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    • Jan 5, 2023

100th Infantry Battalion Resources

Please contact the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans Education Center at info@100thbattalion.org for assistance with including the 100th Infantry Battalion in your publications or projects. The following is a list of suggested resources on the 100th Infantry Battalion.



 

100th Infantry Battalion Veterans Education Center:

 

100th Infantry Battalion Veterans (Club 100) Puka Puka Parade Newsletter:


Archives of what has been called the "club's organ" — First issued in April 1946 by the veteran members of Club 100, and in continuous publication since. Documents the post-war history of the organization, incorporated as Club 100 in December 1945, with articles written by the veterans, their wives and widows, family, and friends. https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10524/11830

 

Online Resources:

  • Densho Encyclopedia: 100th Infantry Battalion https://encyclopedia.densho.org/100th%20Infantry%20Battalion

  • University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library: Japanese American Veterans Collection The Japanese American Veterans Collection documents the history and legacy of Hawaiʻi‘s American soldiers of Japanese ancestry (AJA) and their families. The AJA men served with distinction during World War II as members of the Hawaiʻi National Guard, Hawaiʻi Territorial Guard, 100th Infantry Battalion, Varsity Victory Volunteers (VVV), 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), Military Intelligence Service (MIS), and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion. https://manoa.hawaii.edu/library/research/collections/archives/manuscript-collections/japanese-american-veterans-collection/

  • Sons & Daughters of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team Established in 1993 as a chapter of the 442nd Veterans Club, the Sons & Daughters of the 442nd RCT supports the veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), assists in the planning and implementation of various activities involving the 442nd RCT, and is committed to promoting the history of the 442nd RCT through education. When the 442nd RCT arrived in Italy, the 100th Infantry Battalion (Sep) was attached to the regiment on June 11, 1944, serving the role of its 1st Battalion, then officially redesignated as the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry on August 10, 1944. The 100th had been in combat for over 10 months by that point, and a General Order was issued by General Mark Clark of the Fifth Army, to allow the unit to retain its “100th” numeral designation, due to its pioneering role as a Japanese-American battalion, and outstanding combat record. https://442sd.org/

  • Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA) A fraternal and educational organization with many purposes: Preserving and strengthening comradeship among its members; Perpetuating the memory and history of our departed comrades; Educating the American public on the Japanese American experience during WWII; and Striving to obtain for veterans the full benefit of their entitlements as veterans. https://java-us.org/ JAVA Digital Archives Volunteers from the Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA), based in Maryland, have been spending years at the NARA facility to identify archived documents about the Nisei soldiers during World War II. For the first ten years, the volunteers – Sus and Fumie Yamamoto and Maggie Ikeda – copied the documents. One set was sent to the 442nd Veterans Club in Honolulu and another to Hamilton Library at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. With the encouragement of Ted Tsukiyama, a veteran of the 442nd and Military Intelligence Service, the 442nd Club supported JAVA’s efforts as it began to scan and catalog new documents that were discovered. A protocol for searches of key words has been established by the JAVA team. https://www.javadc.org/research%20archives.htm


  • National Veterans Network A national organization whose mission is to educate current and future generations about the extraordinary legacy of American WWII soldiers of Japanese ancestry in order to promote equality and justice. https://nvnvets.org/100th-infantry-battalion/


  • Go For Broke National Educational Center Its mission is to educate and inspire character and equality through the virtue and valor of our World War II American veterans of Japanese ancestry. https://goforbroke.org/

  • The Nisei Soldier: Congressional Gold Medal https://cgm.smithsonianapa.org/


 

Online Videos / Oral History Resources:


  • One Puka Puka: A 30th Anniversary Encore Presentation Produced, written and narrated by Bob Jones, this two-hour "One Puka Puka" documentary tells the story about the 100th Infantry Battalion, formed during World War II, initially made up largely by Nisei (second-generation) Americans of Japanese ancestry from Hawai‘i. Originally broadcasted 30 years ago (June 24, 1992) on KGMB in honor of the 100th Infantry Battalion’s 50th Anniversary, in 2022, the program was re-broadcasted by Hawai‘i News Now, in collaboration with the 100th Infantry Battalion’s 80th Anniversary Committee. It can be viewed online in its entirety on the Hawai‘i News Now website. https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/video/2022/06/17/one-puka-puka-th-anniversary-encore-presentation-2/

  • Densho Digital Repository https://densho.org/collections/oral-history/ 



  • INCLUSION: How Hawaiʻi Protected its Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor (with Tom Coffman) Livestream Archive of May 11, 2022 event hosted by The Commonwealth Club of California with Tom Coffman in conversation with Robert Handa, a reporter for NBC Bay Area News. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDfes2OJLeA


 

Online Articles / Books:


Remembrances: 100th Infantry Battalion, 50th Anniversary Celebration, 1942-1992.(Honolulu, Hawaiʻi) 100th Infantry Battalion Publication Committee; 1992. Written and published by Club 100 in commemoration of the 100th Infantry Battalion's 50th Anniversary in 1992. https://www.100thbattalion.org/archives/remembrances/



