Existing comment:
At the outset of the war, most Japanese Americans were considered ineligible to serve in the U.S. military. Masaharu Saito received this notice from his local draft board informing him that he was classified 4C -- an "alien" designation, despite his citizenship. By 1943, as the military struggled to fill quotas, Saito and other Japanese Americans were deemed eligible to serve.
The Army initially issued members of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team a racially insensitive insignia with a yellow hand wielding a bloody sword. They objected and designed a new insignia featuring a torch of liberty.
In 1944, the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat team was attached to the all-white 34th Infantry Division, known as the "red devils" or "red bulls." After only a month of fighting together, members of the 34th recognized the Japanese American soldiers by inviting them to wear their insignia. |