Today’s “immigrant” activism typically revolves around burning the American flag, waving the flag of one’s country of origin, and generally hating on the United States of America. Led on by far-left agitators, illegal aliens unleash immense amounts of hate for the country they supposedly want to become part of.
This is something to which I simply cannot relate: I am an immigrant of mixed Korean and Japanese descent, and joined the U.S. Army in the aftermath of 9/11. Like Desi Arnaz, who fled Cuba after the 1933 revolution, I am grateful for the opportunities and prosperity this nation has offered me. I could not imagine burning this flag, and have little in common with those who do.
Amid the flag burning illegal aliens of today, the story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team is one that must be told. The 442nd was a unit of “Nisei”, or second-generation Japanese-Americans born in the United States. They would go on to become the most decorated unit in United States Army history.
Many of the soldiers of the 442nd enlisted directly out of the internment camps for Japanese Americans in WWII. Take a moment and let that sink in: These men, who were treated manifestly unfairly by the U.S. Government, did not riot. They didn’t demand equality or act like modern wokesters in the street. Instead, they raised their right hands and swore loyalty to the nation that had violated their rights, protected by the Fifth Amendment.
Image: Public domain.
The mere act of enlisting from an internment camp would be a story by itself. However, the 442nd would later earn its place as the most decorated unit in the history of the U.S. Army.
In October 1944, the 36th Infantry Division (Texas), nicknamed “The Alamo” division, would soon have their own version of the Alamo in the Vosges Mountains of eastern France. The 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, was conducting offensive operations when they found themselves flanked and surrounded on three sides by over 6,000 German troops (note: this unit had about 300 men at the time).
Attempts by the 141st’s two other battalions failed, as the fight was up a ridge, forcing troops to advance directly into the mouth of German defenses. Despite their efforts, the 141st was unable to rescue its 1st battalion.
After several days of fighting as bravely as their namesake at the Alamo, the 1st Bn was running low on ammunition, food, and medical supplies. Attempts to airdrop these items mostly fell on German positions.
The 442nd RCT was coming off combat operations and expected 5 days to rest and recover. However, the trapped “Lost Battalion” would dictate this be cut short. The 442nd advanced, determined to rescue the Lost Battalion and prove their worth as Americans.
While their families were suffering in internment camps, the men of the 442nd charged directly into the mouth of the German defensive positions. This was just as dangerous as it was in WWI.
From the Densho Encyclopedia:
Finally, six days after the Texans were surrounded, the Nisei approached from two sides, pushed back the German troops, and drew near the Lost Battalion. At some points during the battle the Nisei had been outnumbered by as many as four to one; one particular hill that witnessed a fierce bayonet charge led by Private Barney Hajiro came to be known as ‘Suicide Hill’ due to the casualty rate of the advancing troops. According to Pfc. Ichigi Kashiwagi of K Company, ‘We yelled our heads off and charged and shot the head off everything that moved... we didn't care anymore... we acted like a bunch of savages.’ Companies I and K of the 3rd Battalion emerged with only seventeen and eight infantrymen respectively and both were led by sergeants because all higher ranking officers and non-commissioned officers had been killed or wounded.
Later, when the 442nd was called to formation by General Dahlquist, the general was shocked at the small number of troops assembled and demanded to know where the rest of the unit was.
“That’s all that’s left,” replied the unit commander.
Meanwhile, today’s “immigrant” activists are busy burning the American flag:
Image: X video screen grab.
America is not perfect. Anyone who makes that claim is acting as an agent of Satan: There is no perfection outside of God. What the Americans of the 442nd did eliminated any hyphens from their classification. They didn’t do it because America was a perfect nation. They joined the Army and fought fanatically for the red, white, and blue because they knew what the Founding Fathers had built in the New World.
I was brought to the New World by adoptive parents. I often say that “I won the lottery of life,” or more accurately, God let his blessings fall abundantly the moment my parents signed the paperwork. To burn the flag of this country is an anathema. The men of the 442nd accepted humility, to be commanded by white officers in a segregated unit while their families were being treated worse than the blacks under Jim Crow laws. They became the most decorated unit in U.S. Army history, earning 21 Medals of Honor and over 10,000 Purple Hearts.