Hawaiʻi’s Legendary Battalion Reflections by Lyn Crost: Club 100 Honorary Member Lyn Crost was one of only a few women war correspondents in World War II, and the only one to cover the 100th and the 442nd exclusively. https://www.100thbattalion.org/archives/newspaper-articles/hawaii-herald/hawaiis-legendary-battalion/

 


In Freedom’s Cause: A Record of the Men of Hawaiʻi Who Died in the Second World War by Dr. Thomas D. Murphy (Hawaiʻi War Records Committee); 1949.Short biographies of the 806 sons of Hawaii who made the supreme sacrifice in WWII. A Record of the Men of Hawaii Who Died in the Second ... - Thomas D. Murphy - Google Books

 


Senpai Gumi  by Richard Oguro; 1980.

Story of first group of Americans of Japanese ancestry from Hawaiʻi and American Incarceration Camps to Attend Army Language School at Camp Savage, Minnesota. https://www.100thbattalion.org/wp-content/uploads/Senpai-Gumi.pdf

 


Boys of Company B  by Richard Oguro (Steering Committee, Company B and others); 1981.

A written collection of some of the veterans of Company B. https://www.100thbattalion.org/wp-content/uploads/Boys-of-Company-B.pdf



When the Akimotos Went to War: An untold story of family, patriotism, and sacrifice during World War II by Matthew Elms (presented by The American Battle Monuments Commission); 2015. The story of brothers Victor Akimoto (Co. A, 100th Battalion, 442nd RCT) and John "Johnny" Akimoto (Co. C, 100th Infantry Battalion), who died in the war and are buried next to each other in Lorraine American Cemetery in France. https://www.abmc.gov/learning-resources/publications/when-akimotos-went-war



 

Books (Non-Fiction):


  • Ambassadors in Arms: The Story of Hawaii's 100th Battalion.  by Dr. Thomas D. Murphy; 1954. Published in 1954 by the University of Hawaiʻi Press. Written by Dr. Thomas D. Murphy, professor of history at the University of Hawai‘i, as a complete historical account of the 100th Infantry Battalion. Dr. Murphy took five years of research, writing and rewriting to get the book in its final form, and the book was highly supported by members of the 100th Infantry Battalion veterans' club, Club 100, from the time of its publication. https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/ambassadors-in-arms-the-story-of-hawaiis-100th-battalion/

  • Japanese Eyes, American Heart: Personal Reflections of Hawaii’s World War II Nisei Soldiers. By Hawaii Nikkei History Editorial Board; 1998.

  • Inclusion: How Hawai‘i Protected Japanese Americans from Mass Internment, Transformed Itself, and Changed America. By Tom Coffman; 2021. https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/inclusion-how-hawaii-protected-japanese-americans-from-mass-internment-transformed-itself-and-changed-america/

  • Honor by Fire: Japanese Americans at War in Europe and the Pacific. By Lyn Crost; 1994.

  • Unlikely Liberators: The Men of the 100th and 442nd. By Masayo Umezawa Duus; 1987.

  • Bridge of Love. By John Tsukano (100th Infantry Battalion; Co. D); 1985.

  • Memoirs Of A Certain Nisei. By Thomas Taro Higa (100th Infantry Battalion, Co. A); 1989.

  • Combat Chaplain: The Personal Story of the World War II Chaplain of the Japanese American 100th Battalion. By Israel A. S.Yost (Chaplain for the 100th Infantry Battalion); 2006.

  • Hawaii’s Own, Picture Story of the 442nd Regiment, 100th Battalion and Interpreters. By Lawrence Nakatsuka (Author); Soji Morisawa (Illustrator); 1946.

  • Just Americans: How Japanese Americans Won a War at Home and Abroad. By Robert Asahina; 2006.

  • The Island Edge of America: A Political History of Hawaii. By Tom Coffman; 2003.

  • Hawaii's War Years, 1941-1945. By Gwenfread Allen; 1971.

  • Sparky: Warrior, Peacemaker, Poet, Patriot. By Richard Halloran; 2002.

  • A History of Service: The Central Pacific Bank Story, 1954-1994. By Arnold Hiura; 1994.

  • Boyhood to War: History and Anecdotes of the 442nd RCT. By Dorothy Matsuo; 1992.

  • John A. Burns: The Man and His Times. By Dan Boylan and T. Michael Holmes; 2000.

 

Books (Youth / Historical Fiction):


  • Journey of Heroes: the Story of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team. By Stacey T. Hayashi (Writer); Damon Wong (Illustrator); 2012.

  • Marie of Bruyères. By Carl B. Williams (Fiction; in English and French); 2019. The story of a little French girl who meets the Japanese-American soldiers who gave her back her freedom.


  • Under the Blood-Red Sun. By Graham Salisbury (Fiction); 2014. Made into a move in 2014.

  • House of the Red Fish. By Graham Salisbury (Fiction); 2014.

  • Eyes of the Emperor. By Graham Salisbury (Fiction); 2014.

  • A Question of Loyalty By Mike Malaghan (Fiction); 2020.

 

Other Resources:


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