Iraq-bound troops
hold historic colorsThe reservists are part of the
unit that earned prestige in WWII
A 1991 Gulf War veteran, who will now carry the colors of the famed World War II 100th Battalion into combat next year, says the feelings of many soldiers more than a decade ago were that U.S. forces would be back in Iraq because its dictator hadn't been eliminated.
Lt. Col. Joseph "Joe" Krakowiak, who assumed command of the Army Reserve's 100th Battalion/442nd Infantry in September 2002, was the operations officer for the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, and was involved in the coalition's main effort to take out Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard in February 1991.
"Our mission at the time was to ensure the liberation of Kuwait," said Krakowiak, 42, "but because we didn't address the problems of Iraq then to the man, myself included, many soldiers thought we would be back since Saddam (Hussein) hadn't been eliminated."
The 530 soldiers Krakowiak commands belong to the 100th Battalion/442nd Infantry, one of three battalions that make up the 3,100-member 29th Infantry Brigade. The brigade was alerted for combat duty, probably in Iraq, on Friday. More than 2,000 soldiers of the 29th Brigade are from Hawaii. Those soldiers, along with another 120 who got their notices in May, make up the largest alert in the history of the Hawaii Army National Guard.
The 29th Brigade's two other battalions are 2nd Battalion, 299th Infantry in Hilo; and 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry in Modesto, Calif., which includes 80 soldiers belonging to F Troop, 82nd Cavalry, based in Oregon.
Krakowiak, who joined the Army Reserve in 1999 after serving nearly 10 years on active duty, said he feels privileged to be carrying the colors of the 100th Battalion/442nd Infantry, the World War II unit comprised mostly of Japanese Americans who became the Army's most decorated unit, with 21 Medals of Honor, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, 588 Silver Stars, 5,200 Bronze Stars, and 9,486 Purple Hearts.
The 100th Battalion is the only remaining infantry unit in the Army Reserve force structure. The 442nd and 100th were inactivated in 1946 and reactivated in 1947 in the Army Reserve.
"Man, what an honor," said Krakowiak. "I am humbled by it ... What I want to pass on to my soldiers is that they continue to carry the unit's tradition of duty to family and duty to country. It's part of our legacy and we can't let the nation down."
Krakowiak also has a personal connection to the 100th Battalion and the 442nd. His wife's uncle, Larry Tanimoto, was a member of I Company of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Of the 530 soldiers in the 100th, 200 are from American Samoa, 50 live on Guam, and 70 in Saipan. In Hawaii, the 100th has 200 soldiers on Oahu and 15 on the Big Island.
The 29th Brigade soldiers will join 120 other citizen soldiers belonging to the Hawaii Army National Guard's 117th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, which will be sent to Afghanistan, while the 298th Engineer Detachment and the 12th Personnel Services Detachment will go to Iraq.
Already in Afghanistan are 60 aviators and helicopter mechanics from the Hawaii Guard's Bravo Company, 193rd Aviation. They left May 5 for Kandahar to replace 59 of their colleagues who were sent to Afghanistan in August and who returned last month.
The 193rd also has sent 200 soldiers of Charlie Company to Balad in Iraq to support the 1st Cavalry Division for up to a year. Those soldiers left Hawaii April 14.
Also in Baghdad for a year, attached to the 1st Cavalry Division, is the Pacific Army Reserve's 411th Engineer Combat Battalion. Half of the 600 soldiers assigned to the Fort Shafter unit are from Hawaii. The unit also has 100 reservists from different parts of the western United States, 40 from American Samoa, and 150 from Alaska and Guam.