7,425 Japanese-Americans Apply for 1,500 slots with the Army. The training of the Hawaii National Guard troops on the mainland went so well that the War Department reversed its policy against recruiting Japanese-Americans. Along with the existing 100th Infantry Battalion, these volunteers would form the core of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
The vast majority of volunteers came from Hawaii, where the government did not intern Japanese-Americans. Relatively few from the mainland volunteered, where Japanese-Americans had been interned.