Customer Reviews

Just Americans: How Japanese Americans Won a War at Home and Abroad

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wouldn't have thought there was much new to say about the Japanese-American experience in WWII -- the internment at home, ad in particular incredible heroism of the soldiers in the famous "Go For Broke" 442d Regimental Combat Team and the "Lost Batallion". But Asahina fills out the story with interviews, maps, and pictures that brought it to life for me and made it relevant to modern issues about "racial profiling." I'm not of Japanese-American ancestry but I found this a terrific read.

Robert Asahina's book on the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team is one of the best I've ever read on these brave men and their families. It has very compelling and personal descriptions of the battles these men fought, but what makes it stand out is the linking to the exile of Japanese Americans to internment camps, the political environment and decision-making regarding the treatment of Japanese Americans, and the huge personal, social, and economic costs borne by these loyal Americans during this period.

It is also well-researched, thoroughly sourced and cited, and brings the history up to current levels, including the awarding of the long overdue Medals of Honor to the AJA soldiers. It also discusses the analogies drawn with the post 9/11 environment in the US.

It doesn't cover all of the AJA experience in detail, primarily focusing on the European Theater and the US mainland, but I'd recommend it highly as a first book for anyone interested in this subject. It cites many books and reference materials for interested readers that you can follow up.

As a long time WWII history buff I can recommend this book without reservation. The author has researched this book very well and presents the facts in a compelling fashion. I was expecting certain passages to regarding how the Japanese-American population at home was treated to be one of finger-pointing, over-sentimentalization and playing the victim to gain sympathy. Boy was I wrong. Negative aspects of "exclusion", internment, and racism, are on the page but so are the bravery and resolve of these people to overcome them. The removal of the Japanese-American population from the west coast of the mainland while leaving the population of Japanese-Americans in Hawaii intact is spelled out in a way for the reader to discover the idiocy in it. For instance the reason given to the "evacuation" was the proximity of Japanese-Americans to military bases and facilities. Yet one of the future members of the 442d worked at Pearl Harbor helping to repair the facilities in the weeks and months after the attack! This book brings to light a story that should be read.

I learned a great deal from this book. I knew much about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II--I learned much more. I also knew a lot about WWII combat in Europe--I learned much more. I did not know much about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. It should not be a surprise that I learned much about it, but, as I said, I learned many other things too. I doubted some of the facts presented, but I checked the most important one and found that it is true--21 Japanese-Americans were awarded Medals of Honor from World War II action. Because that fact was correct, I did not check most of the others. I am an old artilleryman. I had never before read of units being resupplied with critical supplies (morphine and other drugs, small arms ammo) via artillery fire. I am still amazed by this, but until I can disprove it, I must believe (and admire) it.
I did not give a five star rating because of the long description at the end of the book where the author brings in many different ways to prove the incompetence of government and military leaders in creating the internments. Some of this was interesting and worthy, but most had been well-demonstrated by that point in the book.
I am a better person for having read this book.

Two of the great injustices done by American during WWII were the segregation of troops and the movement of Japanese-Americans to concentration camps. To expand my knowledge on the later and to learn more about the 100th Battalion in particular (I've read about the 442nd Regimental Combat team fighting in the Vosges Mountains in such books as Lost Battalions and When the Odds Were Even: The Vosges Mountains Campaign, October 1944-January 1945). Developing this component, Mr. Asahina does a fantastic job describing the establishment and training of the 100th Battalion. I was particularly enamored with the differences between the Islanders and the Mainlanders. This was particularly poignant since the Islanders had no understanding of the transportation of Japanese-Americans to concentration camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately Mr. Asahina did not provide much new information on the 100th Battalions efforts in Italy, something I consider a weakness since the book identifies itself as the story of the 100th Battalion in WWII. The units exploits from Dragoon thru operations in the Vosges is covered very nicely. At times it is a little difficult keeping the tactical picture together; this is mainly due to the confusing battlefield conditions, but the large numbers of veteran's accounts contributes to the confusion because of the difficulty in tracking the veteran with their unit. Other issues I had were the misstatement on Patton's 3rd Army operating in the Ardennes (within the focus of the book, the 3rd Army had completed operations against Metz and was preparing for the assault on the Saar) and stating that the Battle of the Bulge would not have happened if the 7th Army hadn't been stopped by Eisenhower (the 7th Army would have likely crossed the Rhine, but it would have been unlikely to have caused the abortion of Wacht am Rhein but probably would have radically changed Operation Nordwind).

