[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11464-11465]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



              IN HONOR OF ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER VETERANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Guam (Mr. Underwood) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to recognize the 
contributions of Asian and Pacific Island veterans. Tomorrow, President 
Clinton will be presenting this Nation's highest military award for 
valor, the Congressional Medal of Honor, to 21 Asian American veterans 
who previously won the Distinguished Service Cross.
  President Clinton approved the Army's recommendations for the 
upgrades this past May. Nineteen of the twenty-one veterans were 
members of the all-Japanese 100th Infantry Battalion, or 442nd 
Regimental Combat Team. For their size, it was amongst the most highest 
decorated units in U.S. military history. Members of this noble unit 
earned an amazing number of decorations, 18,000 individual decorations, 
including one wartime Medal of Honor, 53 Distinguished Service Crosses, 
9,486 Purple Hearts and 7 Presidential Unit Citations, the Nation's top 
award for combat units.
  The upgrading of the medals stems from efforts made by Senator Daniel 
Akaka of Hawaii, who authored the provision in the 1996 Defense 
Authorization Act mandating a review of the

[[Page 11465]]

service records of Asian Pacific Americans who received the 
Distinguished Service Cross.
  The recommendation by Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera, and the 
subsequent order by President Clinton, serves to correct the injustice 
of racial discrimination that was prevalent against Asian Pacific 
Americans during World War II. Many of the Japanese Americans who 
served in the 442nd volunteered from internment camps, where their 
families had been relocated at the outbreak of the war. These men 
fought in 8 major campaigns in Italy, France and Germany, including 
battles at Monte Cassino, Anzio and Biffontaine. Despite the ferocity 
of the fighting they endured and the degree of bravery exhibited by 
these men, the climate of racism precluded many from due recognition of 
their actions under fire. Tomorrow's White House ceremony will finally 
redress this past wrong.
  One of those honored for valor is Senator Daniel Inouye who 
distinguished himself when leading his platoon against the enemy at San 
Terenzo on April 21, 1945. Though hit in the abdomen by a bullet that 
came out his back and barely missed his spine, he continued to lead the 
platoon and advanced alone against a machine gun nest that had pinned 
down his men.
  He tossed two hand grenades with devastating effect before his right 
arm was shattered by a German rifle grenade at close range, according 
to the senatorial bio. Inouye threw his last grenade with his left 
hand, attacked with a submachine gun, and was finally knocked down the 
hill by a bullet in the leg.
  After 20 months in Army hospitals, Inouye returned home as a captain 
with a Distinguished Service Cross, the Nation's second highest award 
for military valor, the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart with oak leaf 
cluster and 12 other medals and citations, and of course he now has a 
distinguished career in the other body.
  Many of these names which I will enter into the Record will add to 
the Pantheon of true American heroes, names like Hajiro, Hayashi, 
Kobashigawa, Ono, Wai and Davila, add to the great tradition of 
American military history, and it should be noted, and I have noted 
here in my extended remarks, that these men endured, along with many 
other Asian Pacific Islanders during the war, a climate of racism that 
continued to persevere, and made their contributions in a number of 
combat units throughout the war, men from Pacific Islands like American 
Samoa and Guam, people who served in the Philippine armed services 
under the American flag, and, of course, many who joined the regular 
armed forces of the U.S. and who were limited to service and 
transportation units.
  The other soldiers who will be honored are: Staff Sgt. (later 2nd 
Lt.) Rudolph B. Davila, Pvt. Barney F. Hajiro, Pvt. Mikio Hasemoto 
(posthumous), Pvt. Joe Hayashi, Pvt. Shizuya Hayashi, Tech. Sgt. Yeiki 
Kobashigawa, Staff Sgt. Robert T. Kuroda (posthumous), Pfc. Kaoru Moto 
(posthumous), Pfc. Kiyoshi K. Muranaga (posthumous), Pvt. Masato Nakae 
(posthumous), Pvt. Shinyei Nakamine (posthumous), Pfc. William K. 
Nakamura (posthumous), Pfc. Joe M. Nishimoto (posthumous), Sgt. (later 
