Seven Japanese American soldiers are being promoted to officer ranks in a solemn ceremony Monday, eight decades after they died fighting for the US during World War II despite having been branded "enemy aliens." The seven were students at the University of Hawaii and cadets in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, on track to become Army officers, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. They initially served in the Hawaii Territorial Guard, but soon after the attack the US barred most Japanese Americans from service and deemed them enemy aliens, the AP reports.
- The seven cadets instead worked with a civilian labor battalion known as "Varsity Victory Volunteers," which performed tasks such as digging ditches and breaking rocks, until American leaders in early 1943 announced the formation of a segregated Japanese American regiment. The seven were among those who joined the unit, known as the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
- The combat team, along with the 100th battalion comprised of mostly Japanese Americans from Hawaii, went on to become one of the most decorated units in US history. Some of its soldiers fought for the Allies even as their relatives were detained in Japanese American internment camps because they were considered a public danger.
- "It is important for us to really kind of give back and recognize our forefathers and these veterans that we stand on the shoulders of," said 1st Sgt. Nakoa Hoe of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Regiment, what the unit is now known as in the Army Reserve. He noted that the once-segregated unit now includes a "multitude of cultures." The seven "sacrificed so much at a challenging time when their loyalty to their country was questioned and they even had family members imprisoned," he added.
- The seven men—Daniel Betsui, Jenhatsu Chinen, Robert Murata, Grover Nagaji, Akio Nishikawa, Hiroichi Tomita, and Howard Urabe—died fighting in Europe in 1944. All but Murata were killed during the campaign to liberate Italy from Nazi Germany. Murata was killed by an artillery shell in eastern France. They will be promoted Monday to 2nd lieutenant, the rank they would have had if they completed the ROTC program. Relatives of at least some of the men are expected to attend the ceremony, scheduled to be held in a Honolulu park. Even though Hawaii was not yet a state, the cadets were American citizens because they were born in Hawaii after its annexation in 1898.
"Fighting an injustice at home, these seven men later gave their lives fighting on the battlefields of Europe," said a news release from US Army Pacific. "They were unable to return to school and finish their commissioning efforts." The university awarded the men posthumous degrees in 2012. Monday's ceremony capping efforts to honor the men comes amid growing concern and criticism that President Trump's administration is whitewashing American history ahead of the nation celebrating 250 years of its independence, including last week's removal of an exhibit on slavery at Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park, the AP reports.
Last year, the Pentagon said internet pages honoring a Black Medal of Honor winner and Japanese American service members were mistakenly taken down—but it staunchly defended its overall campaign to strip out content singling out the contributions by women and minority groups, which the Trump administration considers "DEI." Honoring the seven isn't about DEI—diversity, equity and inclusion—but recognizing them for their merit and that "they served in the ultimate capacity of giving their lives for the country," said Lt. Col. Jerrod Melander, who previously led the University of Hawaii's ROTC program as professor of military science.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
