The time period of World War 2 is not easy for Japanese Americans. They have been sent to internment camps in fear that they still have loyalty to Japan. That is what happens to Yuki Nakahara. Yuki has pledged full loyalty to America, but other American people still don’t trust him. He decides he needs to prove it by enlisting in the United States Army and fight against the Germans. He convinces his friend Shig to enlist with and after about a year of training, they set sail to Italy. Yuki is part of the Japanese American regiment known as the 4-4-2. The regiment is put through countless seemingly impossible battles, because the generals believe that the 4-4-2 is less important than other regiments composed of white soldiers. Yuki does very well in battle, but loses many of his friends that he met in training camp. This book is told by the author, Dean Hughes. I think Hughes wants the reader to know how the Japanese Americans were treated in America and the Japanese American soldiers fighting in the war. It’s something that people need to know so we can learn from it and not let history repeat itself. One part of the book that both challenged me and surprised was when Yuki returns home from war. He is taking a train back to the internment camp that his family is currently living in. the train stops in Denver for an hour, so Yuki decides to get a haircut. When he enters the barbershop, the barber says, “Sorry soldier, but we don’t cut Jap hair here. You need to turn around and walk back out that door”(Hughes 229). Before returning from war, Yuki had received a purple heart and a silver star for going above and beyond the call of duty. He was wearing those medals on his uniform when he walked into the barbershop. To me, getting a purple heart and a silver star is proving loyalty to your country. But the barber just thinks of Yuki as another Jap that he can’t trust. This book helps me realize that at the end of the day, no matter what race or religion, we are all Americans. Everybody has the right to live in this country with the same rights as anybody else. They should not have to risk their life, go through the horrors of war and receive a life threatening injury, just to get a haircut.Also, after reading this book I have a new perspective of World War 2. I always that that our white American soldier fought back and defeated the Germans for the United States, which did happen. But I had no idea that there was an entire battle regiment composed of all Japanese American soldiers, and that they were a major help in winning the war. Without the 4-4-2, who knows how the war might have changed or ended. By Galen I.
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AuthorSTenth grade students at Decorah High School share how they're reading outside of their own experiences and how it has changed them. Categories
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