More than 19,000 Japanese-Americans served the United States during World War II, mainly in three units–the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service.  In November of this year, those three Army units received a well-deserved thank you for their service when the United States Congress awarded them the Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor given by Congress.

GenevaPOW.com has carried several posts about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.  This is because, early in their training and before their participation in some of the fiercest battles of World War II, some members of the 442nd served as guards for German POWs from Camp Aliceville who were sent to Dothan, Alabama, for the peanut harvest in 1943. 

If you are new to this blog and would like to read about that early experience connected to the 442nd, please search for the following earlier posts and for the story:

August 30, 2007–"Peanuts, POWs and Japanese Guards"

December 10, 2008–"Alabama Mosaic is a Wonderful Resource"

March 5, 2009–"Former 442nd POW Guard Sends Greetings"

The photo at right, (University of South Alabama Archives collection) shows an American soldier of Japanese descent guarding German POWs as they harvest peanuts in Barbour County, Alabama, in 1943.

We congratulate all of the valiant soldiers from the 442nd who were honored in November.