Nisei Purple Heart Battalion Exhibit Now Open

The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center is currently running PART II of “One Puka-Puka: The Purple Heart Battalion” exhibit. The exhibit is open to the public through Dec. 16, 2017, Monday to Saturday, 12 to 4 p.m. The exhibit is funded in part by the County of Maui Office of Economic Development.

Photo: Taken of the Club 100 veterans in 1947 on Maui when the Reverend Israel Yost, Battalion Chaplain, paid a post-war visit to the Valley Isle. During the visit, Chaplain Yost gave his “Step Off the Road and Let the Dead Pass By” sermon at the Makawao Veterans Cemetery. This and other memorabilia is on display during the exhibit.

2017 marks the 75th Anniversary of the formation of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate). It was formed six months following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. The Battalion was comprised almost entirely of Nisei (second generation Japanese) from Hawaii, who were members of the 298th and 299th National Guard units and was the first group of Japanese Americans to see combat in WWII.

Part II of the “One Puka Puka: The Purple Heart Battalion” will cover the stories of the 100th IFB’s exploits from Anzio to the capture of Rome and onto Leghorn (Livorno) where the Battalion was officially attached to the 442nd RCT. Featured in this exhibit is the Battle of Belvedere where the 100th IFB upset an SS unit, resulting in their being awarded a Presidential Unit Citation.

NVMC’s mission is to ignite the potential in people by inspiring them to find the hero in themselves through the legacy of the Nisei Veterans.

The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center is a non-profit organization that aspires to a world where people act selflessly for the greater good. NVMC owns and manages an intergenerational campus on Go For Broke Place in Kahului that serves as a home for Kansha Preschool, Maui Adult Day Care Center’s Oceanview facility, the Stanley Izumigawa Pavilion and the NVMC Education Center.