18:16,043 at Monte Cassino in order to continue on to Rome, 320 00:18:16,137 --> 00:18:17,804 a key Nazi stronghold. 321 00:18:18,973 --> 00:18:21,557 But getting across the valley is no easy task. 322 00:18:22,977 --> 00:18:26,053 - They were going to negotiate that two miles of swampland 323 00:18:26,147 --> 00:18:29,056 under fire and try to get to the river, 324 00:18:29,150 --> 00:18:32,193 cross the river, and attack the village 325 00:18:32,278 --> 00:18:36,397 and a couple of smaller Hills around Monte Cassino. 326 00:18:36,491 --> 00:18:38,616 - [Narrator] Two miles to cross with no cover, 327 00:18:38,701 --> 00:18:39,742 nowhere to hide. 328 00:18:41,037 --> 00:18:43,996 The first of the Nisei soldiers makes their move at night. 329 00:18:46,042 --> 00:18:47,291 - They go out at night. 330 00:18:47,377 --> 00:18:49,252 And incredibly, they're able to make it 331 00:18:49,379 --> 00:18:52,246 all the way across at night. 332 00:18:52,340 --> 00:18:54,257 They left behind dead and wounded 333 00:18:54,384 --> 00:18:57,751 over that two-mile stretch, screaming, crying for help, 334 00:18:57,846 --> 00:19:01,088 and some of 'em laid out there two days and two nights 335 00:19:01,182 --> 00:19:02,473 before anybody could get to 'em. 336 00:19:05,895 --> 00:19:08,929 - [Narrator] It was already a dangerous crossing at night, 337 00:19:09,023 --> 00:19:10,606 but then the order comes in: 338 00:19:10,733 --> 00:19:13,609 The rest of the soldiers are to cross in daylight. 339 00:19:13,736 --> 00:19:17,938 - It was almost suicidal because it was a frontal assault. 340 00:19:18,032 --> 00:19:20,741 It was no maneuver; you had to go right at them. 341 00:19:20,827 --> 00:19:23,327 - [Narrator] Sakae Takahashi is a company commander 342 00:19:23,413 --> 00:19:27,615 in the 100th, one of only a handful of nonwhite officers. 343 00:19:27,709 --> 00:19:29,917 - We told him that it was impossible 344 00:19:30,003 --> 00:19:32,119 for us to accomplish anything during the day, 345 00:19:32,213 --> 00:19:34,297 but he said, "No, you go across. 346 00:19:34,424 --> 00:19:35,965 "This is the order." 347 00:19:36,092 --> 00:19:38,459 - [Narrator] It was so dangerous that the ranking officer, 348 00:19:38,553 --> 00:19:40,845 Major Clough, refuses the order, 349 00:19:40,930 --> 00:19:44,015 eventually leaving Takahashi in charge. 350 00:19:44,100 --> 00:19:46,434 - And Major Clough says, "I won't do it," 351 00:19:46,519 --> 00:19:49,061 so Major Clough is relieved on the spot. 352 00:19:50,607 --> 00:19:54,317 Sakae Takahashi was widely respected already. 353 00:19:54,444 --> 00:19:55,359 He's a company commander. 354 00:19:55,445 --> 00:19:57,987 He goes back and he talks to his lieutenants 355 00:19:58,114 --> 00:19:59,739 and says, "What do you think?" 356 00:20:01,117 --> 00:20:03,784 And the lieutenants say, "Okay, that's our orders. 357 00:20:03,870 --> 00:20:04,994 "Let's try it." 358 00:20:07,415 --> 00:20:09,457 - Under the cover of smoke, 359 00:20:09,542 --> 00:20:12,752 they would try and transverse that field. 360 00:20:14,422 --> 00:20:17,173 Once they got out there, however, the wind changed 361 00:20:17,300 --> 00:20:19,008 and the smoke blew in the opposite direction 362 00:20:19,135 --> 00:20:22,136 and they were revealed to the Nazis. 363 00:20:23,765 --> 00:20:25,139 And it's at that point 364 00:20:25,225 --> 00:20:28,184 that they took incredibly heavy casualties. 365 00:20:47,247 --> 00:20:49,830 (somber music) 366 00:20:53,962 --> 00:20:56,370 - [Narrator] The Allies never take the abbey on the ground 367 00:20:56,464 --> 00:20:59,215 and eventually call in an airstrike. 368 00:20:59,342 --> 00:21:02,843 (explosion booming) 369 00:21:02,929 --> 00:21:07,682 - There's no doubt in my mind, especially initially, 370 00:21:07,767 --> 00:21:12,019 that the 100th Battalion were used as cannon fodder. 371 00:21:15,024 --> 00:21:16,557 They were the first ones in. 372 00:21:16,651 --> 00:21:18,892 They took the heavy casualties. 373 00:21:18,987 --> 00:21:21,237 They were considered expendable. 