[Wartime Archive of Letters, a Battlefield Sketch, and Manuals from George Okano and Jiro Okano, both Soldiers in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team]

[Various locations, including Wyoming, New York, Mississippi, and others, 1950. Very good.. Ten manuscript or typed letters, a pencil sketch of a mortar field, a penciled for a "Mortar Range," five greeting cards, two photographs, five War Ration books, a small collection of manuals and pamphlets, and assorted ephemera. Occasional minor wear and some soiling to letters, some wear to manuals and pamphlets. A tidy collection of letters, an original pencil sketch and accompanying manuscript documents, military and other manuals and pamphlets, received greeting cards and V-Mail, two photographs, and assorted ephemera sent to or belonging to a pair of Japanese-American brothers who both served in the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team during the Second World War, and assorted members of their family. Most of the letters are sent to George or Jiro Okano, and from a variety of correspondents including a fellow soldier (writing from Camp Robinson, Arkansas) and various family members and friends. Two of the letters were actually sent by George - one to his parents and another to Jiro while George was in training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. George's letter to his parents emanates from his time in the hospital in New York after being wounded in the leg in Italy earlier in 1944. His letter to Jiro appears to be the final page of a multi-page letter (other pages not present) sent while in training at Camp Shelby, in which George asks Jiro to fashion a dagger for him, and counsels him to take care of himself.

One interesting letter was written to Jiro by a friend named Dave Miyomoto in Michigan. Among other issues, Miyomoto asks Jiro to help him secure his car, as "Seeming niseis won't be in the army for awhile they may send my car to your place via an American kid, driving it over." The letter is dated just two months after the issuance of Executive Order 9066, and illustrates the disarray such a decree caused in the lives of Japanese Americans across the country. Miyamoto would eventually become brother-in-law to the Okano brothers, marrying their sister Haruko. A couple of the letters are written to Jiro and his sister Marion Okano by their cousin, Taro. Though most of the letters emanate from 1942-1944, one of the letters is written in Japanese, and was sent to "K. Okano" (likely George and Jiro's father Kakuji Okano) in 1921, and another was sent to George and Jiro's sister Pauline in 1950 from a friend named Joe at Michigan State University. Two pieces of V-Mail are also present here, both sent to Jiro Okano in Rock Springs - one from his brother George in April 1944 reporting on camp life (perhaps from Italy) and another from a year earlier from a fellow soldier named Earl Crapo, stationed in England. Both V-mail letters were routed through the postmaster in New York.

The most impactful item in the present collection is a pair of pencil sketches on a single sheet picturing a mortar field outside Cassino, Italy, dated February 9 and 10, 1944. The sketch of February 9th is titled, "Overlay for Mortar Section. Sec. leader S/Sgt. Geo. Okano Feb. 9, 1944." The sketches are executed on a piece of Camp Shelby stationery and picture two mortar fields with topographical elements, encampments for two units (labeled "1st" and "3rd"), the placement of 60mm guns, and various labeled targets spread out in the field. Though no location is given by Okano, the sketches must have been created by George Okano during movements outside Cassino, Italy, when Okano was serving as a forward observer for 60mm mortar placements. The sketch is accompanied by both a manuscript range card and a partially-printed range card completed by Okano in pencil, neither of these giving the location either. But the fact that the sketches indicate the location of two units - the "1st" and "3rd" - dovetails with the fact that the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 133rd Regiment were fighting together on those two days in 1944, when they were shelling the town of Cassino, Italy. The 442nd served with the 133rd Regiment during the protracted Battle of Monte Cassino, which resulted in massive casualties for the Japanese-American unit but also allowed the Nisei soldiers to display epic bravery which helped establish the unit's reputation as fierce and brave fighters.

The collection of manuals present here include the smaller edition of the regimental history of the 442nd, titled The Story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Another notable artifact from George Okano's service is his copy of Pointers for Infantry Troop Leaders. The collection also includes three basic field manuals, a German-English dictionary, an Italian-language course book, and a history of the 34th Infantry Division. The two photographs present here picture Japanese-American subjects, but are not identified. Among the handful of ephemeral items include four Okano family war ration books, a key fob for the Disabled Veterans of America (likely belonging to George Okano as he earned four Purple Hearts during combat). A research-worthy archive of materials created by, sent to, and otherwise retained by a pair of well-decorated Japanese American veterans of the Second World War and their family. As a final note, both George and Jiro Okano are pictured and have detailed biographies on the Discover Nikkei website.