[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9049]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, in honor of Asian Pacific Heritage 
Month in which our Nation pays a special tribute to the contributions 
of some 15 million of our fellow Americans who are of Asian Pacific 
descent, I want to honor in particular the thousands of our Asian 
Pacific Americans who serve in the Armed Forces of our Nation. In 
particular, Mr. Speaker, the sacrifices of some 10,000 nisei or 
Japanese American soldiers who fought for our Nation in the field of 
battle during World War II.
  It was a time in our Nation's history when there was so much hatred, 
bigotry, and racism placed against Japanese Americans; yet despite all 
this, leaving their parents, their brothers and sisters, their wives 
behind barbed-wired fences in these concentration camps that were 
established, the White House accepted the request of over 10,000 
Japanese Americans who volunteered to join the Army. As a result, two 
combat units were organized, the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Infantry 
Combat Group.
  Mr. Speaker, the military records of the 100th Battalion and the 
442nd Infantry are without equal. A 314 percent casualty rate, 
receiving over 18,000 individual declarations, most of them 
posthumously: some 20 Congressional Medals of Honor, 33 Distinguished 
Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 9,480 Purple Hearts. That's quite a 
record, Mr. Speaker.
  President Truman was so moved by their bravery in the field of battle 
as well as the contributions and the courage of the African American 
soldiers who fought during World War II that President Truman issued an 
executive order to finally desegregate all branches of the armed 
services.

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