The United States Army high command had initially wanted to launch a two-prong assault on France, one from the north (Operation Overlord) and one from the south (Operation Anvil). Prime Minister Winston Churchill was opposed to the idea, advising vehemently that all available manpower and material be marshaled for the landing at Normandy in the North. In the end, the British prevailed and the June 6th landing took place only at Normandy.
The concept for a landing on the coast of Southern France would not be forgotten. For weeks Allied commanders wrestled with the issue. Proponents wanted a massive invasion from the south that could move up the Rhone Valley via the historic Route Napoleon and become the right flank of the massive Allied movement inland after the breakout from Normandy. On July 15th while Staff Sergeant Otani was in the action that subsequently resulted in his award of the Medal of Honor, the 442d RCT's Anti-Tank Company was pulled back to join the First Airborne Task Force that was training south of Rome for the invasion of Southern France. On August 15th the Nisei Anti-Tank unit landed with other American forces near Le Muy, France to begin the push eastward to open the Franco-Italian border. Ten days later farther to the north, Paris was liberated.
The Southern France Campaign extended from August 15th to September 14th. During the period the 442d Anti-Tank Company was awarded the Regiment's second PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION. Having made the invasion in gliders and fought with infantrymen of the 6th Army, these soldiers were authorized to wear both the Combat Infantryman's Badge (CIB) and the distinctive Glider Patch on their uniforms.
Operation Anvil was still steeped in controversy and disagreement, so much so that the invasion was re-named Operation Dragoon. General Mark Clark was slated to lead the invasion of South France, but aligned his thinking with that of the British and asked General Eisenhower to allow him to remain with the Fifth Army in Rome. Eisenhower granted the request, but asked the Fifth Army to provide 3 divisions for the September invasion. Mark Clark quickly provided the necessary forces. He balked only when a second request arrived, asking him to also send the "Japanese-American units".
The campaign in Italy was more bitterly contested than had been anticipated. Military planners had hoped to have almost concluded the effort by the fall of 1944. Instead, the Fifth Army was at a stalemate, facing an immovable enemy force across the Arno line. Such was the situation when the 442nd was relieved near Florence and sent south to Naples to prepare for the invasion of South France. While in Naples the unit received 672 new replacements. The 442d left Naples by transport ship on September 27th, landing near Marseille three days later. From Marseille the 100th and 2nd Battalions moved northward up the Rhone Valley more than 1,000 miles by truck. The 3d Battalion was loaded on a series of old World War I railroad box cars and sent to join them. Along the way the 442d Anti-Tank Company rejoined the regiment. By October 13th the reunited regiment was only miles from the French-German border, where they were attached to the 36th Infantry, the old Texas National Guard.
The "T-patchers" of the 36th Infantry were a proud lot. They boasted a Texas heritage, though there were certainly many soldiers among them from other states. Private William Crawford of Pueblo, Colorado had been one of the unit's early heroes when he earned the Medal of Honor near Altavilla, Italy. Also earning a Medal of Honor in Italy was a young former gang member from Pittsburgh's north-side tenements named Charles Kelly, forever remembered by his comrades and the media as "Commando Kelly" for his brazen combat heroics.
The "T-patchers" were also no strangers to the Nisei of the 100th Infantry Battalion, next to whom they had fought throughout Italy, most notably in the assault on Monte Cassino. During the disastrous Rapido River crossing, Stephen Gregg had been one of the few members of the nearly devastated 143d Regiment to survive. In that action Gregg had been awarded the Silver Star for heroism. In August the 36th Infantry was reassigned from the Fifth Army to General Alexander Patch's Seventh Army, to make the drive up the Rhone Valley into the Vosges Mountains. The 36th was already battling in France when the 442d left Naples for their Mediterranean crossing. While the Nisei were just one day at sea, Stephen Gregg had added a Medal of Honor to his Silver Star during action near Montelimar France. Now the Nisei were under the command of the 36th Infantry. Major General John Dahlquist welcomed them happily. He also wasted very little time putting the Regiment to work. On October 15th the 442nd launched their attack on Bruyeres. As in Italy, it would be a battle for one hill at a time, moving from position to position. Unlike Italy where the resistance had been fierce, in the Vosges Mountains the fighting would be brutal. They were
"Knocking on the Enemy's Front Door"
Such was the nature of combat in the Vosges Mountains. In Italy it had
not been uncommon during a lull in battle for medics from the 442nd to go onto the
battlefields under a flag of truce to remove the wounded. The Nisei had extended
the same courtesies to the medics of the enemy. But the fighting would be different
in France. The Vosges Mountains were the last barrier between the Allies and the
Rhine River, the German homeland.
With the fall of
Hill C to the 100th Battalion the day following the charge at Ohama's Hill, the high
ground around Bruyeres was controlled by the Americans. After assaulting and pushing
the enemy off the hill under a smoke screen, the 100th was ordered into reserve.
They returned reluctantly to Bruyeres, knowing there was still a strong enemy presence in
the area. The hill they had fought so hard to take fell back into enemy hands when
darkness fell after the Purple Heart Battalion's departure on the evening of the
20th. The following morning elements of another American Division approached Hill C,
only to find it back under German control. It cost more than 100 casualties to
retake the real estate purchased with Nisei blood the day before.
ammunition, destroying the position and killing at least 3 enemy
soldiers. As his ammunition was exhausted, he saw an American officer fall to the
enemy hail of leaden death. Sergeant Kuroda ignored the heavy fire to rush to the
aid of the officer. The officer was dead, killed by fire from an enemy position on
an adjacent hill. Sergeant Kuroda took the fallen officer's Tommy gun and turned it
on the enemy position, advancing until it fell quiet to his fearless charge and accurate
fire. Slowly the Sergeant turned towards the sound of additional enemy gunfire,
seeking to locate the position. As he prepared to turn his submachine gun on the
position, a sniper's round streaked through the hillside, ending his valiant rescue of the
supply train. For his heroism, H Company's Staff Sergeant Robert Kuroda was
posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Fifty-six years later it was
upgraded to a Medal of Honor.
The small
French villages in the Vosges are only a few miles apart, but because of the terrain they
can appear far removed from each other. They can almost seem isolated from each
other by the thick forest. In the early winter, the weather causes them to seem even
further apart. It rained on October 15th when the offensive towards Bruyeres began,
continued to rain almost constantly for the next ten days as the 442d battled from one
hamlet to the next. In the early morning the moist ground would yield a dense fog
causing even more difficulty in travel.
The
fighting was incessant, one ridge at a time, one more yard gained, yesterday's
accomplishments quickly forgotton in the challenges of today's. Three days earlier
Private Barney Hajiro of Hawaii had distinguished himself near Bruyeres by exposing
himself to an enemy gun emplacement to draw their fire away from other troops attacking
the position. He had quickly killed two enemy snipers bringing a much needed relief
to the attacking Americans. That was three days before, miles behind his current
position where on October 22d he and another soldier concealed themselves to ambush an
enemy patrol. Together, the two men killed two, wounded one, and captured the
remainder. Today's fierce fighting and Private Hajiro's heroic action would not
allow himself a moment to relax and ponder his accomplishments as a soldier. The
18-man enemy patrol was only one of hundreds that moved through the forests of the Vosges
Mountains.
