Soldiers' Stories | Asian & Pacific Islander American Soldiers: Online Resources

"They bombed again the next day and then invaded the island by shore on December 10. The small US military contingent on Guam surrendered and the Japanese quickly took over the island. All of the Americans and some Spanish priests, nearly 600 people, were taken prisoner and sent to camps in Japan."

"Ordinary men and women, otherwise, they took extraordinary risks in the name of God, honor, country, and what the Chamoru term ina`fa`maolek, which calls on community members to do good to each other as part of a perpetuating cycle of good multiplying on good. Their spirit of sacrifice is not exceptional but instead representative of the loyalty to America and resistance to its enemy that made Guam for the Japanese a treacherous place to be."... continue reading

"On March 23, 1865, Santos appeared for muster and enlisted into the Union’s Army, in Portland, Maine. His enlistment was as a substitute in for Joseph W. Nutter. Based on Census documents Nutter was a Caucasian farmer from Newfield Town, Maine. As part of his enlistment, he was assigned to the 43rd Colored Infantry Regiment based out in Pennsylvania. Santos had nearly two complete months of service; one month before and one month after the Civil War."...continue reading

"It was the success of these first few Nisei linguists, by the way, that convinced the War Department to establish a Japanese-American combat unit, the famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team that fought in Italy, France, and Germany. In 1942 the War Department moved the school, then named the Military Intelligence Service Language School, to Minnesota, and by the invasion of Saipan two years later, the school had graduated over 1,200 linguists. By the time US forces landed on Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945 the school had graduated over 2,000 who fought in every battle and campaign. Three earned the Distinguished Service Cross, and a number the Silver Star, some of them posthumously."...continue reading