Shirlee Blonder, widow of Erwin Blonder—one of the rescued radio operators—shares the powerful memories her husband carried from that harrowing time. Through her words, we glimpse the emotional weight of survival, and the deep gratitude Erwin felt toward the Nisei soldiers who risked everything to bring him home.
Jeff Hunt continues the story with the dramatic rescue mission led by Nisei soldiers of the 100th/442nd RCT. Despite facing discrimination and having family members held in internment camps, these Japanese American troops fought through treacherous terrain and overwhelming odds to save the Texans—an act of valor that cost hundreds of lives.
Jeff Hunt, Director of the Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry, recounts how soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment—mostly Texans—became trapped by Nazi forces deep in the Vosges forest. Cut off from supplies and reinforcements, they faced freezing conditions and constant attacks as hope began to dwindle.
Not the Enemy
A Legacy Built by a Rescue
In the dense, cold forests of the Vosges Mountains in 1944, a group of Texas soldiers became trapped behind enemy lines—cut off, surrounded, and running out of time. What happened next is one of the most extraordinary chapters in American military history. The daring rescue of the Lost Battalion by the Japanese American soldiers of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team came at a staggering cost. Many of these Nisei soldiers had volunteered or been drafted while their families were still incarcerated in U.S. camps. This section tells their story—of sacrifice, loyalty, and the painful irony of proving patriotism in a country that doubted them.
The Story Boldly Legacy Project is being funded, in part, by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.