ROME - ARNO CAMPAIGN
LUCIANA - LIVORNO - ARNO
In July 1944, near Livorno, at the “knee” of the
boot of Italy, the newly merged 100th
Infantry Battalion and 442nd
Regimental Combat Team fought for three grueling weeks.
The Nisei
GIs had to cross the rolling hills, and the already-harvested
wheat fields . The Germans could easily see the approaching Americans
from their hilltop observation posts. The 100th and 2nd Battalions
led the attack. Their objective - Hill 140. The Germans fired
their mortars and powerful 88’s with devastating accuracy
- wounding all the officers in G Company, except for one.
For three days the Nisei fought from their vulnerable
position. As the casualties mounted, the men renamed Hill 140
“Little Cassino.” The rocky terrain made it hard to
dig slit trenches for protection from enemy shelling. Six men
in L Company were wiped out from a single shell. Other Nisei
were hit by enemy machine-gun and sniper fire.
Yet every man in the 442nd knew that he was not alone. The medics
braved enemy fire to patch up the wounded. The Antitank Company
carried the wounded. The 232nd
Engineers swept for mines and built bypasses to keep the vital
supply lines open. The 522nd
Field Artillery Battalion fired quickly and accurately to
protect the infantry and prevent enemy penetration. After two
more days of heavy artillery shelling, the 442nd finally captured
Hill 140.
At the front line, hundreds of infantrymen fought enemy fire
and protected each other. On July 4, 1944, Private
First Class Frank Ono’s squad was pinned down by machine
gun fire. Ono advanced alone, shooting his rifle and then throwing
grenades. He deliberately stopped to give first aid to two wounded
soldiers. Then in an exposed position he made himself a target
until his platoon could withdraw safely. Nearby, Private
First Class William Nakamura’s squad was also pinned
down. Nakamura crawled within 20 yards of an enemy machine gun.
He lobbed four grenades and silenced it. He remained behind, alone,
to cover his retreating platoon, but was killed by sniper fire.
Nakamura died on Hill 140, on Independence Day - a sacrifice
made even more tragic given that Nakamura volunteered to serve
the America that had imprisoned him behind the barbed wire of
Minidoka concentration camp. The two privates earned Distinguished
Service Crosses (DSC). In all, more than 11 DSCs were awarded
for action in the three-week battle. A half a century later, America
upgraded five of these DSCs to Medals
of Honor. They were awarded to Ono,
Nakamura,
Technical Sergeant
Tanouye, Staff
Sergeant Otani (a volunteer from Gila River camp) and Private
Moto. Moto, an islander, was part of the original 100th Battalion.
Just a few weeks later, another private in the 100th made history.
A lone, Nisei private adamantly refused to let a colonel
and his long truck convoy enter Livorno without orders. He and
the 100th were assigned to guard the highway into Livorno and
prevent looting. When word shot back to headquarters, General
Mark Clark, Commander of the Fifth Army gathered his staff and
a group of newsmen. He put his arm around the five-foot-tall Nisei
private and said, “. . . I selected the 100th because I
knew my orders would be carried out. I can depend on the 100th
to successfully carry out any mission. . . This private is an
example of that trust.”
Meanwhile, from July 18-20, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions took the
strategic city of Pisa.
July 25 through August 15 was a time of ceremony and rest for
the three Battalions of the 442nd. The 100th was presented with
its Presidential
Unit Citation for its action in Belvedere. Some of the men
in the 2nd Battalion formed an honor guard for His Majesty King
George VI of England.
During the last two weeks of August, the Nisei patrolled
the Arno River. The 100th was near Pisa, while the 2nd and 3rd
Battalions were near Florence. On September 1, the Allies
crossed the Arno. The 2nd and 3rd ran into concentrated opposition
and suffered numerous casualties. But the 100th was virtually
unopposed. Some speculated that the Germans had already withdrawn
to fortify the Gothic Line strung along the Appenine Mountains.
From Rome to Arno, the 100/442 had lost 1,272 men (17 missing,
44 non-combat injuries, 972 wounded, and 239 killed) - more than
a quarter of its total strength. This is the price it paid for
40 miles of Italian countryside and for forcing the Germans into
retreat.
Many of the Allied generals in Italy believed the time was right
to drive the weakened retreating Germans through the Appenines
and back to the Alps. But instead, Generals Eisenhower and Marshall,
who needed troops for the invasion of Southern France, ordered
seven divisions, including the 442nd, to pull back from the Gothic
Line.
The Nisei would be back.