374 00:21:23,658 --> 00:21:26,575 - It was from that battle that they develop the nickname 375 00:21:26,703 --> 00:21:28,536 "The Purple Heart Battalion." 376 00:21:31,291 --> 00:21:35,376 And the Purple Heart is given to those who are wounded 377 00:21:35,461 --> 00:21:38,087 or are killed as a result of enemy action. 378 00:21:41,301 --> 00:21:45,011 - [Narrator] The 100th landed in Italy with about 1,400 men. 379 00:21:46,139 --> 00:21:48,306 After fighting for just over four months, 380 00:21:48,391 --> 00:21:50,924 there were only 521 left. 381 00:21:51,019 --> 00:21:55,763 - So, wave after wave after wave of young Japanese Americans 382 00:21:55,857 --> 00:21:57,481 went into those battles, 383 00:21:57,567 --> 00:22:00,934 each wave fighting with incredible, 384 00:22:01,029 --> 00:22:03,654 unbelievable courage, 385 00:22:03,740 --> 00:22:07,825 each wave fighting with amazing heroism. 386 00:22:07,910 --> 00:22:10,953 - Normally in the military parlance of the time, 387 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,165 you had to outnumber the defender three to one. 388 00:22:14,250 --> 00:22:17,284 Rarely did the 100th Battalion ever attack 389 00:22:17,378 --> 00:22:20,921 where they outnumbered the defensive forces three to one, 390 00:22:21,007 --> 00:22:24,717 but they doggedly fought against a tremendous enemy. 391 00:22:26,054 --> 00:22:28,796 - [Narrator] The battalion's courageous performance in Italy 392 00:22:28,890 --> 00:22:32,016 earns them their first presidential citation. 393 00:22:32,101 --> 00:22:35,686 - All of you Americans of Japanese descent 394 00:22:35,772 --> 00:22:38,972 have a right to be proud today. 395 00:22:39,067 --> 00:22:41,567 You have demonstrated true Americanism 396 00:22:42,904 --> 00:22:46,906 and true American citizenship on the field of battle. 397 00:22:50,203 --> 00:22:54,038 - [Narrator] By 1944, the 100th Battalion earns a reputation 398 00:22:54,123 --> 00:22:55,831 for courage on the battlefield. 399 00:22:58,461 --> 00:22:59,493 At the same time, 400 00:22:59,587 --> 00:23:01,837 there's another group of Japanese Americans 401 00:23:01,964 --> 00:23:05,591 using a secret weapon to win the war off the battlefield. 402 00:23:12,934 --> 00:23:15,101 (tense music) (gunfire) 403 00:23:19,774 --> 00:23:21,649 The Allies are battling the Japanese 404 00:23:21,734 --> 00:23:23,359 on the frontlines in the Pacific. 405 00:23:24,487 --> 00:23:25,403 And behind the scenes, 406 00:23:25,488 --> 00:23:27,738 the United States is planning to strike 407 00:23:27,824 --> 00:23:29,949 at the heart of the Japanese military. 408 00:23:32,620 --> 00:23:34,078 - The United States at that time 409 00:23:34,163 --> 00:23:38,374 was just starting to plan bombing over Japan, 410 00:23:38,501 --> 00:23:41,535 but they had no idea where to bomb. 411 00:23:41,629 --> 00:23:45,673 They didn't know where the manufacturing plants were. 412 00:23:45,758 --> 00:23:48,759 They didn't know where weapons were stored. 413 00:23:48,845 --> 00:23:50,719 - [Narrator] Hoping to gain the upper hand, 414 00:23:50,847 --> 00:23:55,182 they call in the Military Intelligence Service, or MIS, 415 00:23:55,268 --> 00:23:57,551 about 6,000 Nisei soldiers 416 00:23:57,645 --> 00:24:00,396 working as linguists and translators. 417 00:24:00,523 --> 00:24:02,731 - They were sometimes called the secret weapon 418 00:24:02,859 --> 00:24:06,402 of the Pacific war because Japan did not know 419 00:24:06,529 --> 00:24:08,228 that we had American soldiers 420 00:24:08,322 --> 00:24:11,157 who could speak the Japanese language. 421 00:24:14,287 --> 00:24:17,571 - They had to master not just, of course, 422 00:24:17,665 --> 00:24:19,623 the regular vernacular terminology, 423 00:24:19,709 --> 00:24:21,742 but also a very specific script 424 00:24:21,836 --> 00:24:24,745 used by high-ranking military officers 425 00:24:24,839 --> 00:24:27,840 that is incredibly difficult to read, difficult to master. 