The size of the racial divide in the United States is still a matter of debate almost 250 years after the founding of the nation. Even service in the US Military has been segregated for most of the nation’s history. It took President Harry S. Truman in 1948 to officially desegregate the armed forces. Up until that time, Americans of any race other than white served in units made up of people of the same race. White officers served over those units. That was true even of frontline, battlefield, combat troops in World War 2.
The 442nd Regimental Combat Unit was one such outfit. While the non-commissioned officers were of a minority race, the officers were, as usual, white. They were part of the troops who participated in the liberation of France and the pursuit of the German Nazi troops across France, then into western Germany, and finally into the Nazi heartland in 1944 and ’45. In the months of fighting, the unit was one of the most decorated for what it did and the amount of time it served in combat. It was the fall of ’44 when the 442nd was tasked with a special mission that many military historians still talk about.
The unit was part of the 36th Infantry Division, and part of that same division was made up of the 141st Regiment, a group mostly comprised of Texans from that state’s National Guard. And, they were an all-white unit. It seems that these same Texans found themselves completely surrounded by Germans after a counterattack had cut off the Texans’ route of retreat. At first, other elements of the 141st tried to reconnect with the Texans, but the Germans kept them at bay. Some of the surrounded men sent out a small detachment to see if they could break through, but this effort, too, was thwarted.
The 442nd was ordered to break through the German lines and “rescue” the Texas regiment. The issue for the 442nd was that they had been engaged in heavy fighting on one flank of the 141st for some days, and they were fatigued. However, knowing that their fellow Americans were in danger of being annihilated, the segregated unit accepted the challenge of re-connecting the Texans with the rest of the US Army. After three days of heavy fighting, the last day culminating in a fixed-bayonet charge up a steep, well fortified hill, the 442nd ended the German encirclement and relieved the 141st. The first message relayed to the 442nd from the happy Texans was, “Tell the 442nd we love them!”
Two weeks later, the commanding general officer of the regiment ordered a review of the troops. When the 442nd assembled, he turned to his First Officer and said, “Where are the rest of them?” The answer shocked him. “That’s all that’s left, sir,” was the reply. Over 800 killed, wounded, and missing were reported. Five of the unit were given Medals of Honor. General George Marshall and President Truman after the war gave the entire regiment commendations and ribbons. And, in the 1960s, Texas Governor John Connelly made the 442nd Regiment, to a man, Honorary Texans for their rescue of the Texas troops in October 1944, the only minority and segregated unit to receive such recognition.
What makes this story even more interesting is the fact that the entire 442nd Regiment–except for the officers, of course–was made up of troops of Japanese ancestry, most of them from Hawai’i.
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