Varsity Victory Volunteers (VVV) |
All Japanese American labor battalion attached to the 34th Combat Engineers Regiment in World War II in Hawaii. The men worked in rock quarries and constructed military installations, roads and dumps. Its formation was in response to anti-Japanese prejudice following the Pearl Harbor attack. When the Hawaii Territorial Guard (HTG) was dissolved on January 19, 1942, and then reinstated the following day without its Japanese American members, the Nisei petitioned to “do their part as loyal Americans in any possible way.” The Corps of Engineers Auxiliary, or the VVV, was formed. Due in part to the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), the VVV and other Japanese Americans who voluntarily helped in the war effort, the ban on Japanese Americans in the Army was lifted.
At its request, the VVV was inactivated on January 31, 1943, so that its members could volunteer for the Army. Many went on to serve in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
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