426 00:24:28,885 --> 00:24:30,751 - [Narrator] One soldier, Kazuo Yamane, 427 00:24:30,845 --> 00:24:33,086 is particularly skilled at decoding 428 00:24:33,181 --> 00:24:35,347 secret Japanese communications. 429 00:24:38,019 --> 00:24:39,894 He had attended a university in Japan 430 00:24:39,979 --> 00:24:41,937 where he was also required to join 431 00:24:42,064 --> 00:24:44,607 the Japanese equivalent of ROTC. 432 00:24:46,694 --> 00:24:50,988 - His Japanese was very, very fluent, 433 00:24:51,073 --> 00:24:53,949 as well as familiarity with military terminology, 434 00:24:54,076 --> 00:24:55,242 which was critical. 435 00:24:58,748 --> 00:25:01,114 - [Narrator] While working at Camp Ritchie in Maryland, 436 00:25:01,209 --> 00:25:02,583 Yamane makes a discovery 437 00:25:02,668 --> 00:25:05,294 that would change the course of the war. 438 00:25:05,421 --> 00:25:08,464 - It was 15 waterlogged crates 439 00:25:09,926 --> 00:25:12,801 that were discovered by the Navy floating on the ocean. 440 00:25:13,888 --> 00:25:15,721 Navy intelligence screened it, 441 00:25:16,599 --> 00:25:19,892 labeled them no military value. 442 00:25:23,397 --> 00:25:25,105 But fortunately, his commander says, 443 00:25:25,191 --> 00:25:30,236 "Just check it over really quickly, just in case," 444 00:25:31,405 --> 00:25:33,697 and that's when he made that critical discovery. 445 00:25:33,783 --> 00:25:37,150 He opened it up, saw the table of contents, 446 00:25:37,245 --> 00:25:41,330 and realized it was the ordinance inventory 447 00:25:42,250 --> 00:25:44,458 of the Japanese Army. 448 00:25:46,629 --> 00:25:50,339 - They had the location of the depots and the armaments. 449 00:25:50,466 --> 00:25:52,049 It became the basis 450 00:25:52,134 --> 00:25:56,262 for a strategic bombing campaign of Japan. 451 00:25:57,723 --> 00:26:01,308 (airplane engine roaring) 452 00:26:06,065 --> 00:26:10,350 - They could now pinpoint the exact location 453 00:26:10,444 --> 00:26:13,529 of what they wanted to accomplish. 454 00:26:15,616 --> 00:26:18,701 (explosions booming) 455 00:26:20,788 --> 00:26:22,029 That wouldn't have been possible 456 00:26:22,123 --> 00:26:23,956 without my father's discovery. 457 00:26:25,918 --> 00:26:28,919 - [Narrator] Yamane has no idea the impact he has on the war 458 00:26:29,005 --> 00:26:32,798 until the 1970s, when the files are declassified. 459 00:26:33,926 --> 00:26:35,926 - When he was asked about his discovery, 460 00:26:36,012 --> 00:26:38,879 he always reminded people that, 461 00:26:38,973 --> 00:26:44,018 "I may have strong family ties to Japan, but I am American 462 00:26:44,854 --> 00:26:46,520 "and I have proved my loyalty, 463 00:26:46,606 --> 00:26:50,065 "just like all of the Nisei soldiers did." 464 00:26:51,819 --> 00:26:53,226 - General MacArthur said 465 00:26:53,321 --> 00:26:56,071 that never before in military history 466 00:26:56,198 --> 00:26:59,074 was an army as well-informed about the enemy 467 00:26:59,201 --> 00:27:01,234 prior to engagement. 468 00:27:01,329 --> 00:27:04,371 And truly, they were credited with helping to end the war 469 00:27:05,666 --> 00:27:08,125 years earlier than otherwise would've happened. 470 00:27:08,210 --> 00:27:10,461 - [Narrator] While the Japanese American soldiers in the MIS 471 00:27:10,546 --> 00:27:14,081 have a major impact from their bases at home, 472 00:27:14,175 --> 00:27:16,884 many are also sent on dangerous combat missions 473 00:27:16,969 --> 00:27:18,251 in the Pacific. 474 00:27:18,346 --> 00:27:20,929 - They would interrogate prisoners of war 475 00:27:21,057 --> 00:27:22,389 that were captured. 476 00:27:22,475 --> 00:27:26,426 They were asked to crawl across terrain, 477 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:28,929 eavesdrop on Japanese encampments, 478 00:27:29,023 --> 00:27:30,522 the soldiers as they talked. 479 00:27:35,237 --> 00:27:38,072 - [Narrator] Takejiro Higa is recruited into the MIS 480 00:27:38,157 --> 00:27:40,908 not only because of his language skills 481 00:27:40,993 --> 00:27:42,785 but because he spent much of his childhood 482 00:27:42,912 --> 00:27:45,079 in Okinawa, Japan. 