{"id":1935,"date":"2025-06-12T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/?p=1935"},"modified":"2026-01-05T22:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T05:23:07","slug":"100th-infantry-battalion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/100th-infantry-battalion\/","title":{"rendered":"100th Infantry Battalion"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The best recruits the commander had seen in 45 years were the enemy aliens.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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June 12, 1942: The all-Japanese American 100th Infantry Battalion was officially activated.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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They were Japanese Americans. Loyal to the United States. Born in Hawaii. Eager to serve. And yet, they were labeled \u201cenemy aliens\u201d by their own government.<\/p>\n

In the months following Pearl Harbor<\/a>, many of these young Nisei men were already doing what they could to help. Some pulled civilians from wreckage. Others dug through debris for survivors. They joined emergency services, guarded infrastructure, or enlisted wherever they could. But the official stance of the U.S. War Department was clear: people of Japanese ancestry could not be trusted.<\/p>\n

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At the time of Pearl Harbor, about 600 Japanese Americans were already training at Schofield Barracks in central O\u02bbahu, image courtesy of Lorraine Cross<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Hawaiian Provisional Battalion, Honolulu, 1942, credit 100th Clubhouse<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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A replica of 100th Infantry Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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For months, they were turned away from military service. Even those already in uniform were sidelined. Some were reassigned to labor units. Others faced suspicion or hostility from fellow soldiers.<\/p>

But Japanese Americans kept volunteering. Kept asking to serve. Kept showing up. Eventually, that persistence cracked the prejudice.<\/p>

A proposal emerged in Hawaii: what if a separate unit could be formed, made entirely of Nisei soldiers? It was a gamble \u2014 a way to test their loyalty without \u201crisking\u201d white troops. The War Department agreed. The 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) was born.<\/p>

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The first group was 1,432 men, all of Japanese descent. Most had been part of the Hawaii National Guard. They were shipped off to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, for training, far from home.<\/p>

What happened next shocked even the Army brass.<\/p>

These undersized men trained harder than anyone. Ran longer. Marched farther. Outperformed every unit around them. Lieutenant General Charles D. Herron, commander of the U.S. Army\u2019s Hawaiian Department, remarked they were the best recruits he’d seen in 45 years of service.<\/p>

They didn\u2019t do it for medals. They did it because they had something to prove. Something to fight for.<\/p>

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Bayonet training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. For the Nisei soldiers of the 100th Infantry Battalion, this wasn\u2019t just about combat \u2014 it was about proving they belonged.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Lieutenant General Mark Clark and C.G. Fifth Army and Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal inspect troops from the 100th Infantry Battalion, Leghorn, Italy<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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The logo and motto \u201cRemember Pearl Harbor\u201d of the 100th Infantry Battalion, credit U.S. National Archives<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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The Purple Heart Medal, credit The National WWII Museum, New Orleans<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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German storm troopers surrender to 100th Infantry Battalion, Italy, 1944<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Undersecretary of War Robert Patterson congratulates Lt. Masanao Otake, credit Library of Congress<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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They called themselves the \u201cRemember Pearl Harbor\u201d Battalion. But the name they earned on the battlefield would be even more lasting: the \u201cPurple Heart Battalion.\u201d<\/p>

Their bravery would lead to the formation of another Nisei unit \u2014 the 442nd Regimental Combat Team<\/a> \u2014 and together, they would become the most decorated military unit of its size and length of service in U.S. history.<\/p>

The Germans were tough. So was prejudice. But these men were even tougher.<\/p>

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Share this article<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 100th Infantry Battalion began as a segregated unit of Japanese Americans who were treated as \u201cenemy aliens,\u201d yet went on to become one of the most celebrated fighting forces of World War II. Their courage, discipline, and sacrifice helped change the nation\u2019s understanding of loyalty and belonging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[38,31,248,36,94,6,250,32,15],"class_list":["post-1935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-100th-infantry-battalion","tag-civil-rights","tag-civil-rights-activism","tag-go-for-broke","tag-hidden-story","tag-japanese-american-history","tag-military-war","tag-quiet-americans","tag-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1935"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6740,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935\/revisions\/6740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}