Letters from the 442nd: The World War II Correspondence of a Japanese American Medic (The Scott and Laurie Oki Series in Asian American Studies)

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Synopsis
This is the first collection of letters by a member of the celebrated 442nd Combat Team, which served in Italy and France during World War II. Written to his wife by a medic serving with the segregated Japanese American unit, the letters describe a soldier’s daily life. Minoru Masuda was born and raised in Seattle. In 1939 he earned a master’s degree in pharmacology and married Hana Koriyama. Two years later the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor, and Min and Hana were imprisoned along with thousands of other Japanese Americans. When the Army recruited in the relocation camp, Masuda chose to serve in the 442nd. In April 1944 the unit was shipped overseas. They fought in Italy and in France, where they liberated Bruyeres and rescued a “lost battalion” that had been cut off by the Germans. After the German surrender on May 3, 1945, Masuda was among the last of the original volunteers to leave Europe; he arrived home on New Year’s Eve 1945. Masuda’s vivid and lively letters emphasize his surroundings, his daily activities, and the people he encountered. He describes Italian farmhouses, olive groves, and avenues of cypress trees; he writes of learning to play the ukulele with his “big, clumsy” fingers, and the nightly singing and bull sessions which continued throughout the war; he relates the plight of the Italians who scavenged the 44 2nd’s garbage for food, and the mischief of French children who pelted the medics with snowballs. Minoru Masuda was professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington. Hana Masuda was Minoru’s wife. Dianne Bridgman is the former manager of the Washington State Oral History Program.
Copyright:
2008

Book Details

Book Quality:
Excellent
Book Size:
291 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780295987453
Publisher:
University of Washington Press
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
University of Washington Press
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
History, Military, Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Social Studies, Medicine
Submitted By:
Larry Lumpkin
Proofread By:
BookMouse
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.
Edited by:
Hana Masuda,Dianne Bridgman
Foreword by:
Senator Daniel K. Inouye

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