483 00:27:56,008 --> 00:27:58,676 - He was sent to participate in the Battle of Okinawa, 484 00:27:58,761 --> 00:28:02,388 which was one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. 485 00:28:05,601 --> 00:28:07,634 During one of his interrogations, 486 00:28:07,728 --> 00:28:11,105 he came across two of his former classmates. 487 00:28:11,190 --> 00:28:15,401 - They look at me in shock, you know, and they start crying. 488 00:28:16,445 --> 00:28:18,445 "Why are you crying?" 489 00:28:18,531 --> 00:28:20,781 "Well, until now, 490 00:28:21,951 --> 00:28:24,985 "after this interrogation is over 491 00:28:25,079 --> 00:28:27,287 "and our usefulness is over, 492 00:28:27,373 --> 00:28:31,333 "you guys might take us over the hill and shoot 'em. 493 00:28:31,460 --> 00:28:33,660 "Now, knowing that our own classmates 494 00:28:33,754 --> 00:28:35,328 "are on the other side of the fence, 495 00:28:35,423 --> 00:28:37,673 "we figure our life will be saved." 496 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,094 Say, "We cry for happiness." 497 00:28:43,097 --> 00:28:44,054 That kinda hit me. 498 00:28:45,599 --> 00:28:49,017 So, three of us grabbed each other's shoulder 499 00:28:50,062 --> 00:28:52,855 and I don't mind tell you, we had a cry. 500 00:28:59,780 --> 00:29:02,689 - [Narrator] In Okinawa, it is common for even civilians 501 00:29:02,783 --> 00:29:06,193 to commit suicide when American soldiers arrive, 502 00:29:06,287 --> 00:29:07,870 believing they will be tortured. 503 00:29:09,165 --> 00:29:10,539 - [Lynn] Men like Takejiro 504 00:29:11,667 --> 00:29:13,584 who could speak the Okinawan language 505 00:29:13,669 --> 00:29:18,005 were able to coax hundreds of civilians and soldiers 506 00:29:19,133 --> 00:29:22,801 to surrender, thereby saving many, many lives. 507 00:29:24,138 --> 00:29:26,713 - [Narrator] The Nisei soldiers save not just American 508 00:29:26,807 --> 00:29:31,602 and Japanese lives, but also Jewish prisoners in Germany, 509 00:29:31,687 --> 00:29:34,813 where they witness the horrors of Hitler's regime firsthand. 510 00:29:40,362 --> 00:29:41,728 (tense music) 511 00:29:42,656 --> 00:29:44,740 - [Narrator] The Allied D-Day invasion of Normandy 512 00:29:44,867 --> 00:29:47,284 brings the US closer to victory. 513 00:29:47,369 --> 00:29:48,452 At the same time, 514 00:29:48,537 --> 00:29:52,072 the Japanese American men of the 100th Battalion 515 00:29:52,166 --> 00:29:55,667 are finally joined by their counterparts from the 442nd. 516 00:29:57,046 --> 00:29:59,755 They are given another seemingly impossible mission 517 00:29:59,882 --> 00:30:01,256 a few months later. 518 00:30:01,383 --> 00:30:05,752 - There were about 200 Texan soldiers 519 00:30:05,846 --> 00:30:09,932 that had been stuck in the Vosges mountains in France. 520 00:30:11,727 --> 00:30:15,270 - And they had become surrounded by the Germans. 521 00:30:16,482 --> 00:30:19,274 The commanding general, General Dahlquist, 522 00:30:19,401 --> 00:30:21,401 had sent unit after unit up 523 00:30:21,487 --> 00:30:23,937 to try to break through and get them out, 524 00:30:24,031 --> 00:30:27,282 and none of these other units were able to do so. 525 00:30:30,579 --> 00:30:33,455 - [Narrator] That's when the 100th/442nd is called in. 526 00:30:34,875 --> 00:30:36,750 The Nisei soldiers had been in horrific fighting 527 00:30:36,836 --> 00:30:39,286 for 10 days when they are sent to rescue 528 00:30:39,380 --> 00:30:41,672 the lost battalion of Texan soldiers. 529 00:30:41,757 --> 00:30:44,291 (tense music) 530 00:30:44,385 --> 00:30:48,461 Rudy Tokiwa remembers how he felt when he got the order. 531 00:30:48,556 --> 00:30:51,265 - If an order comes through, you gotta do it. 532 00:30:51,350 --> 00:30:53,016 So, like we always say, 533 00:30:53,102 --> 00:30:54,518 "(speaking Japanese), we do it." 534 00:30:58,399 --> 00:31:01,316 The trees in there were so damn thick 535 00:31:02,778 --> 00:31:05,145 you couldn't see a hundred feet ahead of you. 536 00:31:05,239 --> 00:31:07,364 And one of the things we had to worry about 537 00:31:07,449 --> 00:31:10,483 is the Germans would let us go in 538 00:31:10,578 --> 00:31:13,537 and then they'd close the door in back of us. 539 00:31:13,622 --> 00:31:16,156 - The men of the 442nd understood 540 00:31:16,250 --> 00:31:18,292 that this was a suicide mission. 