History of the 442nd
The 442nd was a regimental combat team of the US Army during World War II. Most of the troops, except for the officers, were Japanese-American. On October 24, 1944, the 1st Battalion, 141st Regiment, 36th Division, commonly known as the “Texas Battalion”, was surrounded by German forces. They were considered difficult to rescue, and began to be called the “Lost Battalion”. On October 25, the 2nd Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, was ordered to wait, and on the 26th, the rescue order was given, and the unit was deployed. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, not having had enough rest, engaged in fierce fighting with the German forces waiting for them in the Vosges Forest.
On October 30, they finally succeeded in rescuing the Texas Battalion. However, in rescuing the 211 men of the Texas Battalion, 56 men of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (12 from the 2nd Battalion at Hill 617, 3 from the Regimental Headquarters, 11 from the 100th Infantry Battalion, and 30 from the 3rd Battalion) were killed and about 800 wounded in what would later be counted as one of the U.S. Army’s ten greatest battles.Deployed to the European theater, the unit replenished troops lost in Benevento and headed for Rome, but was ordered to stop just before Rome due to the wishes of the military high command, and white units such as the 1st Special Task Force entered Rome on July 4, 1944, and took the honor of liberating Rome. In the end, the unit was not allowed to enter Rome and was ordered to advance north, bypassing Rome. The reorganized 442nd was transferred to Italy and deployed to the 92nd Division, which was mainly made up of black soldiers known as the “Buffalo Soldiers,” on the German defense line known as the “Gothic Line.” The unit achieved the feat of capturing the front line, which had been stalemated for six months, in just 30 minutes, and the war ended there. After the war with France, the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, which was under his command, invaded Germany and liberated the Dachau concentration camp near Munich after fighting the German army. However, the fact that the Japanese-American unit liberated the concentration camp was not made public until 1992. They fought bravely against the Axis powers. They are also known as the unit that has received the most medals in the history of the United States.
