Virgil Westdale, whose name was "Virgil Nishimura" when he was born, son of
a Japanese immigrant. Virgil Westdale, while serving with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion in Vosges Mountains, eastern France, October 1944
Ada veteran
Virgil Westdale to receive Congressional Gold Medal
Published: October 31, 2011
By Ann Byle, The Grand Rapids Press
 |
| Virgil Westdale |
Fifty-five years after fighting his way across Italy,
France, and Germany and being among the first Americans to open the gates of
the Dachau concentration camp, Virgil Westdale is being honored for his
service to his country.
Westdale, along with members of the 442nd Regimental Combat
Team, will receive the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday, in Emancipation
Hall of the United States Capital Visitor Center.
“I look at it as an award from the citizens of the United
States. They’re saying they appreciate what the 442nd did for the United States
in spite of the prejudices inflicted on us,” said Westdale. “But I don’t worry
about that. That’s who we were: Americans.”
Westdale was assigned to the 442nd because of his ethnicity.
He is half Japanese, which during WWII meant suspicion, prejudice and denial of
his true war-time gift as a pilot. His license was revoked, his background
checked by the FBI, Navy Intelligence and the War Relocation Authority.
“I was pretty devastated because I’d studied hard and found
I had a real gift for flying,” said Westdale, 93. “At first I lost my license
because of my nationality.”
Westdale got his private flying license back in 1942, but
didn’t fly during the war despite promises he would pilot observation planes as
part of the Air Corps. He was eventually transferred to the Army’s 442nd, a
combat team whose officers were all Caucasian and whose soldiers, called Nisei,
were Japanese-American. The 442nd is one of most highly decorated units in U.S.
military history.
He left American soil on May 2, 1944, landing in Italy on
May 26. The 442nd left Rome for the north, fighting Germans all the way. They
headed into France, where the 442nd participated in one of the greatest rescue
efforts of the war.
Westdale, along with the other members of the
Japanese-American 442nd, were ordered in October 1944 to break through heavily
fortified German lines to rescue the 141st, known as the Lost Battalion. The
Americans were trapped on high ground, surrounded by German troops. The 442nd
broke through, saving 211 soldiers from Texas but taking over 800 casualties.
The 442nd moved into Germany, and by April 29, 1945, stood
at the gates of Dachau.
“Two of our guys shot the locks off the compound to let the
prisoners out, but they wouldn’t come out because they thought we were the
Japanese army,” said Westdale.
The 442nd not only liberated the Dachau prisoners, but
shared food and blankets with them and scrounged supplies from the neighboring
German town.
“The misery we witnessed was unbelievable. Some of the guys
snapped photos of the bodies stacked like cords of wood. We saw the gas
chambers and the ovens, which were still hot when we arrived,” said Westdale in
his book “Blue Skies and Thunder,” released in January 2010.
The book is the record of Westdale’s life, from his birth in
1918 in Indiana to his retirement from the Transportation Security
Administration at age 91. Westdale spent his post-war years in business as,
first, a chemical engineer for Burroughs in Detroit and later as principle
scientist for AM International in Chicago. He holds 25 patents.
Westdale’s son and two daughters will accompany him to
Washington D.C. for the ceremony and dinner event. While the original medal
will go to the Smithsonian, recipients will receive a replica of the
3-inch-diameter medal.
Bill S1055, which approved the awarding of the medal, was
signed by President Barack Obama on Oct. 5, 2010. The medal was then designed,
approved by committee and the Secretary of the Treasury, and finally minted.
“I have no regrets about the way things turned out,” said
Westdale. “I learned a lot from the soldiers I was with for 28 months. They
were very quiet people. When I got out, I didn’t say anything to anybody about
the war; I just didn’t talk about it very much.”
Now, however, he is honored. “I’m really quite humbled by this medal from the citizens of
America. It might be late, but eventually America comes through,” said
Westdale. “They appreciate what we did during the war. We went where others
couldn’t go.”
Source: http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/news_impact/print.html?entry=/2011/10/ada_veteran_virgil_westdale_to.html
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
442nd VETERAN (87) STILL PROTECTING U.S. SECURITY.