541 00:31:18,377 --> 00:31:21,661 They understood that walking into that forest 542 00:31:21,755 --> 00:31:23,997 to do what they are being asked to do 543 00:31:24,091 --> 00:31:26,833 would mean that many of them would be injured 544 00:31:26,927 --> 00:31:29,052 and many of them would not walk out. 545 00:31:29,138 --> 00:31:30,470 But they also understood 546 00:31:30,556 --> 00:31:33,181 that the eyes of a nation were upon them. 547 00:31:34,602 --> 00:31:36,977 - They had to fight their way up the side of this mountain 548 00:31:37,062 --> 00:31:41,181 to get to this Texas unit. (guns firing) 549 00:31:41,275 --> 00:31:43,683 Rudy was wounded, like almost everybody 550 00:31:43,777 --> 00:31:45,527 that started up the mountain that day. 551 00:31:45,654 --> 00:31:49,189 It was a wound that he was able to keep fighting through, 552 00:31:49,283 --> 00:31:52,492 but he saw many of his friends cut down that day. 553 00:31:53,954 --> 00:31:56,029 - [Narrator] The men fight for six grueling days 554 00:31:56,123 --> 00:31:59,124 until they reach the Texans and rescue them, 555 00:32:01,962 --> 00:32:04,379 succeeding where so many others fail. 556 00:32:04,506 --> 00:32:06,039 - [Newsreel Reporter] Out of the jaws of death 557 00:32:06,133 --> 00:32:08,383 come infantry men of the 36th Division. 558 00:32:10,346 --> 00:32:13,213 - [Narrator] While 211 US soldiers are saved, 559 00:32:13,307 --> 00:32:14,890 it comes at a high cost. 560 00:32:15,017 --> 00:32:18,518 Over 300 Nisei soldiers are killed or wounded. 561 00:32:20,522 --> 00:32:23,223 After the rescue, General John Dahlquist 562 00:32:23,317 --> 00:32:26,193 orders the 100th/442nd to assemble. 563 00:32:27,196 --> 00:32:29,696 - But literally, there's only a fraction 564 00:32:29,782 --> 00:32:32,899 of the number of men who normally make up a regiment 565 00:32:32,993 --> 00:32:36,370 because they were wounded, they had been killed. 566 00:32:38,666 --> 00:32:41,416 - He demanded to know why everybody in the unit 567 00:32:41,543 --> 00:32:44,077 hadn't turned out for this ceremony. 568 00:32:44,171 --> 00:32:46,913 And the lieutenant colonel had to turn to him, 569 00:32:47,007 --> 00:32:49,916 and he had tears in his eyes as he said this. 570 00:32:50,010 --> 00:32:53,762 He said, "General, these are all the men I have." 571 00:32:56,517 --> 00:32:59,926 - When I think of these guys who never came home, 572 00:33:00,020 --> 00:33:04,231 it's real hard because they didn't volunteer 573 00:33:04,316 --> 00:33:07,401 because they had a country that was backing them up. 574 00:33:08,195 --> 00:33:12,572 But they volunteered for a purpose of proving themselves 575 00:33:12,658 --> 00:33:15,442 to this country that the Japanese American 576 00:33:15,536 --> 00:33:20,288 is just as good American as anybody else, if not better. 577 00:33:23,544 --> 00:33:25,585 - [Narrator] In spring 1945, 578 00:33:25,671 --> 00:33:29,464 Nisei soldiers are involved in another history-making rescue 579 00:33:29,591 --> 00:33:31,758 as they chase the Nazis into Germany. 580 00:33:31,844 --> 00:33:35,628 But for years, their part in this story is never told. 581 00:33:35,723 --> 00:33:37,964 Ed Ichiyama is a forward observer 582 00:33:38,058 --> 00:33:39,966 with the artillery unit. 583 00:33:40,060 --> 00:33:42,853 He has been in some of the war's fiercest fighting, 584 00:33:42,938 --> 00:33:44,471 saw his three friends die 585 00:33:44,565 --> 00:33:46,398 in the rescue of the Lost Battalion, 586 00:33:47,901 --> 00:33:48,808 but nothing prepares him 587 00:33:48,902 --> 00:33:51,153 for what he's about to see in Germany. 588 00:33:52,031 --> 00:33:56,316 - We're traipsing along the countryside of Dachau. 