US Army

Japanese-American GI s in Italy - 1943

Pvt. Henry (Slim) Nakamora was the bazooka man of the 2nd Platoon, B Company, 100th Infantry Battalion, made up of Japanese-American soldiers from Hawaii. They were assigned to the Italian front, where the Italians believed they were Japanese prisoners. They went in at Salerno and fought through virtually every action from the Volturno to Rome. The Battalion's 1,300 men had more than 1,000 Purple Hearts among them. During a battle with German troops at the Tuscany town of Belvedere, after the fall of Rome, Pvt. Nakamora used his bazooka to knock out a Nazi tank 15 yards away, then used a BAR to kill two tankers who came out of it. In this one-day action, two companies of Japanese-American GIs accounted for 110 dead Nazis, 50 prisoners, 38 wounded Germans, one tank, two half-tracks, one SP gun, two anti-tank guns, four 155mms, seven trucks, 19 jeeps, 13 motorcycles, one radio CP, and one battalion CP with 20 telephones. The 100th Battalion lost one man and had eight wounded.