Episode 72: Japanese-American GI’s in WWII – The 442nd Regimental Combat Team
Sunday, August 22, 2021
Our guest is Daniel James Brown, author of Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American. Here are some other titles.
Go For Broke: A Pictorial History of the Japanese American 100th Infantry BN and 442nd RCT, Chester Tanaka – A wonderful visual record of the most highly decorated American combat unit of World War 2. There are approximately 200 photographs and several maps that highlight the amazing combat record of this Japanese American unit.
The Eagles of Heart Mountain: A True Story of Football, Incarceration and Resistance in World War II America, Bradford Pearson – A fascinating-and moving-story of a high school football team made up of Japanese American boys who were interned by their government. Gives good insight into what was done to these American citizens and how, despite everything, they kept their dignity and remained patriots.
Honor Before Glory: The Epic World War II Story of the Japanese American GIs Who Rescued the Lost Battalion, Scott McGaugh – In October 1944, approximately 200 GIs from the 36th “Texas” Infantry Division were cut off and facing annihilation in the mountains of eastern France. The only thing that stood in the way of death or a POW camp were the men of the 442nd RCT.
Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in a Japanese American Internment Camp, Mary Matsuda Gruenwald – One young woman’s account of her time in an internment camp. Gruenwald was 16 when she was locked up and her account details the day to day lives of these American citizens who unexpectedly and unfairly found themselves behind barbed wire.