589 00:33:56,410 --> 00:34:00,320 Then all of a sudden, we came across hundreds 590 00:34:00,414 --> 00:34:02,989 and hundreds and hundreds of prisoners 591 00:34:03,083 --> 00:34:06,460 in the black-and-white prison garb, 592 00:34:06,545 --> 00:34:10,005 shaven heads, sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, 593 00:34:10,132 --> 00:34:14,509 mere skeletons roaming aimlessly around the countryside. 594 00:34:16,972 --> 00:34:20,515 - As the approach, they would see lumps in the snow, 595 00:34:20,642 --> 00:34:24,010 and they thought they were logs covered by snow 596 00:34:24,104 --> 00:34:27,481 until they got closer and they realized they weren't logs. 597 00:34:27,566 --> 00:34:29,149 They were bodies. 598 00:34:29,234 --> 00:34:31,985 (somber music) 599 00:34:32,071 --> 00:34:36,656 And what they soon realize is that what this installment was 600 00:34:36,742 --> 00:34:38,784 was a satellite of Dachau. 601 00:34:41,789 --> 00:34:43,914 - I still remember the stench, 602 00:34:43,999 --> 00:34:46,699 the stench of that concentration camp. 603 00:34:46,794 --> 00:34:48,376 Indescribable, indescribable. 604 00:34:48,504 --> 00:34:53,840 And you think to yourself, "Gee, how can a human being 605 00:34:53,926 --> 00:34:57,344 "be so inhumane to somebody, another human being?" 606 00:35:00,015 --> 00:35:02,215 - [Narrator] Ichiyama and his fellow Nisei soldiers 607 00:35:02,309 --> 00:35:05,051 help rescue about 3,000 Jewish prisoners 608 00:35:05,145 --> 00:35:07,354 from Dachau sub-camps, 609 00:35:07,439 --> 00:35:10,065 coming face to face with Hitler's Holocaust. 610 00:35:12,152 --> 00:35:13,726 - One of the greatest ironies of World War II 611 00:35:13,821 --> 00:35:15,237 happened there in Dachau 612 00:35:15,364 --> 00:35:20,033 when members of a persecuted minority, 613 00:35:20,119 --> 00:35:21,368 the Japanese Americans, 614 00:35:21,453 --> 00:35:25,071 reaching out to help members of another persecuted minority, 615 00:35:25,165 --> 00:35:27,407 the Jewish people of Europe. 616 00:35:27,501 --> 00:35:29,167 And what are our crimes? 617 00:35:30,337 --> 00:35:32,587 One for being Jewish and one for being Japanese. 618 00:35:34,466 --> 00:35:35,799 - [Narrator] This unique connection 619 00:35:35,884 --> 00:35:37,926 lasts their entire lives. 620 00:35:42,724 --> 00:35:47,144 - After the war, they would have mini reunions 621 00:35:47,229 --> 00:35:50,930 where they would link up with some of the Jewish survivors 622 00:35:51,024 --> 00:35:52,899 that they had liberated. 623 00:35:52,985 --> 00:35:56,436 They were called sushi and bagel reunions. 624 00:35:56,530 --> 00:36:00,073 It had a profound, lasting, 625 00:36:00,159 --> 00:36:04,452 deeply impactful effect 626 00:36:04,580 --> 00:36:08,248 on those guys that saw man's inhumanity to man. 627 00:36:09,585 --> 00:36:10,625 Real inhumanity. 628 00:36:13,755 --> 00:36:15,788 - [Narrator] Just over a week after the liberation 629 00:36:15,883 --> 00:36:18,175 of Dachau, the Nazis are defeated. 630 00:36:18,260 --> 00:36:21,553 - The flags of freedom fly all over Europe. 631 00:36:23,891 --> 00:36:26,132 - [Narrator] On May 8th, 1945, 632 00:36:26,226 --> 00:36:29,060 the Allies officially declare victory in Europe. 633 00:36:30,105 --> 00:36:32,689 But as the Nisei soldiers return home, 634 00:36:32,774 --> 00:36:35,483 they discover their fight is not yet over. 635 00:36:41,783 --> 00:36:43,816 (suspenseful music) 636 00:36:43,911 --> 00:36:45,485 - [Narrator] The war abroad is over 637 00:36:45,579 --> 00:36:48,914 and the Nisei soldiers return home to the US. 638 00:36:53,587 --> 00:36:56,213 - They were welcomed back on the White House lawn 639 00:36:56,298 --> 00:36:58,340 by President Harry Truman. 640 00:36:58,467 --> 00:37:01,668 And he said to them, "You fought not only the enemy 641 00:37:01,762 --> 00:37:04,512 "but prejudice, and you won." 642 00:37:06,475 --> 00:37:11,353 They came back as heroes, as winners. 