Weary Japanese-American soldiers of the 100th Infantry Battalion -- Daniel Inouye's unit -- take a rest in Leghorn, Italy. July 19, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-192071)

Near Velletri, Italy, Japanese-Americans of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 34th Division advance along a dusty road. May 28, 1944

Source: National Archives (111-SC-186637)

Japanese-American soldiers of the 442nd RCT, 2nd Battalion. November 11, 1944

Source: National Archives (111-SC-196516)

Japanese-American infantrymen of the 442nd RCT run for cover from a German artillery shelling. Italy, April 4, 1945.

Source: National Archives (WC-1031)

Japanese-American soldiers of Co. E, 442nd RCT train at Camp Shelby, MS. May 13, 1943. Daniel Inouye is in the right column, second from the front.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-176302)

Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.

Source: Daniel Inouye

Daniel Inouye, the son of a Japanese immigrant, was born in Hawaii, September 7, 1924. He was a seventeen year old high school senior on December 7, 1941, and witnessed first hand the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As a Red Cross volunteer he helped tend to the many civilian . . .

Daniel Inouye, right, and his father. Inouye would receive the Medal of Honor 55 years after he was badly wounded in Italy.

Source: Daniel Inouye

Daniel Inouye home on furlough.

Source: Daniel Inouye

Portrait of 2LT Daniel K. Inouye. Co. E, 2d Bn., 442d RCT.

Source: U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii (USAMH2986)

Sgt. Daniel K. Inouye cuts hair at Camp Shelby in Meridian, Mississippi. March 31, 1944

Source: U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii (USAMH3042)

Daniel Inouye's War Department ID. Inouye volunteered for the all Japanese-American 442nd RCT.

Source: Daniel Inouye

Thanks to African-American blood, Daniel Inouye survived his wounds.

Describing the action that earned him a Medal of Honor, Inouye said, "What the men told me I did, I said, 'No, it can't be. ' "

Even a decorated soldier in uniform experienced racial prejudice back home.

A trip to an internment camp changed his opinion of mainland Japanese Americans.

For maybe the first time in U.S. history, every citizen seemed involved in the war effort.

Japanese-Americans of the 100th Infantry Battalion after 16 days of fighting for control of Leghorn, Italy. July 15, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-340923)

The fall of Rome just before D-Day had boosted morale but it had not ended the fighting in Italy. The Allies had failed to destroy the German army, and as it fell back, Hitler sent in reinforcements, resolved to make the Allies pay for every inch of territory they gained. . .

Robert Kashiwagi was born Feb 11, 1919, in Hayward, California, and grew up 15 miles from Sacramento, in Knights Landing, where his father was foreman on a large rice farm. After graduating from Woodland High School in 1937 he went to work on the farm. His draft number came up . . .