Very shortly, the Nisei were called on to rescue a "lost battalion." The 1st Battalion, 36th Texas Infantry Division, at Biffontaine was nearly out of ammunition and surrounded by Germans.

Again, the 442nd was successful, but with 800 dead and wounded. In 1963, Texas Gov. John Connally made the entire 442nd Regiment "Honorary Texans" in memory of their gallant rescue.

The 442nd was sent to Nice, France, for a few weeks of "rest and recuperation"

The 442nd was moved back to Italy in April 1945 as a "secret weapon" for the final war in Italy. There, on April 5, Johnny and his platoon were targeted by a German mortar barrage. All were killed.

The war in Europe ended just 32 days later.

Sergeant Chester Tanaka later wrote Johnny's parents. "John told me one night he expected to be killed the next day. I offered to take him out of the line for a few days, but John wouldn't have it."

Next day, John was, indeed, killed in the line of duty.

Stars And Stripes

"Stars and Stripes," the Army newspaper, carried the following story about his death:

"Pvt. John Nakamura of Flint, Michigan, a walkie-talkie man with his platoon, who has never missed a single day of combat and has about 175 actual combat days to his record said:

"‘When I was in France, I used to think of Italy. I thought of that time we were thirsty and drank out of a stream. The next day, farther upstream, we found a couple of dead Jerries, a dead Italian lady who was pregnant, some dead goats and a dead cow. All of them had been in the water a long time.

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