442nd RCT Officer’s Uniform Grouping

[36thIDAlex]

Hey y’all, very happy to finally share this great and rare 442nd officer’s group I managed to pick up a couple months ago. 

     This set belonged to Captain Norman F. Kurlan of Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Enlisting in the Army in June 1942, he went to OCS in 1943, graduating only a week after the 442nd was formed. He was sent to the regiment as one of its cadre white officers (Nisei were initially not trusted to command) at Camp Shelby and was assigned to the regiment’s Anti-Tank Company. Before going overseas, however, he was transferred to command the Anti-Tank Platoon of the 2nd Battalion’s HQ Company. This was the role he held for most of his combat time.

 

      I am always ecstatic to preserve items from the 442nd, given their connection to the 36th Division and my own personal efforts preserving their history in my undergraduate thesis. Fittingly, this group was a real stunner to add. Beyond the gorgeous cut-down ike jacket with its beautiful Italian-made insignia, the set features his patched overcoat and several shirts. 

 

      Thankfully I was able to find a plethora of information about Kurlan’s time in the 442nd. On the first day that the 442nd went into combat Kurlan’s platoon lost three of the division’s first casualties when a tree-burst round hit directly over top one of his concealed gun positions. A few days later, his anxiousness to get into the action led him to command a gun to fire upon a German self-propelled gun over a mile well, well out of their accurate range. While they never did anything to the tank, the Germans found their muzzle flash and sent plenty of arty their way, leading the rest of the HQ company to become quite annoyed at him and the platoon. Even so, he managed to improve his skills and become a capable combat leader, especially proving his abilities by using his to save countless lives at Hill 140, “Little Cassino,” by leading his men to act as stretcher bearers when their 57mm guns proved ineffective.

 

      Kurlan quickly rose in prestige, becoming a very effective and respected member of the battalion. In the Vosges, while serving under the 36th Infantry Division, he played an important role leading his anti-tank gun crews to abandon their weapons, useless in the dense forested hills, and take up bazookas to help support the rest of the battalion as they faced severe German counter attacks supported by armor. His actions helped the battalion to stave off the German forces, allowing the capture of the critical Hill 555 and the city of Bruyeres just on the other side of it. Throughout the 442nd’s drive alongside the 36th he oversaw the actions of the anti-tank platoon, sorted and secured prisoners, maintained litter teams for casualties, and brought up ammunition and supplies to keep the frontline infantry in the fight. He was not one to simply let his anti-tank gunners sit there out of the action, he made sure all the Nisei got the support they needed.

 

      During the Vosges battles the battalion S-4 Supply Officer, Donald Rowlands, was wounded while performing actions that would earn him the Silver Star. Permanently out of the fight, however, Kurlan was tasked to take on his job in addition to his anti-tank platoon leader duties. It was in this job that he spent the majority of his time during the infamous “lost battalion” rescue of the surrounded men from the 141st Infantry Regiment. While the 2nd Battalion’s infantry had an important job of securing the regiment’s flank for the rescuers, Kurlan’s mission was to evacuate the many, many wounded and bring food, supplies, and ammunition up the dense, overgrown, jungle-like forest conditions of the Vosges in the wet winter cold. Thankfully, he excelled, and after the 442nd was detached from the 36th Division he took on the role more permanently, although still assisting in anti-tank duties. 

 

      He stayed with the 442nd until they all sailed home in July 1946, seeing all of the regiment’s campaigns, battles, and triumphs. By the end of his career, he had not picked up any singular valor citations, but had the very unique honor of holding three of the 442nd’s seven total Presidential Unit Citations. This was only possible due to his switching of roles between anti-tank platoon leader and supply officer, as he was involved in extra actions that the standard infantry companies were not involved in. I have yet to ever see another 442nd uniform with three PUCs as he wore. 

 

      After the war, he remained a passionate advocate for the Nisei and forever spoke highly of his men. In 1946 he and the commanding officer spent several months traveling around Hawaii to visit the families of Nisei who had been killed in action. Once he retired in 1947, he began speaking circuits, traveling around the country detailing the heroism, valor, and sacrifice of the Nisei for a country which had neglected, abused, and mistreated them. He always stood up for his boys, referring to them as the “best darn combat outfit in the world.” He ended up being one of the first presidents of the 442nd Veterans Club Association and remained active in their ranks up until his death. A proud soldier and 442nd officer through and through, he decided to be buried in Arlington amongst the ranks of dozens of other Nisei whom he served and led.

 

You can find my full article about Kurlan and his service here: https://www.36thdivisionarchive.com/pa-eto-kurlan

 

     It’s not common to find anything from the 442nd, much less a nice grouping from one of its officers who was so passionate about leading and advocating the social advancement of the men he served with. It’s an honor to keep his story and to share it as long as he is represented in my collection.

[36thIDAlex]

[manayunkman]

Love your group!

 

I have a 442nd officer group myself thanks to the late Bob Hudson.

[36thIDAlex]

On 9/27/2023 at 10:35 AM, manayunkman said:

Love your group!

 

I have a 442nd officer group myself thanks to the late Bob Hudson.

Thanks much! Very cool to hear of another one. Would love to see it if you'd be willing to send pics in a PM!

