History of 442

Rico says he obsessively weighs himself every day (how else to keep from being fat again), and today's number, with transposed digits (because 442 would be fat), inspires a little history lesson, of the 442:

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team is an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the Army Reserve. The regiment was a fighting unit composed almost entirely of American soldiers of Japanese ancestry who fought in World War Two. Most of the families of mainland Japanese-Americans were confined to internment camps in the United States interior. Beginning in 1944, the regiment fought primarily in Europe during World War II, in particular in Italy, southern France, and Germany.
The 442 was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of American warfare. The four thousand men who initially made up the unit in April of 1943 had to be replaced nearly three times. In total, about fourteen thousand men served, earning ten thousand Purple Hearts. The unit was awarded eight Presidential Unit Citations (five earned in one month). Twenty-one of its members were awarded Medals of Honor. Its motto was Go for Broke.

Rico says he only met one, when he lived in California, and has the highest respect for them...