RECEIVED
EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR AWARD ON BEHALF OF TSA EMPLOYEES. PARTICIPATED IN FREEING
JEWISH INMATES AT DACHAU
by Terry Shima
 |
| PHOTO: Virgil Westdale and Administrator Rear Admiral David M. Stone (Ret) |
Virgil Westdale, whose name was Virgil Nishimura when he was born the son of a
Japanese immigrant, came out of seven years of retirement in 1995 to work as an
airport screener after TSA took over all airport screening under the Department
of Homeland Security in 2002. Mr. Westdale, whose postwar career was that
of a distinguished engineer with 25 patents, continues to work full-time as an
airport screener because he wants the American people to be protected from
terrorism.
Michigan’s U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, in recognition of Mr. Westdale’s
receipt of the TSA award, presented a U.S. Senate Certificate of Congressional
Recognition for "your outstanding service to protect the Nation’s
transportation systems. Virgil has demonstrated throughout his life a strong
work ethic, a love of his country and a dedication to public service that would
stand out in any field of endeavor," Stabenow said. "I was pleased
that the Transportation Security Administration chose to recognize Virgil as an
exemplary employee in his latest career – helping to make air travel more
secure and the rigors of security more pleasant as a screener at Gerald R. Ford
International Airport."
Westdale’s passion for aviation goes back to his youth, though it was not to be
completely realized. On October 14, 1941, at age 23, he borrowed $40 for flying
lessons. Five months later he received his private pilot’s license through the
Civil Pilot Training Program at Western Michigan College. One month later, he
began acrobatic flying under a government program, the War Training Service. In
early 1942, his flying was abruptly terminated when a Federal Aviation
Authority inspector approached Westdale and, without explanation, confiscated
his pilot’s license.
After six months, around October 1942, Westdale’s pilot’s license was returned
to him and he was reinstated as a pilot in the Army Air Corps Enlisted Reserve
in Detroit, Michigan. Westdale, who is part Japanese and part Caucasian, was
concerned that the name Nishimura would jeopardize his flying career. In his
desire to conceal his Japanese ethnicity, he changed his name from Nishimura to
the closest English translation: West (nishi) dale (mura).
He resumed his flight training and ultimately received his instrument rating
and commercial pilot’s license. He became an instrument flight instructor on
May 30, 1943. In the fall of 1943, he received orders that transferred him from
the Air Corps to the Enlisted Reserve Corps unassigned and was placed on
kitchen police duty. At that time, he did not know that his goal of flying for
the Air Transport Command was vanishing.
A month later, Westdale was transferred to the Japanese American 442nd
Regimental Combat Team at Camp Shelby, where he was assigned to Company F as a
Browning Automatic Rifleman and flamethrower specialist. When training was
completed in March 1944, Westdale found that he would be transferred to the 522nd
Field Artillery Battalion, an entity of the 442nd Regimental Combat
Team, where his pilot’s training could be utilized by the Air Observation
Section, which had two observation planes. Westdale believes this
assignment came about because his sister wrote to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, a
champion of civil rights for minorities. After a few weeks, Westdale was
transferred again this time to the Fire Direction Center, which received the
information from the air observers and translated it into target coordinates.
He remained with the Center throughout his 522nd assignment.
The
522nd provided pin point artillery support to the regiment’s three
infantry battalions in six campaigns in Italy and France. Although the 522nd
guns were positioned in protected zones, the survey personnel were positioned
at the front lines, frequently in heavily mined areas, to radio back tactical
target information.
By this time the fighting prowess of the 442nd RCT was well known
and Army commanders competed for their services. Lt. General Mark W. Clark,
Commanding General of the 5th Army, requested their return to the
Italian front to breach the enemy defense in the Po Valley campaign. Lt.
General Alexander M. Patch, Commanding General of the 7th Army, who
was familiar with the Japanese American military intelligence performance in
Guadalcanal, where he previously served, wanted them for the impending invasion
of Germany. Lyn Crost, in her book, Honor by Fire, noted that apparently
a compromise was reached whereby the 522nd Artillery was assigned to
General Patch and the infantry units of the Regimental Combat Team were
assigned to General Clark.
The 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, was deployed to Germany on
March 9, 1945 and would travel 1,100 miles across Germany to the Austrian
border serving the 7th Army infantry elements that needed the 552nd
support. In this advance into Germany the 522nd arrived on April 29,
1945 at Dachau Jewish extermination camp, northwest of Munich, for an
unforgettable experience. This death camp, plus other sub camps in Dachau had
over 32,000 starved and emaciated political prisoners including 10,000 slated
to be literally worked to death and cremated.
