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Popular Culture Review
Hawaii; his parents were killed during Pearl Harbor. In epitomizing their respective
backgrounds, these two characters depict the true 442nd soldier:
Tommy: We show ‘em. We show ‘em us buddhaheads good
soldiers. Good Americans.
Sam: That’s the idea. 1 hope it works.
In the film, the term “buddhahead'’ serves both as an insult and a term of endeannent
for the Nisei. Crost explains the term: ‘‘Mainlanders called Islanders 'buddhaheads,’
a term of contempt derived from the Japanese word 'buta,’ meaning 'p ig '” (67).
After finishing their training, the unit goes to Europe. The underlying
desire of the Japanese American soldier in this movie is to fight in the Pacific
against the enemy that looks like them. They want to prove that they are "good
Americans.” And these soldiers prove their patriotism time and again during combat
in Italy and France. They "go for broke,” the Hawaiian Japanese slang expression
for "shooting the works in a dice game” (Carter); it serves as the 442nd’s motto,
exemplifying the Nisei’s "all or nothing” fighting attitude and esprit de corps.
The theme of racial prejudice, embodied in the actions and attitude of
Grayson, subtly encompasses the unfair treatment of other minorities. During the
442nd’s time in Italy, Capt. Solari (Dan Riss), one of the officers of the 442nd
introduced at the beginning of the film, informs Grayson that his old unit, which
he has tried to rejoin during the course of the film, has shipped out:
Solari: Looks like you’re stuck with us for the rest of the war.
Grayson: A guy gets into fighting the Japs and winds up fighting
with them. That’s a hot one when you come to think of it.
Solari: Oh, I don’t know. A lot of us have parents who were
born in enemy countries— Italian A m ericans, Germ an
Americans...
Grayson: That’s different, sir, and you know it.
Solari: Why?
Grayson: Well, it’s ...
Solari: The shape of their eyes? Or is it the color of their skin?
Ironically, Grayson finally gets his wish to rejoin his old unit when the
442nd lands in France and is assigned to the 36th "Texas” Division. Grayson
becomes a liaison officer and leaves the men he trained and fought with. However,
by this time Grayson seems to have turned around, finally learning to trust the
Japanese American soldiers in combat. Toward the end of the film, he becomes a
staunch defender of the Nisei soldiers and even goes as far as to knock out one of