643 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:16,182 But they were seen as Japanese 644 00:37:16,276 --> 00:37:19,027 and, by some, as Japs. 645 00:37:19,154 --> 00:37:21,071 - [Narrator] Despite their sacrifices, 646 00:37:21,156 --> 00:37:24,866 many Japanese Americans continue to face prejudice, 647 00:37:25,911 --> 00:37:27,744 like the Masudas. 648 00:37:27,829 --> 00:37:30,497 Their son, Kazuo, served with the 442nd 649 00:37:30,582 --> 00:37:33,083 while his family was incarcerated. 650 00:37:33,168 --> 00:37:35,201 He died fighting for his country, 651 00:37:35,295 --> 00:37:39,047 and still his family is not welcomed home after the war. 652 00:37:42,177 --> 00:37:45,095 - You were met with nothing but hate speech, 653 00:37:45,180 --> 00:37:46,879 threats of bodily harm. 654 00:37:46,974 --> 00:37:49,716 The Army realized that this was a PR fiasco, 655 00:37:49,810 --> 00:37:52,227 that one of its own fallen heroes, 656 00:37:52,354 --> 00:37:55,221 his own family couldn't even move back home. 657 00:37:55,315 --> 00:37:58,233 So, they sent out a contingent of Army officers 658 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,569 to have a medal ceremony for the Masuda family. 659 00:38:02,656 --> 00:38:04,063 - [Narrator] Later, a young captain 660 00:38:04,157 --> 00:38:06,408 gives a moving speech to the crowd. 661 00:38:06,535 --> 00:38:08,910 - [Ronald] Blood that has soaked into the sands of a beach 662 00:38:09,037 --> 00:38:10,662 is all of one color. 663 00:38:13,292 --> 00:38:16,084 - And it's the story of the Masuda family's sacrifice 664 00:38:16,211 --> 00:38:17,910 that, decades later, 665 00:38:18,005 --> 00:38:20,755 will begin to right the wrongs of World War II. 666 00:38:22,634 --> 00:38:26,753 - 40 years after the war, in the late-'80s, 667 00:38:26,847 --> 00:38:30,757 there is a bill working its way through the US Congress. 668 00:38:30,851 --> 00:38:32,925 - HR 442, an act to- 669 00:38:33,020 --> 00:38:33,977 - A bill that would provide 670 00:38:34,062 --> 00:38:37,439 a presidential apology and monetary reparations 671 00:38:37,566 --> 00:38:40,108 for Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated 672 00:38:40,235 --> 00:38:41,276 during World War II. 673 00:38:44,531 --> 00:38:46,740 - [Narrator] Rudy Tokiwa and the Nisei soldiers 674 00:38:46,825 --> 00:38:50,109 are part of the movement to get the bill passed by Congress, 675 00:38:50,203 --> 00:38:54,113 a huge feat, but it still needs the president's signature. 676 00:38:54,207 --> 00:38:55,615 - The president of the United States 677 00:38:55,709 --> 00:38:57,784 was none other than Ronald Reagan, 678 00:38:57,878 --> 00:38:59,502 whose own administration 679 00:38:59,588 --> 00:39:02,288 had been fighting against the redress bill, 680 00:39:02,382 --> 00:39:05,800 both in the courts as well as in the legislature. 681 00:39:05,927 --> 00:39:08,678 So, many of us, myself included, 682 00:39:08,764 --> 00:39:11,639 felt there was no way on God's green earth 683 00:39:11,767 --> 00:39:14,184 that Ronald Reagan would sign 684 00:39:14,269 --> 00:39:16,644 this particular piece of legislation. 685 00:39:18,065 --> 00:39:20,857 - [Narrator] But then the president is reminded 686 00:39:20,942 --> 00:39:23,526 of his personal connection to the Masuda family, 687 00:39:23,612 --> 00:39:25,987 as he was the young captain who gave the speech 688 00:39:26,114 --> 00:39:28,031 all those years ago. 689 00:39:28,116 --> 00:39:30,983 - My fellow Americans, we gather here today 690 00:39:31,078 --> 00:39:33,986 to right a grave wrong. (audience applauding) 691 00:39:34,081 --> 00:39:36,823 - President Ronald Reagan apologized 692 00:39:36,917 --> 00:39:38,666 on behalf of the American people 693 00:39:39,795 --> 00:39:43,380 and officially signed the Civil Liberties Act. 694 00:39:43,465 --> 00:39:45,632 America was made whole. 695 00:39:45,717 --> 00:39:50,670 Its ideals were made true. 696 00:39:50,764 --> 00:39:54,140 - [Narrator] And yet racism also prevents the Nisei soldiers 697 00:39:54,226 --> 00:39:57,310 from being truly recognized for their own heroism 698 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:00,647 for more than 50 years. 