Westdale was advancing with the 522nd artillerymen who shot the
locks off the gates of Dachau. He said the German guards had fled hours earlier
when they learned of the arriving 7th Army. The Jewish inmates were
confused when they saw the Japanese Americans thinking they now would be killed
by the Japanese who had come to assist the Germans. The Japanese Americans soon
were able to prove they were indeed Americans. Westdale recalled that "we
were ordered not to feed the inmates as the food and drink would make them
sick, however, we violated those orders while the officers looked the other
way. We gave the Jewish inmates assurance and shared our blankets, medical
supplies, food rations, and clothing as it was cold and there was still snow on
the ground."
A bond of friendship has since developed between the Japanese Americans and
former Jewish inmates who have since visited Hawaii for reunions. Westdale said
"I cannot imagine human beings committing such acts of genocide against
fellow men. While I regret I was not accepted as an aviator, I am pleased to
have been a member of the American forces to help the Jewish people end their
misery. During the past 60 years, never a day has passed without remembering
the days of late April 1945 at Dachau feeling sad for the perished and glad for
the survivors".
When Mr. Louis Abramson, the National Commander of the Jewish War Veterans of
the USA, a Veterans Service Organization of the Department of Veterans Affairs,
was informed about Mr. Westdale and the 522nd assistance to the
Dachau inmates, he said "Virgil Westdale embodies the spirit and fortitude
of "The Greatest Generation" as he and his unit helped to liberate
the innocents who had been caught up in the horror of the Holocaust and
incarcerated at Dachau. The acts of humanity of the 522nd toward
those who had been prisoners of the greatest evil of our time represent the
ultimate capacity for good and decency. As Mr. Westdale never forgets those
whom he helped to liberate, the world will never forget the victory against
evil achieved by Mr. Westdale and the men of the 522nd."
After his discharge in 1946, Westdale was offered a pilot’s job in Texas.
However, his grandmother convinced him not to fly anymore. She thought he had
survived the war and he should now minimize his risks. He attended Western
Michigan University and upon graduation worked for Burroughs Corporation as a
Senior Project Chemical Engineer. In 1966, he transferred to AM International,
lithographic machine manu-
facturer,
as a principal scientist, where he designed products for the toner industry.
Some of his innovations have revolutionized the print industry and are in use
today. In 1983, he received the prestigious research and development award
"for the advancement of the graphic arts industry" from the
International Association of Printing House Craftsmen in Calgary, Canada.
Cheri Budzeak, Westdale’s daughter, remembers her father’s generation with
pride. "Since my family lived inland, they were not incarcerated in
internment camps like the 120,000 from the west coast of the US. They had
their radio taken away so they could not "communicate with the
enemy." I'm very proud of what the members of the 442nd did. They
displayed a dignity unheard of today and were motivated by the desire to prove
their loyalty to our country. Whether it was their desire to be the best
military unit they could be or their desire to prove their loyalty, they proved
to the country that their loyalty should never have been questioned. They
didn't do it by protesting or whining. They did it with their
blood. They quietly let their record stand for itself and returned home
to much of the same prejudice. Many lost their land and their property,
but not their dignity. They are still teaching us today about prejudice and
dignity. Their sacrifices have gone a long way to leveling the playing field
for Japanese Americans."
Mr. Westdale retired in 1988, but his desire to interact with people and to
make airline travel safer drove him, at age 77, to apply for the position of
airport passenger screener. In 2002 his work folded into the Transportation
Security Administration, where he believes he has the ideal position. Comparing
this work with his WW II combat duties, Westdale said "it is a little
different type of fight. That was direct and this is a bit more indirect,"
explaining that a friendly smile and wary eye are his weapons now. If he can’t
fly, the next best thing is this job and spending one or two nights per week
dancing (ballroom, swing and tap), Westdale said.
Mr. Westdale has three children: Cheri Budzeak and Terri Watson both of
Colorado Springs, Colorado and Fred Westdale of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also
has seven grand children.
Source: http://www.javadc.org/Press%20release%2002-10-05%20Westdale%20TSA.htm
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