A | More | Perfect | Union -- Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution
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Service

Some 25,000 Japanese Americans served in U.S. military units during World War II. The valor of these Americans, many of whom had family and friends living behind barbed wire, was extraordinary. Their combat record aided the post-war acceptance of Japanese Americans in American society and helped many people to recognize the injustice of wartime internment.


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The 100th and 442nd Battalions

Within two months of the attack on Pearl Harbor, all American citizens of Japanese ancestry had been discharged... More
Soldier's life

"First and foremost, they were Americans. They were like other American GIs..."More
Millitary Intelligence and Translation

Like the Nisei who fought with the 100th/442nd in Europe, some 5,000 Japanese-Americans became Military Intelligence... More
Honors

Never numbering more than 4,500 men, the 100th/442nd consisted of extraordinarily aggressive fighters... More
Ironies of service

During the war, a gold star sewn on a service flag meant that a family member had been killed in service... More
Overview | IMMIGRATION | REMOVAL | INTERNMENT | LOYALTY | SERVICE | JUSTICE
SERVICE: 100th and 442nd | Soldier's Life | Millitary Intelligence and Translation | Honors and Awards | Ironies of Service
Smithsonian - National Museum of American History - Behring Center
FLASH 5 RICH MEDIA VERSION