A Note of Heartfelt Thanks
The Hardwick sisters always wanted to thank the men of the 442nd Regiment for saving their father, Sgt. Bill Hardwick, during WWII. They finally got their chance.
The flapping single piece of white paper stuck onto one of the granite walls of the Japanese American National Monument immediately caught Dr. Raymond Murakami's attention one recent blistering January afternoon.
"Dammit," he thought, "Someone's defacing the monument again," and rushed over to take the piece of paper down before the Japanese embassy folks he was escorting on a docent tour of the D.C. monument could see it.
But with a quick glance down at the note, Murakami did not see any racist graffiti but a photo of a smiling man above a handwritten note. It read: "Thank you 442 RCT for rescuing our father, Oct. 30, 1944, 1 600 hrs. Our father always said you were the only ones who could do it!"
The letter was signed by Janet Hardwick Brown and Susan Hardwick, daughters of the man in the photo: Sgt. Bill Hardwick, a member of the "Lost Battalion" who had been rescued by the Japanese American soldiers of the 442nd during World War II.
"It brought tears to my eyes," said Murakami, 79, president of the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation and a former member of the U.S. Army's Occupation Forces. "It was a very emotional thing for me."
He immediately photocopied the letter and passed it around to his fellow vets at a Japanese American Veterans Association meeting later that same week. The note's warm message soon had many of the Nisei men tearing up.
"I was very touched that children of Lost Battalion men would visit the Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism in Washington, D.C. ... to leave a warm and caring note of thanks for saving their father," said Terry Shima, a 442nd veteran and JAVA executive director. "I am in touch with the children of at least six Lost Battalion men and they all have said, 'if it weren't for the courageous Japanese Americans we would not be here today.'"
A Journey of Two Sisters
Since the Hardwick sisters had left no phone numbers or e-mails on their note of thanks, the JA vets were at first hard pressed to locate them. But soon they realized these were the same two sisters who had recently contacted some of the 442nd vets via e-mail.
"We have been on a quest to find the veterans of the 442nd," said Janet, 64, who spoke to the Pacific Citizen from her home in North Carolina.
Since this past summer both Janet and Susan have used the power of the Internet to locate members of the 442nd Regiment and send messages of thanks. But they wanted to do more than send e-mails and that's when they learned about the JA National Monument in D.C.
"We've always had a strong feeling of gratitude, a sentimental journey for what those fellows did for our dad. We wanted to make a special effort to find and visit the memorial," said Susan, 61, a real estate broker living in Indiana. "It was our number one goal."
This past Christmas while visiting Janet's son in Northern Virginia, the Hardwick sisters set out Dec. 27 to visit the Monument in downtown D.C. They toured the site, read the panels, and took photos.
"At the time there was no way to make a statement. We wanted to let someone know we were there. That we cared and we wanted to thank them," said Susan. That's when she came up with the idea to leave their note.
The trip to the D.C. monument also fulfilled a longstanding wish of their father's who had always wanted to locate the men of the 442nd. Unfortunately, Bill passed away of cancer in 1973 at the young age of 51 before he could pass on his message of thanks. Now his daughters are speaking for him.
"We were fulfilling a wish of our dad's. It was always his dream to find them," said Janet. "And we were fulfilling a wish of mine. To thank them for what they did so our father could come home."
The Rescue of Sgt. Bill Hardwick
Janet was just two years old when her father set off to fight in the Vosges Mountains during WWII. And like many military men, her father Bill spoke little of his wartime experiences upon his return, except for one particular story.
"My father spoke sparingly of the war but one story he told often was about the 442nd," said Janet. "He always believed the 442nd ... were handpicked. That they were the only ones who could save them."
Bill often told his family about being stranded in the Vosges Mountains for a week after several failed rescue attempts; of seeing the men of the 442nd battle their way up the hill to fight off the Germans; and of finally being rescued by the heroic JA soldiers. He also told them about sharing a cigarette with one of those JA soldiers on that desolate mountain, a man whose name he regretted never finding out.
"Our father would tell us how [the 442nd] kept fighting until they reached him ... of how grateful he was to them," said Janet. "He said there was no success until the 442nd came."
Although injured during the battles of WWII, Sgt. Bill Hardwick did come home to his sweetheart Pat with whom he would enjoy a 30-plus year marriage. He would also go on to have a long career in public service, ultimately serving as a state legislator in his hometown of Indiana.
"If it wasn't for the 442nd we would never have known [our dad]," said Janet, who continues to tell her father's stories to her children and grandchildren. "It would have been a travesty if he hadn't come home."
Coming Full Circle
In January 2006 Janet and Susan lost their mother Pat. Shortly after the funeral Janet and Susan were going through their mother's old things when they found some photo albums and their dad's wartime journal. Memories of the 442nd seemed to jump off the pages and it was at that moment the sisters began their journey to locate the JA vets.
"Our mom always talked sentimentally about those guys (the 442nd)," said Susan.
The first 442nd veteran the sisters were able to find was John Hayashi. His name had appeared in a local newspaper article and after some digging, Janet found a John Hayashi in a local directory and decided to give him a call. It turned out to be the person they were looking for and Hayashi soon put the sisters in touch with other 442nd vets.
The Hardwick sisters' efforts to thank the JA soldiers have not only touched the veterans but their children too.
"I am so very touched and heartened by the Hardwick Sisters' sincere efforts to locate 442nd RCT Japanese American soldiers, who participated in rescuing 'The Lost Battalion,' especially since my dad suffered near mortal wounds during that campaign," said Carol Akiyama, daughter of 442nd vet Mickey Makio Akiyama. "On behalf of their remarkable father and families, the Hardwick sisters have lovingly expressed words of heartfelt appreciation, for which my dad and I are grateful."
In the summer of 2008 the sisters are planning to attend the final reunion of the 442nd veterans in Honolulu. They hope to be able to finally convey their thank-yous in person.
"It has been a really wonderful experience for both of us," said Susan, adding with a smile, "I think [our dad] probably knows what's going on."
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