Staff Sgt.) Allan M. Ohata, Tech. Sgt. Yukio Okutsu, Pfc. Frank H. Ono 
(posthumous), Staff Sgt. Kazuo Otani (posthumous), Pvt. George T. 
Sakato, Tech. Sgt. Ted T. Tanouye (posthumous), and Capt. Francis B. 
Wai (posthumous).
  In honoring the heroism of these Asian Pacific veterans, I am 
reminded of the sacrifices of all our minority veterans. Today, several 
weeks after Memorial Day, I would like to take a few moments to talk 
about the tens of thousands of minority Americans who set aside 
political, economic and social disenfranchisement, to answer the call 
to arms against the forces of tyranny.
  Minorities have served in the American military since the early days 
of the republic and valiantly fought in every major engagement 
including the Civil War, Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, 
Vietnam and the Persian Gulf.
  The moment of truth for most minority veterans was solidly 
demonstrated in WWII. Undaunted by discrimination and racism, they 
endeavored to serve their country. In the beginning of the war, many 
minority servicemen were relegated to serve only in ``rear echelon'' 
positions or support positions during the war. They served as munitions 
men, truck drivers, cooks, stewards, and in cleaning and repair 
details. I am reminded of Uncle ``Bob'' Lizama, a native son of Guam 
who served in the U.S. Navy as a steward. His naval career spanned over 
30 years including service in three major wars.
  Minorities also labored in the factories and farms throughout the 
United States working towards the war effort. In many cases, when in 
combat zones, the men in these positions manned weapons and fought 
honorably side-by-side with white soldiers and sailors during furious 
engagements.
  Later in the war, after tremendous lobbying efforts by minority civic 
leaders, combat units were established for minority populations. These 
brave men and women came from all walks of life but were bound by a 
love of the principles of duty to God and country. They lived in a 
separate component of American society that was defined by an 
unfortunate climate of prejudice. African-Americans, Hispanics, native 
Hawaiians, Chamorros, Samoans, Asian Americans, Filipinos, American 
Indians, and Native Alaskans all served honorably in many capacities 
with the U.S. military to combat the hegemonic forces of Germany, Italy 
and Japan.
  In segregated units, often led by white officers, these noble men 
distinguished themselves in combat and proved to the entire nation that 
they too were willing to lay down their lives for freedom. The Tuskegee 
Airmen, the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the 100th Infantry 
Battalion, the Navaho Code-Talkers, the U.S. Navy's Fita Fita Guard (a 
U.S. Navy auxiliary unit in American Samoa), the 1st Samoan Battalion, 
U.S. Marine Corps, and the Guam Combat Patrol (a U.S. Marine Corps 
auxiliary unit in Guam) are just a few of the organizations where 
minorities fought valiantly in some of the most difficult combat 
assignments anywhere in World War II.
  After WWII, President Harry S. Truman desegregated the U.S. military. 
Beginning with the Korean war, minority soldiers, sailors, and airmen 
have fought alongside with all Americans. Recently, Congress passed a 
resolution honoring all of America's minority veterans. I am very 
pleased to have worked with both Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee and 
Senator Edward Kennedy to ensure that the Pacific Islanders were 
represented in the resolution's text.
  Mr. Speaker, in light of the level of dedication, sacrifice and 
honor, that minority veterans displayed while serving in our nation's 
military, we must in every way possible ensure that any past instance 
of wholesale discrimination be addressed and corrected. In this light 
it may be prudent to have legislation that establishes a commission to 
ensure that minority veterans during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts 
were not denied awards for valor on account of the color of their skin 
or on the basis of their national origin. At the beginning of the 21st 
Century, we should conclusively and exhaustively rectify as many of 
these past racial injustices so that we can finally proceed forward in 
unity and in the spirit of brotherhood. The noble sacrifices of our 
forbearers who fought valiantly for our freedom should never go 
unrecognized, nor be tarnished by societal ignorance. We, the 
benefactors of their sacrifice owe them at least that much.

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