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Hideo Takahashi, 442nd Regimental Combat Team

For Private Hideo "Tak" Takahashi, Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 meant the end of his job as a U.S. Army cook.

"They knocked me out of the kitchen because they thought I might poison the buddies," Takahashi said.

As absurd as such treachery sounded, Takahashi turned in his apron, returned to being a foot soldier, and then went on to serve his country in one of the most decorated units in military history for its size and length of service - the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. In doing so, he received a Combat Infantry Badge, a Bronze Star, and several Presidential Unit Citations.

Not bad for a demoted cook. There was a moment, though, when it looked like the war might pass by Takahashi.

"Somehow I missed the boat," he said, referring to the ship that transported his newly joined 442nd RCT from Naples, Italy, to Southern France. "I was playing around in town and didn't get back in time. I had to take a Navy boat all by myself to get to Marseille."

But there was little time to dwell on minor setbacks. As a runner and walkie-talkie radioman for I Company, Takahashi and the 442nd plunged into the Rhineland and the liberation of Bruyeres.

There, Takahashi was baptized into combat.

Bruyeres fell after a bitter struggle, as did the outlying towns of Belmont and Biffontaine. Then with only two days' rest, their next orders came: go after the "Lost Battalion," the 141st Infantry Regiment trapped in the Vosges Mountains four miles behind enemy lines with supplies dwindling.

They set out during a night so dark, all they could see were the taillights of the jeeps ahead of them. "We had to hold hands with buddies in front of us," Takahashi added, "so we don't get lost."

Daylight laid bare the carnage of previous rescue attempts. "I saw one American GI, Caucasian, dead," said Takahashi, "one of our boys, 442nd, dead, and one German, dead - all three of them side by side."

Despite fierce opposition and artillery shells raining on them, they followed a communication wire laid by a previous unit until they accomplished what no others had been able to do: they broke through the enemy's defense to the Lost Battalion.

"We just marched in to rescue that 141st regiment," Takahashi stated. "They were in a barren area, exposed right out in the middle there. When we got there, they were all in their foxholes and popped up their heads and were sure happy to see us."

It wasn't until afterwards that Takahashi realized the price his company had paid.

"We didn't have any officers at the end of the rescue, one or two sergeants maybe. There were maybe 8 to 10 of I Company. That's how depleted our company was - injured or killed. So we took quite a beating." He estimates a full company would have about 100 men to send out. In the end, 211 of the Lost Battalion were saved, while the 442nd suffered numerous casualties.

But their work was far from over. Against great odds, they would see this war to its end, fighting through the Po Valley and Carrara (where one of Takahashi's best friends was killed) until the Gothic Line was completely shattered and the Germans had finally surrendered.

Takahashi said there was not much celebrating when the war ended because "we felt sorry for the boys that didn't come back." Now in his late 80s, Takahashi views his Bronze Star as unexceptional. "I just did my work," he added humbly.

As for what he would tell future generations about the 442nd, he has one request, perhaps made more on behalf of others than himself: "Not to forget us."

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