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442nd Infantry Regiment (United States)

442nd Infantry Regiment
442nd Regimental Combat Team
442-Infantry-Regiment-COA.png
Active 1944–1946
1947–1969
Country  United States
Branch  United States Army
Type Separate regiment
later 100th Infantry Battalion
Role Infantry
Size 3,800, regimental combat team
Motto(s) "Go For Broke"
Engagements World War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Colonel Virgil R. Miller
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia
442nd Infantry Regiment DUI.png
Combat service identification badge
442nd Infantry Regimental CSIB.png

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team is an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the Army Reserve. The regiment was a fighting unit composed almost entirely of American soldiers of Japanese ancestry who fought in World War II. Most of the families of mainland Japanese Americans were confined to internment camps in the United States interior. Beginning in 1944, the regiment fought primarily in Europe during World War II, in particular Italy, southern France, and Germany.

The 442nd Regiment was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of American warfare. The 4,000 men who initially made up the unit in April 1943 had to be replaced nearly 2.5 times. In total, about 14,000 men served, earning 9,486 Purple Hearts. The unit was awarded eight Presidential Unit Citations (five earned in one month). Twenty-one of its members were awarded Medals of Honor. Its motto was "Go for Broke".

Most Japanese Americans who fought in World War II were Nisei, born in the United States to immigrant parents. Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Japanese-American men were initially categorized as 4C (enemy alien) and therefore not subject to the draft. On 19 February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing military authorities


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