HONOLULU — There are about a dozen surviving veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion in Hawai‘i.
On June 12, exactly 80 years after the unit’s official formation, 100th Battalion descendents and other supporters honored the One Puka Puka, as the unit was known, with visits to the homes of several veterans.
“As we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the 100th Infantry Battalion’s formation, we honor your service and recommit ourselves to become a nation worthy of your sacrifice,” President Joe Biden wrote in a letter to the battalion’s surviving veterans, many of whom are close to 100 years in age.
Each of the visited 100th veterans received gifts and congratulatory certificates from Biden, Gov. David Ige, whose father was a member of the 100th Infantry Battalion, the state Legislature and Hawai‘i’s congressional delegation.
The 100th Battalion was originally comprised of Nisei, or second-generation Japanese Americans. As soldiers from Hawai‘i, they were formed as a segregated unit on June 12, 1942, against a backdrop of distrust and animosity.
Despite facing prejudice and discrimination because of their Japanese ancestry, these homegrown heroes went to war to prove their loyalty to America, the country of their birth, states a release from the 100th Infantry Battalion’s 80th Anniversary Commemoration Committee, the group of descendants and supporters of the 100th Infantry Battalion.
“We will never be able to thank these heroes enough for their courage and sacrifice,” said Tsurumi Hamasu, a 100th descendant and co-chair of the commemoration committee.
“After fighting in the war, these men came back to fight for equality and justice here in our islands. We are all beneficiaries of their contributions to transform Hawai‘i’s cultural, social, political and business landscape,” said Hamasu.
The 100th Battalion earned the moniker “The Purple Heart Battalion” because of the high number of casualties it suffered in its first five months in battle in Italy.
“The 100th Infantry Battalion helped pave the way for the creation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team,” said Lynn Heirakuji, president of the Nisei Veterans Legacy, a Hawai‘i nonprofit organization that strives to preserve the legacy of all Japanese American soldiers who served in World War II.
“The contributions of all of the Japanese American soldiers who served in WWII influenced President Harry Truman’s decision to issue Executive Order 9981 in 1948, banning racially segregated units in America’s armed forces.”
Eighty years following the departure of these island sons in the dark of night on June 5, 1945, Hawai‘i News Now will rebroadcast “One PukaPuka,” that highlights the experiences of the 100th Infantry Battalion during its first nine months of combat in Italy, when it was the only Japanese American military unit fighting in Europe.
The two-hour documentary was written, produced and narrated by the late KGMB news anchor and reporter Bob Jones, and first aired in 1992 on the 50th anniversary of the 100th Battalion’s formation. It will be shown again for the first time in 30 years as a tribute to Jones and the 100th Battalion veterans.
Air times are 7 p.m. on K5 Thursday, June 16, KGMB on Saturday, June 18 at 7 p.m., and on KHNL Sunday, June 19 at 3 p.m.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
