picture, Takashi Masuda in uniform, Jerome, 1940s
date: label: date made
content: 1943
notes: label: Description
content: This photograph is of Takashi Masuda in his United States Army uniform standing in front of the Jerome, Arkansas Prison Camp where he and his family had been assigned to live, taken in 1943. These prison camps were built after President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19th, 1942, which forcibly relocated those of Japanese descent to prison camps in California, Arkansas, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, and Idaho.
label: Description
content: Takashi Masuda was one member of the Masuda family, who had four brothers serve in the United States Army. Takashi and Kazuo Masuda were drafted into the Army in October of 1941, and were in basic training when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Following this, Takashi and Kazuo were barred from active duty until the 442nd Regimental Combat Team unit was formed.
label: Description
content: The 442nd Regimental Combat Team were known by their slogan, "Go For Broke", which means "to wager everything", and became one of the most highly-decorated units in military history. The 442nd Infrantry Regiment was comprised almost entirely of American soldiers of Japanese descent; the nisei. The unit comprised of 4,000 men, created in 1943. The unit had to replaced in entirety almost 2.5 times, with a total of 14,000 men serving in the unit. 9,486 Purple Hearts were awarded to these soldiers and 21 of them earned Medals of Honor.
label: Description
content: Takashi Masuda joined the 442nd Regimental Combat team shortly after his brother, Kazuo, was killed in action while sacrificing his life to save his comrades. Takashi helped to rescue the Texas Lost Battalion where he was wounded and awarded a Purple Heart.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Japanese American
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Masao Masuda
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2015.0105.008
label: accession number
content: 2015.0105
label: catalog number
content: 2015.0105.008
objectType: label: Object Name
content: photograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/2 in x 2 1/2 in; 8.89 cm x 6.35 cm