A series of events commemorating the establishment of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team 70 years ago will be held this weekend.

A remembrance service will be held beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday at Fort DeRussy followed by a tour of the U.S. Army Museum. 

On Sunday, a 70th anniversary luncheon will be held at the Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom beginning at 11 a.m.

Both the state Senate and House of Representatives will honor the veterans at the State Capitol Monday, beginning with the Senate at 11 a.m. and the House at noon.

Other activities include the screening of the documentary “Valor With Honor” at The Honolulu Museum of Art’s Doris Duke Theatre at 6:30 p.m. Monday. A question and answer session with writer and director Burt Takeuchi will follow.

For further information: call Gwen Fujie at 691-9693 or 888-9374 or the 442nd Veterans Club at 949-7997

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was organized on March 23, 1943, in response to the War Department’s call for volunteers to form the segregated Japanese American army combat unit. More than 12,000 Nisei (second-generation Japanese American) volunteers answered the call.

Ultimately 2,686 from Hawaii and 1,500 from U.S. incarceration camps assembled at Camp Shelby, Mississippi in April 1943 for a year of infantry training.

The 442nd, including the 100th Battalion has been recognized by the Army as having the most combat awards for a unit of it size with 7 Distinguished Unit Citations, more than 4,000 Purple Hearts, 7 Presidential Unit Citations and a large number of individual decorations for bravery, including 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished Service Crosses, 588 Silver Stars, and more than 4,000 Bronze Stars.