[Bluehawk]

> I wrote this thumbnail sketch of the 442nd in May this year, so it's great to see this thread about one of them:

 

[excerpt]

The 442nd Infantry Regiment was constituted on June 4, 1942, as the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate). It was activated on June 12, 1942, at Oakland, California, with personnel from the Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion. "The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was organized on March 23, 1943. Within a month, 2,686 volunteers from Hawai'i and 1,500 from the U.S. mainland were in Camp Shelby, Mississippi, for basic training. The 442nd included three infantry battalions, the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, the 232nd Combat Engineers Company, an Anti Tank Company, a Cannon Company, Medical Detachment, and the 206th Army Ground Forces Band. On May 1, 1944, the RCT, minus the 1st Battalion, left for Italy, where it joined the 100th Infantry Battalion just north of Rome. The 1st Battalion had been sending troops to replace the killed and wounded in the 100th, and its ranks were substantially depleted; the men still in the Battalion were reserved in place as training officers for the next group of volunteers at Shelby. The 442nd entered combat north of Rome in June 1944 when it incorporated the 100th Battalion, which, because of its outstanding combat record, was allowed to keep its designation. Thus, the infantry units in the RCT were the 100th, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions. The 442nd was attached to the 5th Army."
                   
The regimental motto most often associated with the 442nd IR, "Go for Broke," as presented on the unit’s DUI, originated in slang used during gambling, perhaps especially in Craps, to denote going all in, "shooting the works," risking everything on one roll of dice in betting. It is not readily known who started the tradition in the regiment or if it was simply spontaneous. The phrase became something of a rallying cry amongst stateside Japanese in America as well during WWII, cheering on their team in battle despite government-imposed extreme deprivations being endured here at home. On February 19, 1942, FDR issued Executive Order 9066, which led to the forced relocation of approximately 120,000 Japanese living on the West Coast. More than two-thirds of these people were native-born citizens. Japanese had been coming to North America since the late 1500s, and the first to reach present-day California arrived in 1815. The nickname sometimes attributed to this unit, "Purple Heart Battalion," belongs to the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), which was a component of the 442nd IR. Poignantly, their Regimental Combat Team’s SSI depicts Lady Liberty’s upraised hand and torch, offering a beacon for all who seek freedom..."

 

Source:

https://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/newsletter2/118/newsletter.html

[Bellumbill]

Very nice grouping - Does any of your paperwork mention a "Lt. Scotland" in the anti-tank company?  I have his uniform - he made the landing in southern france and was awarded glider wings.

 

Very best,

Bill K.

[Timberwolf]

19 minutes ago, Bellumbill said:

Very nice grouping - Does any of your paperwork mention a "Lt. Scotland" in the anti-tank company?  I have his uniform - he made the landing in southern france and was awarded glider wings.

 

Very best,

Bill K.

Would love to see pics of that one 

[36thIDAlex]

18 hours ago, Bellumbill said:

Very nice grouping - Does any of your paperwork mention a "Lt. Scotland" in the anti-tank company?  I have his uniform - he made the landing in southern france and was awarded glider wings.

 

Very best,

Bill K.

Oh that's very cool! Would love to see it. I'll check my files when I get the chance to see. My guy transferred out of the AT Co to oversee the AT Platoon of 2nd Btn before going to combat but Scotland may show up. 

[manayunkman]

Were there members of the 442nd awarded glider wings?

 

 I’m confused.

[Backtheattack]

Wonderfull grouping! Like the IKE, and the great background!

[Bellumbill]

23 hours ago, manayunkman said:

Were there members of the 442nd awarded glider wings?

 

 I’m confused.

Yes the AT company was flown in gliders into southern France for Dragoon operation.  I have a copy of my guys orders awarding him glider badge.

Best

Bill K

 

 

[manayunkman]

56 minutes ago, Bellumbill said:

Yes the AT company was flown in gliders into southern France for Dragoon operation.  I have a copy of my guys orders awarding him glider badge.

Best

Bill K

 

 

I didn’t know this.

 

We’re they qualified to wear an Airborne tab?

[atb]

I don't think the AT Company was designated as "AIRBORNE."  And, since the tab is not an individual's indicator of airborne qualification, probably not.

 

[manayunkman]

On 9/28/2023 at 11:22 AM, 36thIDAlex said:

Thanks much! Very cool to hear of another one. Would love to see it if you'd be willing to send pics in a PM!

All my pictures disappeared into the cloud and I haven’t taken the time to figure out how to get them back but there are several threads here with parts of the collection pictured.

 

I had to deal with 4 different people to get it all back together, it had been divided up at an estate sale 2000 miles away. 

[manayunkman]

1 hour ago, Bellumbill said:

Yes the AT company was flown in gliders into southern France for Dragoon operation.  I have a copy of my guys orders awarding him glider badge.

Best

Bill K

 

 

I would love to see pictures of this collection.

 

You should start a thread if you feel inclined to do so.

[36thIDAlex]

On 10/27/2023 at 2:26 PM, manayunkman said:

All my pictures disappeared into the cloud and I haven’t taken the time to figure out how to get them back but there are several threads here with parts of the collection pictured.

 

I had to deal with 4 different people to get it all back together, it had been divided up at an estate sale 2000 miles away. 

Ah unfortunate to hear. If you ever do get around to more pics please do send some! Would love to see it. I’m glad you were able to get everything back together, always how I try to be with groups. 
 

And for your glider wings question, he answered spot on. Members of the AT company detached in July 44 to prepare for southern France where they supported the 517th AB. They fought with them and the landing forces up until the rest of the 442nd came to the Vosges in October.