Organized in 1943 and deployed in 1944, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team holds the distinction of bring the most decorated fighting unit in U.S. history, ending World War II with over 4,000 Purple Hearts, about 4,000 Bronze Stars, 371 Silver Stars, Seven Presidential Unit Citations, and 21 recipients of the Medal of Honor. They would later be made honorary Texans, receive a collective Congressional Gold Medal, and all surviving members were inducted into the French Legion d'Honneur in 2012. The other main distinction of the unit was that the fighting ranks were almost entirely made up of natural born Japanese American citizens, primarily from Hawaii (including men who were active duty U.S. soldiers or Hawaiian Territorial Guardsmen before Pearl Harbor but were summarily discharged as a potential security risk) and the West Coast (recruited directly out of internment camps) during the initial formation. Deployed for action in Europe, the 442nd saw heavy fighting in Italy and France, where they earned a reputation for heavy aggression against the enemy even in the face of overwhelming firepower and heavy casualties. Their combat in France would include the rescue of the "Lost Battalion", the 1st Battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment, which spent six days cut off and surrounded by German forces, ending when the 442nd fought their way into and beyond the encirclement at heavy cost, suffering about 800 casualties in the process. After a period of rest and rebuilding (during which a 442nd patrol spotted and captured a German midget submarine), the 552nd Field Artillery Battalion would be detached for service in Germany (the only documented Japanese-American unit to advance into Germany), participating in the liberation of at least one concentration camp, while the rest returned to Italy to help in breeching the main German fortifications of the Gothic Line. The items in this lot are all related to Takesaburo Oshiro (aka Walter Takesaburo Oshiro, having legally changed his name post-WWII), a member of the 442nd from Hawaii who volunteered for service in February of 1943 and was honorably discharged in 1946, having served with the 552nd Field Artillery Battalion as a truck driver. Included with the grouping are two Selective Service cards (one registration, one for volunteering), a set of postcards from Oshiro to his family (plus one addressed to Oshiro's sister from a different source), a collection of photographs of soldiers and military scenes (including ones of a soldier wearing an "OSHIRO" name tape), photocopies of documentation relevant to Oshiro's service, rank insignia for PFC and Technician Fifth Grade, Artillery branch lapel pin, Good Conduct Medal ribbon pin, two Presidential Unit Citation ribbons, assorted pins and patches (including ones for the 442nd), Life Membership cards for the 442nd Veteran's Club), and a copy of the book Americans: The Story of the 442nd Combat Team by Shirey. The Americans book contains a number of hand-written notations, including "THATS(sic)/ME" written next to T/5 Oshiro's name on the 552nd Headquarters roster. Provenance: The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection

Items are good overall, showing wear appropriate to age and handling.