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"The first thing I think about is I better not move. They might finish me off." (Video Interview, Part II, 12:07)

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   Norman Saburo Ikari
Image of Norman Saburo Ikari
Norman Ikari, Camp Grant, Illinois, 1942
War: World War, 1939-1945
Branch: Army
Unit: 442nd Regimental Combat Team
Service Location: Camp Grant, Illinois; Camp Shelby, Mississippi; Naples, Italy; Camp Ritchie, Maryland; Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Rank: Sergeant
Place of Birth: WA
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The demands and pressures placed on young Japanese American men who served their country during World War II while their families were confined to detention centers can't be understated. And for men like Norman Ikari, who served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, that pressure was intensified, as the 442nd, also known as the Go For Broke division, fought in some of the European Theater's most intense battles.

Interview (Video)
»Interview Highlights  (8 clips)
»Complete Interview  (116 min.)
  Photos
»Photo Album (19 photos)
 Memoirs
»Narrative: Norman S. Ikari [December 2003]
 Official Documents
»View List (6 items)
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 Video (Interview Excerpts) (8 items)
The Great Depression's effect on his family; move to California, first encounter with discrimination. (02:02) Getting into the baby chick business; working in northwestern Ohio; how December 7th changed his life. (11:03) First duty assignment; family scattered by evacuation order; visiting his mother in the internment camp; encountering discrimination even though he was in uniform. (05:11)
Asking for transfer to 442nd ; Army expands its search for Japanese American recruits. (05:46) Friction between mainland and Hawaiian recruits in the 442nd. (06:58) First duty in Italy as an "SP." (02:38)
Getting wounded and tended to by medic Kelly Kuwayama. (06:28) Back to the States; visits with his family; an unusual assignment, which he refused. (05:57) 
  
 Official Documents (6 items)
Unidentified military document [April 28, 1943] Company Morning Report [November 29, 1943] General Orders Number 100 [August 3, 1944]
Letter notifying of award of Bronze Star [April 8, 1948] Travel Orders [May 23, 1945] Honorable Discharge and Report of Separation
  
 
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  October 26, 2011
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