[September 6, 2017] Greatness comes in many forms; as well as leadership exhibiting courage, sacrifice, and honor. Many words of prominence have also described the heroic efforts of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II and rightly so. Their motto … Go for Broke.1
“The Nisei troops are among the best in the United States Army and the respect and appreciation due honorable, loyal, and courageous soldiers should be their’s rather than the scorn and ridicule they have been receiving from some thoughtless and uninformed citizens and veterans.” – Major General E.M. “Ned” Almond.
General Almond’s comments are from a man who, during the war, had a low opinion of African-American soldiers and Asian peoples.2 The praise of the 442nd soldiers is especially noteworthy in the light of this.
The 442nd was a U.S. Army unit comprised of Japanese Americans (aka Nisei) from Hawaii and mainland America. I could not find the origin of the motto – “Go for Broke” – but it certainly was well selected; the soldiers of the 442nd were to fight the Nazi war machine in Europe as well as prejudice and discrimination at the same time.
The 4,000 men who initially made up the unit in April 1943 had to be replaced 2.5 times. The 442nd Regiment was the most decorated unit of its size and length of service in the history of American warfare; of 14,000 who served, they earned 9,486 Purple Hearts, eight Presidential Unit Citations, and 21 awarded the Medal of Honor.3
In October of 1944, the Go for Broke soldiers were ordered to attempt the rescue of the “Lost Battalion” that had been cut off by the German army. Despite rainfall mixed with snow, cold, mud, fatigue, trench foot, and enemy shells exploding all around, the Nisei soldiers fought for several days to rescue the lost battalion and only after receiving over 800 casualties.
Japanese-Americans serving in the 442nd and their honorable service resulted in the easing of restrictions and the eventual release, before the end of WWII, of the 120,000 community held in detainment camps throughout the U.S. Another notable effect of the 442nd’s service was it helped convince the U.S. Congress to end its opposition towards Hawaii’s statehood petition.
After the war, the unit was initially inactivated and then later reactivated as a U.S. Army Reserve unit. Today it is the only ground combat unit remaining in the Army Reserve and its headquarters is stationed at Ft. Shafter, Hawaii. I had the honor of serving with some of these troops in Iraq 2004-2005.
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- The motto was derived from a gambler’s slang used in Hawaii to ‘go for broke,’ which meant the player was risking it all in one effort to win big. The player would put everything on the line. See the National Education Center’s website on the unit: http://www.goforbroke.org/learn/history/military_units/442nd.php
- The Effect of Racism on Decisions in War: https://www.theleadermaker.com/the-effect-of-racism-on-decisions-in-war/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)