Rating wise this one was a 3.5 star book. Two driving factors were that Mr. Asahina missed one of his two goals identified on the front cover (The story of the 100th Battalion, Mr. Asahina provided limited information on their combat experience prior to Operation Dragoon, something I really wanted to read about) and at points things were a little confusing due to the large number of oral accounts from veterans (I've suggested this before, but if they'd continually identify which unit the person was with or provide a Table of Organization and where the different veterans fit into it in the Appendix it would help readers a lot [in Mr. Asahina's defense, he does a good job reminding us which company the individuals are from]). Due to other factors (identified above) I'm rounding this one down to 3 stars. Having said this, I believe if you're of Japanese-American background or had a relative who served in the 442nd this book would easily become a 4 to 4.5 star book.

This is about the fifth book I have read on the 100/442. The author does an excellent job detailing the exploits of the unit and also skillfully ties in the human element. I would highly recommend this book to all.
Brian E Yamamoto

1. I could go on for pages about the various issues related to the Internment, Nisei in WWII etc... But the bottomline is that this book is rare gem in that it could have been politically biases, but it wasn't. The author did an amazing job of just sticking with the facts, focusing on the military history of the niseis in WWII (some may find this kind of historical writing a bit dry), and only editorializing in the final section of the book. Even then, the author deftly brings out the pros / cons of opposing views in regards to the internment (back in WWII and in modern time). One may not agree with some of the author's conclusions, but certainly one cannot accuse him of being a political hack or close minded.

2. 100% highly recommended to all Americans. And a job well done to the author who spent time and energy to document the sacrifices via the niseis who volunteered and fought for our country.

I've read many books about the 442 and 100 Div and the imprisonment of Japanese-American citizens over the years. Mostly because I grew up with kids who parents went through this tragedy. The fathers who fought never talked about their experiences, like most veterans and the mothers didn't talk about the camps either. What I felt as a child when I learned about this part of American history was anger. An anger that has never abated. This book provides a complete picture of individuals who suffered during this sad period of American History. Read this book and be awed, as I have been at the courage of the Japanese-Americans. Read this book and be forever sceptical about politicians and what they say to citizens. It was Roosevelt that issued the Executive Order that resulted in these CITIZENS to be imprisoned simply because of their heritage. It was American Citizens that stole these peoples homes, businesses and then to add insult to injury, shunned the veterans of the 442/100 Div when they returned home. Be angry that as late as a few years ago, there was a road in Texas called "Jap Road" and the citizens there didn't want to change the name and accused the Japanese-Americans who did, of being racists. I am still angry about this.

This is an interesting book that proves how reflective combat performance can be in influencing things at home. The book is divided into two parts, first is the story on the Japanese American experiences during World War II on the home front, one of the great national shames in our nation's history. Second story lies with the combat units of 442nd and 100th, all made up with Japanese Americans. The key element of this book lies with the fact that the superb performances of these two Japanese American combat units clearly affected how their kinfolks were regarded and treated at the home front. As the two combat units' performances became superior, the book clearly show how official and unofficial restrictions, racial suspicions and rancor toward their families and friends at home all lessen to considerable degree. The author managed to create a "cause and effect" between the Japanese American combat units and the home front from where those men hailed from.

It does rise a question - if those two Japanese American combat units were lousy cowardly units without any redeeming values, would the restrictive treatments of Japanese American at home be so easily lifted even after the war?

In this case, the author of this book clearly marked the Japanese Americans along the same line as the black troops who also fought pretty well for our nation and thus led to the road of desegregating the military. As we all know, desegregating the military was the first step of the civil right movement of the late 1950s and 1960s.

Overall, a very interesting and sobering book on how racially segregated military forces can changed the attitude of many by their valor and sacrifices made on the field of battle.

First off, do not think that this will give you an in-depth look at the combat situations these groups entered into. A great deal is only touched upon, i.e. "they encountered strong resistance, then the enemy fled", but the actions of valor that these men did individually is given considerable attention.
What this book is mainly focusing on is the "military necessity" that created a sort of legal racism that was not held across the board. The fact that these men did what they did despite how their very own country treated them is inspiring at the very least.
But I do feel that this book can mirror current events as well. Granted, I hope we have learned that lesson, but we can still look at this example when we deal with other nations who are predominately non-white and assume that "they" are all the same, for indeed they are not.