GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM Lt. Col. Alan Ostermiller, new commander of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, still proudly wears the World War II patch, seen below right, on his left shoulder.

Army Reserve’s
general wants 100th
Battalion’s patch to stay

A three-star general says soldiers from the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry should be allowed to wear the shoulder patch that traces the battalion's lineage to World War II.

Lt. Gen. James Helmly, who heads the 209,000-member Army Reserve, said the issue was raised yesterday morning when he met with members of the 100th Battalion for nearly two hours at Schofield Barracks. He was asked why the 100th Battalion had recently been told to remove its shoulder patch and replace it with one worn by the Hawaii Army National Guard's 29th Infantry Brigade.

In World War II the 100th Battalion was part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was composed mainly of Japanese Americans. It became one of the most decorated units of its size.

Brig. Gen. Joe Chaves, who commands the brigade, wants all of his more than 3,000 soldiers to wear the same shoulder patch to help develop a "sense of unity," said. Maj. Chuck Anthony, Hawaii National Guard spokesman.

Anthony said the 29th Brigade not only includes the more than 600 soldiers who belong to the 100th Battalion and live on Guam, American Samoa and Saipan, but it also has soldiers from California, Oregon and Minnesota.

"Gen. Chaves wants everyone in the brigade to have the one team, one fight attitude."

But Helmly, chief of the Army Reserve, said: "My position is that they should be allowed to continue to wear the patch. They're a proud unit. They have a storied history -- the most highly decorated unit in World War II."

Helmly said that until someone with higher authority overrides him, "it's done."

"The thing that keep soldiers alive in combat," Helmly said, "is small-unit bonding and teamwork. ... They identify with their colors and their patch represents their colors."

The 100th Battalion is one of three combat infantry units that rounded out the 29th Brigade when it was placed on active duty on Aug. 16. It has been training at Schofield in anticipation of a year-long deployment to Iraq beginning in February.