War is Declared

Formation of the Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion

In February 1942, when the War Department suggested that AJA soldiers be released from duty or transferred, Lt. Gen. Delos Emmons opposed the proposal, arguing that they were essential because of insufficient troop levels in Hawaiʻi. As a result, Japanese American soldiers in U.S. Army units such as the 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments remained in service and continued their defensive duties during this period of uncertainty.

In March 1942, Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy visited Hawaiʻi after supporting General John L. DeWitt’s implementation of Executive Order 9066. Signed in February 1942, the order authorized the mass removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans on the West Coast. While in Hawaiʻi, McCloy met with Emmons and inspected military units, including the 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments and the Varsity Victory Volunteers. He was reportedly impressed by the performance and discipline of the AJA soldiers he observed, and the visit contributed to a shift in his perspective.

Emmons, McCloy, Lt. Col. Kendall Fielder, and local civilian leaders discussed organizing Hawaiʻi’s AJA infantrymen into a separate combat unit for overseas service as a demonstration of loyalty and effectiveness. However, the War Department rejected the proposal amid continuing doubts about the reliability of Japanese American soldiers.

By late spring 1942, additional mainland reinforcements had arrived in Hawaiʻi, and in May the 298th Infantry Regiment was moved into reserve while newly arrived troops assumed many frontline defensive positions. At the same time, intelligence reports indicated that the Japanese navy was preparing a major offensive against Midway Atoll, a strategic outpost northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. Military leaders feared that if Midway fell to Japan, Hawaiʻi might be Japan’s next target.

Against this backdrop, General Emmons recommended to the War Department that a special battalion of AJA soldiers from the 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments be organized and transferred to the mainland. With fears of a possible Japanese attack on Hawaiʻi, concerns persisted within military leadership about the reliability of some AJA soldiers, and there were also worries that they might be mistaken for enemy troops in the event of an invasion.

In late May 1942, General George Marshall, the Army’s Chief of Staff, approved the formation of a provisional infantry battalion composed primarily of AJA soldiers from the 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments. Several AJA soldiers stationed at Schofield Barracks who had been assigned to the 3rd and 65th Engineer Combat Battalions of the 24th Infantry Division were also included in the new unit. Designated the Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion, it was ordered to depart Hawaiʻi on the first available transport.

Formation of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate)

Lieutenant Colonel Farrant L. Turner, executive officer of the 298th Infantry, immediately volunteered to command the battalion. Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, he had served as an officer in the National Guard since 1926 and was impressed with the outstanding performance of the AJA in the unit. Additionally, in his civilian position with a large supply company, Turner had worked with Issei contractors and gained insight into the values that guided their lives and that of their Nisei children.

For his second-in-command, the position of executive officer, Turner chose Captain James W. Lovell, who had served as his training officer in the Hawaiʻi National Guard. Born in Nebraska, Lovell had lived in Honolulu since 1930 and had taught and coached many Nisei and Sansei students at local schools. Many of his former students were now soldiers in the 298th and were pleased that he would be one of their officers. Turner and Lovell would become highly respected by the men of the 100th for the key roles they played in the battalion’s history.

Because Turner had been informed that no officer of Japanese ancestry could command a rifle company, he selected several haole (Hawaiian word for Caucasian) officers who had either been born in Hawaiʻi or had spent many years in the islands and were familiar with the local Japanese American community. These included Alex E. McKenzie, Philip B. Peck, John A. “Jack” Johnson, Clarence R. Johnson, and Charles A. Brenaman, all of whom had strong Hawaiʻi connections and were considered well suited to work with the AJA enlisted men.

Four Nisei officers were selected for Headquarters Company. Captain Taro Suzuki and Captain John M. Tanimura were Army Reserve officers who had been called to active duty in 1940 and were appointed supply officer and utilities officer, respectively. Captain Isaac A. Kawasaki, a physician in the Army Medical Corps who had entered active duty in 1941, served as the battalion surgeon. 1st Lieutenant Katsumi Kometani, a dentist and the only Nisei not discharged from the Hawaii Territorial Guard after the January 1942 dismissals, was appointed morale officer.

When Turner completed his appointments, 16 of the battalion’s officers were of Japanese ancestry. Most of the AJA officers were graduates of the University of Hawaiʻi who had earned their commissions by completing the ROTC program.

On May 28, 1942, the 1,432 men of the newly formed provisional infantry battalion assembled at Schofield Barracks. Although the overwhelming majority of the enlisted men were of Japanese ancestry, a small number of soldiers from other ethnic backgrounds also joined the unit. The soldiers were required to turn in their weapons, and no passes were issued. They were informed that they would be sent to somewhere on the mainland for training and were ordered to keep the information a secret from their families. Despite the secrecy, some learned of the departure and gathered at Honolulu Harbor to bid farewell to their sons and brothers.

On June 5, 1942, the Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion was formally organized at Schofield Barracks. The men boarded the transport ship USAT Maui and departed Hawaiʻi as part of a convoy of four transports under naval escort. No public announcement of the departure appeared in newspapers or radio broadcasts.

With fears of a possible Japanese invasion of Hawaiʻi and concerns for their families still lingering, many of the AJA soldiers initially felt uneasy about leaving the islands. Their spirits were later lifted by radio reports received at sea of the American victory at the Battle of Midway, which greatly reduced the threat of a Japanese invasion of Hawaiʻi.

Upon arriving in Oakland, California, the unit was officially activated on June 12, 1942, as the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), the first segregated combat unit in the U.S. Army composed primarily of Americans of Japanese ancestry.