442nd Veterans Club Collection

Collection

Identifier: MANUSCRIPT-M00033

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The 442nd Veterans Club Collection has been organized into five series: General, Go For Broke Bulletin, National Archives Documents, Photographs, and Memorabilia.

The series “General” contains materials collected by the 442nd Veterans Club documenting the activities of itself as well as the wartime activities of its members. Contents include materials relating to the major anniversaries of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the memoirs of the L Company, Chaplain Yamada’s Memoirs, and the G Company morning report. Materials are arranged alphabetically and reflect the original organization of the 442nd Veterans Club.

The series “Go For Broke Bulletin” contains original copies of the quarterly newsletter of the 442nd Veterans Club. The bulletins are arranged chronologically.

The series “National Archives Documents” contains copies of original items held at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. For the past 12 years, the 442nd Veterans Club in Honolulu and the Japanese American Veterans Association have sponsored an ongoing project whereby volunteers copy documents located in the National Archives that relate to the activities of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the 100th Infantry Battalion, Military Intelligence Service (MIS), the 1399th Engineers, and other Japanese Americans serving in World War II.

The “Photographs” series includes mostly post-war photographs depicting activities, events, and members of the 442nd Veterans club. Also included are two CD-ROMS containing scanned images of wartime photographs of the 552nd Field Artillery Battalion and the Signal Corps.

The series “Memorabilia” contains items donated by the 442nd Veterans Club, which include a World War II U.S. Army “Eisenhower Jacket” worn by a member of the 442nd RCT. Also included in this series are a 442nd RCT shoulder patch (second design), a shoulder patch from the 34th Infantry Division (the “Red Bull” Division), and a metal ammunitions canister.

The finding aid and inventory to the 442nd Veterans Club Collection will continue to be revised as new materials are added to the collection.

Dates

Creation: 1881 - 2005
Creation: Majority of material found within 1944 - 1945

Restrictions

Material with personal information may be redacted by the Archives staff. Some fragile items may need to be handled by the staff only. Use of audiovisual material may require the production of listening or viewing copies.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in this collection, their descendants, or the repository if copyright has been signed over, as stipulated by United States copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user to determine any copyright restrictions, obtain written permission, and pay any fees necessary for the reproduction or proposed use of the materials.

Literary Rights Notice

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University of Hawaii Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must be obtained by the researcher.

Organizational History

According to the club’s official charter, the purpose of the club is to:

preserve the fellowship of the veterans of the 442nd Combat Team
honor and esteem the supreme sacrifices made by the deceased comrades and to preserve and uphold the high traditions of the 442nd Combat Team
promote mutual aid among its members and their families
provide means for social relationship and recreation among its members and their families and friends
promote understanding and unity among veterans, civic organizations and all people in the community, to preserve and extend the spirit of loyal devotion to America and its ideals, to promote understanding and acceptance of the American way of life among all people in the community, and to encourage and assist its members in such endeavors.

Club officers include a president, one or more vice-presidents, a secretary, and a treasurer, all of whom are regular members of the club. The club also has a Board of Directors with between five and 30 members.

Chaplain Masao Yamada served as the first club president; James Kamo and Tadao Beppu were the first vice-presidents; Bert Nishimura served as secretary; and Fred Matauo was the first treasurer.

Members of the first Board of Directors included the club officers, Jack Conley, Barney Ono, Robert Taira, Takeo Hedani, Akira Hamaguchi, Herbert Isonaga, Keichiro Yamato, Minoru Ikehara, Joseph Kiyonaga, Paul Nishimura, James Takaki, Katsugo Miho, Gilbert Kobatake, Dan Konno, Ramon Wasano, and Norman Sato.

Members of the 442nd Veterans Club include veterans assigned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which consisted of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Battalion, and Special Companies (Anti-Tank Company, Cannon Company, Regimental Headquarters Company, Service Company, Regimental Medical Detachment), the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, the 232nd Combat Engineer Company, and the 206th A.G.F. Band. Sons and daughters of the veterans also have a chapter Sons and Daughters of the 442nd RCT.

Regular membership for veterans living on Oahu is $15 per year. Associate memberships for veterans living off-island is $10 per year. In 1967, the club enacted a lifetime membership plan.

The 442nd Veterans Club is located in Honolulu at 933 Wiliwili Street. In June 1948, nine members of the original Moiliili Young Men’s Association offered its facilities to the club on a 50-year lease at $1 per year. On 27 June 1952, the Moiliili YMA members formally transferred the property in fee simple to the 442nd Veterans Club. A new clubhouse building with apartments was then constructed and dedicated on 17 December 1960.

The club has actively participated in community service events. Some of the organizations that the club has worked with include: the American Red Cross, the March of Dimes, the War Orphans Scholarship Fund, Kuakini Hospital and Home, the Hawaii Association to Help Retarded Children, the 25th Division’s “Operation Helping Hand” Drive, the Italian Flood Relief Fund, and the Easter Seals. Since 1958, the club has co-sponsored the annual State High School Baseball Championship Tournament and the Japan-Hawaii Goodwill Baseball series, in which a team of high school baseball players make goodwill tours to Japan and Hawaii alternately every two years.

The club continues to maintain an archive, which is available for research by appointment. To learn more about the 442nd Veterans Club and the Archives, call (808) 945-0032.

Extent

23 Linear Feet

Language

English

Additional Description

Overview

The 442nd Veterans Club of Honolulu was organized in 1946 by veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a Japanese American military unit that fought in Europe during World War II. Members of the 442nd Veterans Club include veterans assigned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which consisted of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Battalion, Special Companies, the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, the 232nd Combat Engineer Company, and the 206th A.G.F. Band. Sons and daughters of the veterans also have a chapter called Sons and Daughters of the 442 nd RCT. The club actively participates in community service events.

The collection contains general materials, Go For Broke bulletins, National Archives documents, photographs, and memorabilia. General materials include items relating to the major anniversaries of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the memoirs of the L Company and Chaplain Yamada, and the G Company morning report. The series “Go For Broke Bulletin” contains original copies of the quarterly newsletter of the 442nd Veterans Club. “National Archives Documents” contains copies of original items held at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., relating to the 442nd RCT and other groups of Japanese Americans who served in World War II. The contents of the series “Photographs” include mostly post-war photos depicting activities, events, and members of the 442nd Veterans Club. The series “Memorabilia” contains items donated by the 442nd Veterans Club, which include a World War II U.S. Army “Eisenhower Jacket” worn by a member of the 442nd RCT.

Materials are arranged alphabetically and reflect the original organization of the 442nd Veterans Club, with the exception of Go For Broke bulletins, which are arranged chronologically.

Related Materials

For additional information concerning the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, please see the Ted Tsukiyama Papers (AJA 002), the John Rademaker Papers (AJA 008), the Hideo Nakamine Papers (AJA 007), the Hiro Higuchi Papers (AJA 001), the Senator Spark M. Matsunaga Papers, and the Romanzo Adams Social Research Laboratory (RASRL) collection in the UH Archives and Manuscripts Department.

Related materials are also held in the 442nd Veterans Club archives (Honolulu, HI), the Go For Broke National Education Center (Torrance, CA), the Saito Family Papers at the Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, CA), the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii (Honolulu, HI), the National Archives and Records Administration (College Park, MD), the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii), and the Veterans History Project (Washington, D.C.).