699 00:40:01,817 --> 00:40:05,026 (audience applauding) 700 00:40:10,826 --> 00:40:12,158 - Hajiro. 701 00:40:12,244 --> 00:40:13,118 Hayashi. 702 00:40:14,121 --> 00:40:15,203 Inouye. 703 00:40:15,330 --> 00:40:18,581 - [Narrator] In 2000, 20 Japanese American soldiers 704 00:40:18,667 --> 00:40:22,702 from World War II are finally awarded the Medal of Honor, 705 00:40:22,796 --> 00:40:24,421 the nation's highest award. 706 00:40:24,506 --> 00:40:27,966 - The 100th Battalion/442nd, as a unit, 707 00:40:29,010 --> 00:40:32,011 for its time and service and its size 708 00:40:32,097 --> 00:40:33,546 is not one of the most, 709 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:39,218 it's the most decorated unit in the Army history 710 00:40:39,312 --> 00:40:41,855 and in military history of this country. 711 00:40:41,940 --> 00:40:44,223 - [Narrator] But the legacy of the Nisei soldiers 712 00:40:44,317 --> 00:40:47,727 of World War II lasts long after they are gone. 713 00:40:47,821 --> 00:40:52,064 - They said, "We have shed our blood on the battlefield 714 00:40:52,159 --> 00:40:54,909 "and we have proven our loyalty, 715 00:40:55,036 --> 00:40:56,402 "and we're no longer willing 716 00:40:56,496 --> 00:40:59,289 "to be second-class citizens anymore." 717 00:40:59,374 --> 00:41:02,074 They went into business, they went into law, 718 00:41:02,169 --> 00:41:05,044 they became politicians. 719 00:41:06,631 --> 00:41:09,048 - Sakae Takahashi co-founds a bank 720 00:41:09,134 --> 00:41:12,218 to serve the needs of Japanese Americans 721 00:41:12,304 --> 00:41:15,680 and joins the push for Hawaiian statehood in 1959, 722 00:41:16,850 --> 00:41:19,091 eventually serving as a state senator. 723 00:41:19,186 --> 00:41:20,894 - [Narrator] Hawaii's half-century-old request 724 00:41:20,979 --> 00:41:22,604 for statehood is granted. 725 00:41:23,690 --> 00:41:24,597 - [Narrator] Daniel Inouye becomes 726 00:41:24,691 --> 00:41:27,567 the first Japanese American in Congress 727 00:41:27,652 --> 00:41:30,445 and the second-longest-serving senator in history. 728 00:41:32,699 --> 00:41:36,108 - I think it's fair to say that Danny Inouye 729 00:41:36,203 --> 00:41:40,622 was perhaps my earliest political inspiration. 730 00:41:42,375 --> 00:41:43,958 - We are an imperfect nation. 731 00:41:44,085 --> 00:41:48,338 The Nisei soldiers who fought, died, and bled, 732 00:41:48,423 --> 00:41:52,959 their families who persevered in those horrible camps, 733 00:41:53,053 --> 00:41:55,595 they, in a sense, redeemed us. 734 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:59,307 - [Man] You volunteered because you wanted to prove 735 00:41:59,434 --> 00:42:03,686 that Americanism is a matter of the mind and the heart. 736 00:42:03,772 --> 00:42:06,973 - There's been a rising tide of outright violence 737 00:42:07,067 --> 00:42:11,945 directed at Asians and Asian Americans in this country. 738 00:42:12,030 --> 00:42:15,865 And I think it's vitally important 739 00:42:15,951 --> 00:42:20,653 that Americans more broadly begin to understand 740 00:42:20,747 --> 00:42:25,500 the contributions that all these different groups have made 741 00:42:25,627 --> 00:42:28,628 to the fabric of this society. 742 00:42:28,713 --> 00:42:32,340 (reverent uplifting music) 743 00:42:33,468 --> 00:42:36,302 - The story of the Nisei soldiers of World War II 744 00:42:36,388 --> 00:42:39,681 is a story that belongs to all Americans. 745 00:42:39,808 --> 00:42:42,684 It's not just a great Japanese American story, 746 00:42:42,811 --> 00:42:44,844 it's a great American story. 747 00:42:44,938 --> 00:42:47,346 It's the story of sons of immigrants 748 00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:52,351 who came and who made this their nation beyond dispute. 749 00:42:52,445 --> 00:42:55,321 And it is a reminder of the very best 750 00:42:55,407 --> 00:42:59,367 of what America can produce, regardless of one's background.