Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II

The 442nd RCT arrived in Marseilles, France, in late September of 1944. This port city was heavily damaged, making it difficult to unload the vehicles and weapons. The soldiers then headed through the Rhône Valley up north. Generals Omar Bradley and George Patton, as well as Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, led the troops “facing the beast, preparing to assault Germany’s last defensive line—the Siegfried Line” (326).

Kats Miho’s friend Dan Aoki introduced him to Daniel Inouye, who also “seemed like someone who liked to ponder things” (328). George Saito wrote to his father to console him following his brother’s death. 40 miles from the German border, in the Vosges Mountains, the soldiers were now under the leadership of General E. Dahlquist and were attached to the Seventh Army’s Thirty-Sixth Infantry Division, comprising mainly Texas and Oklahoma members of the National Guard.

The first objective was “to secure the high ground around the small town of Bruyères”—a point where roads converged (331). To do so, the 442nd had to take Hills A, B, C, D. As usual, the 522nd provided artillery cover, “doing their best to inflict the same degree of suffering on the Germans” (332). George Saito was killed in the operation.