NVMC Announces New Exhibit of 442nd Regimental Combat Team

Lahaina 77. Photo Courtesy NVMC

The Nisei Veterans Memorial Center will open a new exhibit “Loyalty, Courage, Sacrifice: the 442nd Story,” that will run from March 26 – Aug. 24, 2018.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the formation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team which was composed of two distinct units: the 442nd RCT and the 100th Infantry Battalion. The two units were formed independently at different times but their history is intertwined.

On Jan. 28, 1943, the War Department announced that it was forming an all-Nisei combat team and called for 1,500 volunteers from Hawaiʻi. More than 10,000 men volunteered, of which 2,686 were selected. They joined with the 1,182 Japanese-American recruits who volunteered from the continental United States, many from behind the barbed wire of internment camps.

The 442nd RCT was activated on Feb. 1, 1943. They trained at Camp Shelby, Mississippi until leaving for Italy on April 22, 1944. The men saw their first day in combat on June 26, 1944. By this date the 100th IFB had already been in the Mediterranean Theater for over nine months and had been involved in many significant battles including the Battle of Monte Cassino.

After the two units merged, the 442nd RCT and the 100th IFB formed a single infantry regiment and created a single history. Together, they became the most decorated unit of its size and length of service in the history of the United States Army.

The NVMC exhibit, “Loyalty, Courage, Sacrifice – the 442nd Story,” will include memorabilia from Maui’s Nisei WWII veterans who served in the 442nd RCT with rotating displays throughout the duration of the exhibit.

The exhibit will be open to the public Monday through Friday from noon to 4 p.m.