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The 442nd Infantry Regiment (Japanese: 第442歩兵連隊) was an infantry regiment of the United States Army.The regiment including the 100th Infantry Battalion is best known as the most decorated in U.S. military history, [4] and as a fighting unit composed almost entirely of second-generation American soldiers of Japanese ancestry who fought in World War II.
The banzai charge is considered to be one method of gyokusai (玉砕, "shattered jewel"; honorable suicide), a suicide attack, or suicide before being captured by the enemy such as seppuku. [5] The origin of the term is a classical Chinese phrase in the 7th-century Book of Northern Qi , which states " 丈夫玉碎恥甎全 ", "A true man would ...
Of the 24 Asian-American awardees, 21 earned the Medal while serving with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team or its component unit, the 100th Infantry Battalion, making the 442nd the most decorated regiment-sized unit of the war. [19]
The 442nd RCT was inactivated in Honolulu in 1946, but reactivated in 1947 in the U.S. Army Reserve. It was mobilized in 1968 to refill the Strategic Reserve during the Vietnam War, and carries on the honors and traditions of the unit. Today, the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, is the only ground combat unit of the Army Reserve. [39]
The 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team would become the most decorated unit of the war for its size and length of service. The 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd together earned seven Presidential Unit Citations, two Meritorious Service Plaques, 36 Army Commendation Medals, and 87 Division Commendations.
Attu is the only land battle in which Japanese and American forces fought in snowy conditions, in contrast with the tropical climate in the rest of the Pacific. The battle ended when most of the Japanese defenders were killed in brutal hand-to-hand combat after a final banzai charge broke through American lines.
The Varsity Victory Volunteers (Japanese: 大学勝利奉仕団, [3] [4] Daigaku Shōri Hōshidan) was a civilian sapper unit composed of Japanese-Americans from Hawaii.The VVV was a major stepping stone in the creation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which would end up becoming the most decorated regiment in United States armed forces history.
A large banzai charge was made at 03:00 and met with some success, killing 45 Americans and wounding 128. [33] With support from the destroyers Schroeder and Sigsbee, the Marines killed 325 Japanese attackers. [33] At 04:00 the Japanese attacked Major Jones' 1st Battalion, 6th Marines in force.