brian cassidy bookselle

Aside from a single, medium enlargement of a destroyed German tank,
however, none of the images reveal the intense combat the 442nd
encountered during the war. The regiment's contributions have been
well documented and include more than 18,000 individual decorations.
Indeed, with its nearly 9,500 Purple Hearts and more than 5,000 Bronze
Stars (out of only about 4,500 soldiers), the 442nd emerged from the
war as “the most decorated unit in U.S. military history” (PATRIOTS
UNDER FIRE, 2006).
The balance of the archive (some 50 pictures) are family images, most
post-war but some perhaps pre-. These later family images are also
exceptionally executed, with one featuring a German-made Rolleiflex
TLR in the frame, a professional grade camera, suggesting Ohashi
likely had some training in photography and took the hobby seriously.
This collection stands out as a rare glimpse into this hallowed regiment
and its European service in the war, as well as an intimate
look at a Japanese-American family in the years immediately before
and after internment. Scattered Nisei soldier photographs are institutionally
held, but typically only in small groups or individually.
The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, however,
recently acquired a trove of approximately 1,000 combat images by
fellow 442nd solider Susumu Ito. Ito wrote about his photographs in
a POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE article (August 21, 2015) where he
explained their significance: “We had orders not to have cameras.”
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