100th Infantry Battalion (United States) - Formation of The 100th Battalion

Formation of The 100th Battalion

Nisei that were in the Hawaii National Guard continued their duties as normal but by June things had begun take turn that would give those of Japanese ancestry the chance to prove everyone wrong and to show their true loyalty to the United States. The Battle of Midway was well underway by 4 June 1942 but as this decisive battle was happening, 1,432 Nisei of the Hawaii National Guard had their weapons taken away and boarded onto the Matson liner SS Maui under the cover of night and shipped to the mainland without saying goodbye to their family or loved ones. Under the title "Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion" the week long zig-zag journey finally took them to a port in Oakland where the 1,432 Nisei would finally be known as the 100th Infantry Battalion on 12 June 1942. The unit number was an indication of the Army's recently formulated plan for a modern organization for the Combat Arms. Under normal pre-war Army procedures, all Infantry battalions were organic to the Regiment they were a part of, and were known as, for instance, "1st Battalion, 5th Regiment." With the new system of organization, the Infantry Regiment was reorganized as a Headquarters with no Organic battalions, but with three Separate Battalions attached. The Headquarters was organized into three Combat Commands that could be dispatched on separate combat actions with units that were attached. One Infantry Battalion would be assigned to a Combat Command, with attachments from the higher headquarters reserve. The 100th was not attached to any other military organization but its own fighting unit and would come to be known as the "One-Puka-Puka" (Puka means "hole" in Hawaiian).